Civil Filings for April 2013
Number Latest Month 27,588 Percent Change from previous month 14.9% Percent Change from 1 year ago 1.4% Percent Change from 5 years ago -0.5%
Table 1: Civil FilingsThe latest available data from the federal courts show that during April 2013 the government reported 27,588 new civil filings. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 14.9% over the previous month when the number of civil filings of this type totaled 24,002.
The comparisons of the number of civil filings are based on case-by-case court records which were compiled and analyzed by TRAC (see Table 1).
When monthly 2013 civil filings of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, their number was only slightly up (1.4%). Civil filings for April 2013 are lower than they were for the same period five years ago. Overall, the data show that civil filings of this type are down 0.5% from levels reported in April 2008.
The long term trend in civil filings for these matters going back five years is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of civil filings of this type recorded each month. The superimposed line on the bars plots the six-month moving average so that natural fluctuations are smoothed out. One-year and five-year change comparisons are based upon the moving averages.
Types of filings
Cases were classified by the federal courts into general types. The single largest number of civil filings of these matters through April 2013 was for "Torts - Personal Injury - Product Liability", accounting for 18.0% of civil filings.
As shown in Figure 2, additional categories with substantial numbers of civil filings were "Prisoner Petitions " (16.9%) , "Civil Rights" (11.4%), "Contract" (8.8%), "Social Security" (6.6%).
Jurisdiction
Within limits set by Congress and the Constitution, the federal district courts have jurisdiction to hear cases falling under any one of several categories. The single largest number of civil filings of these matters through April 2013 was under the classification "Federal Question", accounting for 50.1% of civil filings.
As shown in Figure 2, additional categories with substantial numbers of civil filings were "Diversity" (30.2%) , "U.S. Government Defendant" (11.8%), "U.S. Government Plaintiff" (1.8%), "Local Question" (0.0%).
Rankings: Specific Nature of Suits
Court filings are also classified based upon the specific nature of the suit. Table 2 shows the top nature of suit categories recorded in the matters filed during April 2013
Nature of Suit Count Rank 1 yr ago 5 yrs ago Personal Injury- Product Liability 3,995 1 2 7 More General Prisoner Petitions 1,636 2 1 3 More Civil Rights 1,543 3 3 4 More Other Statutory Actions 1,527 4 8 9 More Other Civil Rights 1,403 5 4 5 More Employment 1,180 6 5 8 More Other Contract 1,100 7 6 6 More SSID Title XVI 936 8 9 15 More Consumer Credit 930 9 10 17 More Health Care / Pharmaceutical Personal Injury Product Liability 837 10 35 - More
Table 2: Top district filed
"Personal Injury- Product Liability" was the most frequent recorded nature of suit category. "Personal Injury- Product Liability" was ranked 2nd a year ago, while it was the 7th most frequently invoked five years ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the nature of suit category "General Prisoner Petitions". "General Prisoner Petitions" was ranked 1st a year ago, while it was the 3rd most frequently invoked five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Civil Rights". "Civil Rights" was ranked 3rd a year ago, while it was the 4th most frequently invoked five years ago.
Among these top nature of suit categories, the one showing the greatest increase in civil filings—up 682.2 percent—compared to one year ago was "Health Care / Pharmaceutical Personal Injury Product Liability". This was the same category that had the largest increase—253.9%—when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
Relative to population, the volume of civil matters of this type filed in federal district courts during April 2013 was 89.9 per every million persons in the United States. One year ago the relative number of filings was 72.5. Understandably, there is great variation in the per capita number of civil filings in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.
Judicial District Percapita Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago W Virg, S 3,224.0 2,978 1 1 17 More La, E 1,182.2 1,893 2 9 1 More D. C. 340.2 204 3 3 3 More Delaware 293.7 260 4 7 12 More Ill, S 282.6 360 5 2 38 More Fla, N 203.6 350 6 11 9 More N. Y., S 162.8 836 7 5 5 More Penn, E 149.2 853 8 8 2 More Fla, S 140.0 934 9 10 8 More Miss, S 131.8 243 10 12 11 More
Table 3: Top 10 districts (per one million people)
The Southern District of West Virginia—with 3,224.0 civil filings as compared with 89.9 civil filings per one million people in the United States—was the most active through April 2013. The Southern District of West Virginia was ranked 1st a year ago.
The Eastern District of Louisiana ranked 2nd. The Eastern District of Louisiana was ranked 9th a year ago, while it was ranked 1st five years ago.
The District of Washington, D.C. now ranks 3rd. The District of Washington, D.C. was ranked 3rd a year ago as well as five years ago.
Recent entries to the top 10 list were Northern District of Florida (Pensacola) and Southern District of Mississippi (Jackson), now ranked 6th and 10th. These districts ranked 11th and 12th one year ago and 9th and 11th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of civil filings compared to one year ago—709.0 percent—was Eastern District of Louisiana. Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth—4148.5 percent—was Southern District of West Virginia .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of civil filings—19.2 percent—was Southern District of New York. But over the past five years, Eastern District of Pennsylvania showed the largest drop—76.0 percent.
Report Generated: May 22, 2013
