The number of civil lawsuits in federal court ticked upward in September 2021 to more than 32,000, the highest point since December of last year. The number of new civil cases filed in federal court was driven largely by the number of personal injury-product liability cases, more than 13,500 last month alone (41% of all cases), most of which were filed in court in Florida as part of a lawsuit by veterans against the 3M company for allegedly defective earplugs.

The number of personal injury-product liability filings peaked in 2020, apparently unhindered by the pandemic, then declined for several months before starting to climb again in July 2021. By September 2021, these cases reached 41 percent of all civil filings in federal court, making them once again an important driver in the number of civil filings nationally. TRAC previously reported on these cases in April 2020, June 2020, and July 2020.

The number of habeas corpus petitions for immigrant detainees filed in federal court has declined significantly and is now at the lowest levels in at least five years. The number of habeas corpus petitions spiked early in the pandemic as immigration attorneys and other advocates grew concerned about exposure to the COVID-19 virus inside detention facilities as well as the lack of adequate medical care.

However, habeas corpus petitions have declined from a high of 439 in April 2020 to just 32 in September 2021. This could be due in part to the fact that Immigration and Customs Enforcement's most recent data (as of October 7, 2021) show that the average number of days spent in detention dropped significantly from 86.5 days in October 2020 to 20.3 days in September 2021. With shorter stays may come less need and opportunity to file petitions in court to release detained persons. Altogether 980 habeas corpus petitions were filed in FY 2021, with many filings concentrated in districts with detention centers.

Figures and tables that show this data, as well as important contextual references, are available in the full report here:

https://trac.syr.edu/tracreports/civil/664/

Each month, TRAC offers a report focused on one area of civil litigation in the U.S. district courts. In addition, subscribers to the TRACFed data service can generate custom reports by district, office, nature of suit or federal jurisdiction with data updated through September 2021. To start, go to:

https://trac.syr.edu/interpreter?tab=civil

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