Civil Filings for May 2020
Table 1. Civil Filings
Number Latest Month 52,553 Percent Change from previous month -7.0% Percent Change from 1 year ago 57.9% Percent Change from 5 years ago 75.9% The latest available data from the federal courts show that during May 2020 the government reported 52,553 new civil filings. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 7.0% over the previous month when the number of civil filings of this type totaled 56,524.
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 2020 civil filings of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, their number was up (57.9%). Civil filings for May 2020 are higher than they were for the same period five years ago. Overall, the data show that civil filings of this type are up 75.9% from levels reported in May 2015.
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 May 2020 was for "Torts - Personal Injury - Product Liability", accounting for 66.2% of civil filings.
As shown in Figure 2, additional categories with substantial numbers of civil filings were "Prisoner Petitions " (8.4%) , "Civil Rights" (5.6%), "Contract" (4.4%), "Social Security" (3.2%).
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 May 2020 was under the classification "Diversity", accounting for 72.7% of civil filings.
As shown in Figure 2, additional categories with substantial numbers of civil filings were "Federal Question" (17.9%) , "U.S. Government Defendant" (6.3%), "U.S. Government Plaintiff" (0.3%).
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 May 2020
Table 2. Specific Nature of Suit Types
Nature of Suit Count Rank 1 yr ago 5 yrs ago Personal Injury- Product Liability 33,100 1 1 1 More Health Care / Pharmaceutical Personal Injury Product Liability 1,664 2 2 6 More Civil Rights 1,491 3 3 5 More General Prisoner Petitions 1,335 4 5 2 More Other Civil Rights 1,123 5 6 4 More Other Contract 1,053 6 9 7 More Insurance 1,005 7 11 11 More Prison Condition 902 8 13 15 More DIWC/DIWW (405(g)) 880 9 12 13 More Employment 872 10 7 8 More
"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 1st 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 2nd a year ago, while it was the 6th most frequently invoked five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Civil Rights". "Civil Rights" was ranked 3rd a year ago, while it was the 5th most frequently invoked five years ago.
Among these top nature of suit categories, the one showing the greatest increase in civil filings — up 1354.3 percent — compared to one year ago was "Personal Injury- Product Liability". This was the same category that had the largest increase — 1725.7 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 28.2 percent — was "Employment". This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 17.1 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 May 2020 was 160.6 per every million persons in the United States. One year ago the relative number of filings was 80.8. 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 17,306.4 32,573 1 6 31 More D. C. 412.8 290 2 1 3 More Ark, E 174.4 286 3 17 15 More N. Y., S 151.8 790 4 3 4 More N. J. 150.3 1,339 5 8 26 More Delaware 135.4 131 6 5 12 More La, E 133.2 224 7 2 2 More Ohio, S 117.7 703 8 11 8 More Fla, S 112.8 845 9 9 9 More New Hamp 95.1 129 10 20 82 More
The Northern District of Florida — with 17,306.4 civil filings as compared with 160.6 civil filings per one million people in the United States — was the most active during May 2020. The Northern District of Florida was ranked 6th a year ago.
The District of Washington, D.C. ranked 2nd. The District of Washington, D.C. was ranked 1st a year ago, while it was ranked 3rd five years ago.
The Eastern District of Arkansas now ranks 3rd.
Recent entries to the top 10 list were Southern District of Ohio (Cincinnati), Eastern District of Arkansas (Little Rock) and New Hampshire, now ranked 8th, 3rd and 10th. These districts ranked 11th, 17th and 20th one year ago and 8th, 15th and 82nd five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of civil filings compared to one year ago — 7692.6 percent — was Northern District of Florida. This was the same district that had the largest increase — 26155 percent — when compared with five years ago.
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of civil filings — 73.2 percent — was Eastern District of Louisiana. This was the same district that had the largest decrease — 45.2 percent — when compared with five years ago.
Report Generated: June 17, 2020
