This study compared 47 patients with chronic low back pain who were involved in personal injury litigation with 33 patients not seeking compensation who were also complaining of low back pain. Pain was assessed using a visual analogue scale and the adjectival check-list of the McGill Pain Questionnaire. Psychological state was assessed using the Zung Depression Scale, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Eysenck Personality Inventory and the Hostility and Direction of Hostility Questionnaire. The group involved in litigation contained significantly more males, and the duration of pain was significantly less. The mean age of the 'compensation' group was less than that of the 'no compensation' group, but this did not reach statistical significance at the 5% level. There was no difference between the two groups on ratings of pain severity or pain description, and no difference on measures of psychological disturbance. Both groups had significant elevations of mean depression, neuroticism, state anxiety and trait anxiety scores when compared with the normal population. It was concluded that there is no support for the claim that personal injury litigants describe their pain as more severe than do non-litigants, and that both groups show similar levels of psychological disturbance.