Civil Filings for June 2023
Table 1. Civil Filings
Number Latest Month 27,372 Percent Change from previous month 7.4% Percent Change from 1 year ago 23.3% Percent Change from 5 years ago 9.5% The latest available data from the federal courts show that during June 2023 the government reported 27,372 new civil filings. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 7.4% over the previous month when the number of civil filings of this type totaled 25,488.
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 2023 civil filings of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, their number was up (23.3%). Civil filings for June 2023 are higher than they were for the same period five years ago. Overall, the data show that civil filings of this type are up 9.5% from levels reported in June 2018.
Figure 1. Civil Filings Over the Last Five Years
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 during June 2023 was for "Torts - Personal Injury - Product Liability", accounting for 23.5% of civil filings.
As shown in Figure 2, additional categories with substantial numbers of civil filings were "Prisoner Petitions " (16.7%) , "Civil Rights" (13.7%), "Contract" (9.5%), "Torts - Personal Injury - Other" (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 during June 2023 was under the classification "Federal Question", accounting for 44.5% of civil filings.
As shown in Figure 2, additional categories with substantial numbers of civil filings were "Diversity" (39.8%) , "U.S. Government Defendant" (14.7%), "U.S. Government Plaintiff" (0.9%), "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 June 2023
Table 2. Specific Nature of Suit Types
Nature of Suit Count Rank 1 yr ago 5 yrs ago Personal Injury- Product Liability 5,600 1 1 17 More Civil Rights 1,810 2 2 2 More Other Civil Rights 1,391 3 5 4 More General Prisoner Petitions 1,265 4 4 3 More Insurance 1,262 5 3 9 More Employment 1,144 6 8 5 More Other Contract 1,078 7 9 6 More Other Personal Injury 1,073 8 13 11 More Other Immigration Actions 1,031 9 11 36 More Prison Condition 943 10 12 12 More
"Personal Injury- Product Liability" was the most frequent recorded nature of suit category. "Personal Injury- Product Liability" was ranked 1st a year ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the nature of suit category "Civil Rights". "Civil Rights" was ranked 2nd a year ago, while it was the 2nd most frequently invoked five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Other Civil Rights". "Other 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 81.3 percent — compared to one year ago was "Personal Injury- Product Liability". This was the same category that had the largest increase — 812.4 percent — 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 13.5 percent — was "Insurance". This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 9.8 percent — 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 June 2023 was 82.5 per every million persons in the United States. One year ago the relative number of filings was 69.1. Understandably, there is great variation in the per capita number of civil filings in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.
Table 3. Top Ten Districts (per one million people)
Judicial District Percapita Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Fla, N 2,511.2 4,830 1 1 10 More D. C. 528.3 354 2 2 2 More La, E 260.0 434 3 4 1 More N. Y., S 214.2 1,118 4 5 3 More S Car 151.0 784 5 19 36 More Delaware 121.6 122 6 6 4 More Fla, S 116.5 865 7 9 7 More N. Y., E 111.7 936 8 15 22 More La, M 111.6 95 9 8 18 More Penn, E 105.8 636 10 16 13 More
The Northern District of Florida — with 2,511.2 civil filings as compared with 82.5 civil filings per one million people in the United States — was the most active during June 2023. The Northern District of Florida was ranked 1st a year ago, while it was ranked 10th five years ago.
The District of Washington, D.C. ranked 2nd. The District of Washington, D.C. was ranked 2nd a year ago as well as five years ago.
The Eastern District of Louisiana now ranks 3rd. The Eastern District of Louisiana was ranked 4th a year ago, while it was ranked 1st five years ago.
Recent entries to the top 10 list were Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn), Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) and South Carolina, now ranked 8th, 10th and 5th. These districts ranked 15th, 16th and 19th one year ago and 22nd, 13th and 36th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of civil filings compared to one year ago — 108.5 percent — was South Carolina. Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 2157.9 percent — was Northern District of Florida .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of civil filings — 33.3 percent — was Delaware. But over the past five years, Eastern District of Louisiana showed the largest drop — 45.6 percent.
Report Generated: July 17, 2023
