Civil Filings for January 2016
Number Latest Month 20,233 Percent Change from previous month -4.3% Percent Change from 1 year ago -4.0% Percent Change from 5 years ago -14.7%
Table 1: Civil FilingsThe latest available data from the federal courts show that during January 2016 the government reported 20,233 new civil filings. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 4.3% over the previous month when the number of civil filings of this type totaled 21,142.
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 2016 civil filings of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, their number was down (-4.0%). Civil filings for January 2016 are lower than they were for the same period five years ago. Overall, the data show that civil filings of this type are down 14.7% from levels reported in January 2011.
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 January 2016 was for "Prisoner Petitions", accounting for 19.3% of civil filings.
As shown in Figure 2, additional categories with substantial numbers of civil filings were "Torts - Personal Injury - Product Liability " (17.6%) , "Civil Rights" (13.5%), "Contract" (9.0%), "Labor" (7.1%).
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 January 2016 was under the classification "Federal Question", accounting for 47.2% of civil filings.
As shown in Figure 2, additional categories with substantial numbers of civil filings were "Diversity" (32.8%) , "U.S. Government Defendant" (12.4%), "U.S. Government Plaintiff" (1.5%), "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 January 2016
Nature of Suit Count Rank 1 yr ago 5 yrs ago Personal Injury- Product Liability 1,890 1 1 3 More Health Care / Pharmaceutical Personal Injury Product Liability 1,621 2 6 - More Civil Rights 1,374 3 5 4 More General Prisoner Petitions 1,285 4 2 2 More Other Civil Rights 1,153 5 4 5 More Employment 843 6 7 6 More Other Contract 815 7 9 7 More Other Statutory Actions 700 8 14 10 More Consumer Credit 654 9 10 11 More Insurance 638 10 11 9 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 1st a year ago, while it was the 3rd most frequently invoked five years ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the nature of suit category "Health Care / Pharmaceutical Personal Injury Product Liability". "Health Care / Pharmaceutical Personal Injury Product Liability" was ranked 6th a year ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Civil Rights". "Civil Rights" was ranked 5th 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 56.5 percent—compared to one year ago was "Health Care / Pharmaceutical Personal Injury Product Liability". This was the same category that had the largest increase—28.7%—when compared with five years ago.
Again among the top ten nature of suit categories, the one showing the sharpest decline in civil filings compared to one year ago—down 17.4 percent—was "Consumer Credit". This was the same statute that had the largest decrease—29.1%—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 January 2016 was 63.5 per every million persons in the United States. One year ago the relative number of filings was 70.4. 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 1,256.9 1,156 1 1 15 More La, E 489.9 813 2 7 5 More D. C. 239.8 158 3 3 2 More Ill, N 197.3 1,847 4 8 14 More N. Y., S 144.3 753 5 5 4 More Fla, S 105.1 750 6 10 8 More Penn, E 102.7 599 7 4 1 More Ill, S 88.8 113 8 13 3 More Ark, E 86.0 141 9 9 9 More Ind, S 83.0 333 10 50 46 More
Table 3: Top 10 districts (per one million people)
The Southern District of West Virginia—with 1,256.9 civil filings as compared with 63.5 civil filings per one million people in the United States—was the most active through January 2016. 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 7th a year ago, while it was ranked 5th five years ago.
The District of Washington, D.C. now ranks 3rd. The District of Washington, D.C. was ranked 3rd a year ago, while it was ranked 2nd five years ago.
Recent entries to the top 10 list were Southern District of Illinois (East St. Louis) and Southern District of Indiana (Indianapolis), now ranked 8th and 10th. These districts ranked 13th and 50th one year ago and 3rd and 46th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of civil filings compared to one year ago—234.6 percent—was Eastern District of Louisiana. Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth—1439.8 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—50.4 percent—was Eastern District of Pennsylvania. This was the same district that had the largest decrease—78.5%—when compared with five years ago.
Report Generated: February 24, 2016
