New Jersey's Top 20 personal injury recoveries this year were, overall, much lower than last year's.

The largest 20 awards reported by the Law Journal between Sept. 13, 2014, and Aug. 21, 2015, totaled about $125 million, down from almost $158 million for the same period last year—and that is without including last year's $166 million recovery in Escobar v. DYFS.

The top payout this year was $14.9 million. That was down significantly from last year, when the top four payouts were $166 million, $20.5 million, $19.3 million and $17 million.