Civil Filings for October 2022

Table 1. Civil Filings
Number Latest Month 23,352
Percent Change from previous month 5.2%
Percent Change from 1 year ago -17.4%
Percent Change from 5 years ago 0.6%

The latest available data from the federal courts show that during October 2022 the government reported 23,352 new civil filings. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 5.2% over the previous month when the number of civil filings of this type totaled 22,204.

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 2022 civil filings of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, their number was down (-17.4%). Civil filings for October 2022 are higher than they were for the same period five years ago. Overall, the data show that civil filings of this type are up 0.6% from levels reported in October 2017.


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 October 2022 was for "Torts - Personal Injury - Product Liability", accounting for 19.2% of civil filings.

As shown in Figure 2, additional categories with substantial numbers of civil filings were "Prisoner Petitions " (17.1%) , "Civil Rights" (14.1%), "Contract" (11.9%), "Torts - Personal Injury - Other" (6.2%).

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 October 2022 was under the classification "Federal Question", accounting for 43.4% of civil filings.

As shown in Figure 2, additional categories with substantial numbers of civil filings were "Diversity" (35.8%) , "U.S. Government Defendant" (13.6%), "U.S. Government Plaintiff" (0.8%), "Local Question" (0.0%).

Pie chart of nosgrp

Figure 2. Civil Filings by General Types
Pie chart of jurisdiction

Figure 3. Jurisdiction
for civil filings

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 October 2022

Table 2. Specific Nature of Suit Types
Nature of Suit Count Rank 1 yr ago 5 yrs ago  
Personal Injury- Product Liability 3,882 1 1 10 More
Insurance 1,765 2 5 2 More
Civil Rights 1,532 3 3 3 More
Other Civil Rights 1,223 4 4 5 More
General Prisoner Petitions 1,211 5 6 4 More
Employment 899 6 8 6 More
Other Contract 813 7 10 7 More
Amer w/Disabilities - Other 796 8 9 15 More
Other Immigration Actions 795 9 14 28 More
Other Personal Injury 769 10 11 14 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 10th most frequently invoked five years ago.

  • Ranked 2nd in frequency was the nature of suit category "Insurance". "Insurance" was ranked 5th a year ago, while it was the 2nd most frequently invoked five years ago.

  • Ranked 3rd was "Civil Rights". "Civil Rights" was ranked 3rd a year ago, while it was the 3rd most frequently invoked five years ago.

Among these top nature of suit categories, the one showing the greatest increase in civil filings — up 54.8  percent — compared to one year ago was "Insurance". This was the same category that had the largest increase — 471.9 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 63.9  percent — was "Personal Injury- Product Liability". This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 21.8 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 October 2022 was 70.4 per every million persons in the United States. One year ago the relative number of filings was 90.1. 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 1,523.9 2,931 1 1 14 More
D. C. 555.2 372 2 2 3 More
La, E 409.2 683 3 9 2 More
La, W 198.7 418 4 4 20 More
La, M 192.7 164 5 13 1 More
N. Y., S 187.4 978 6 5 6 More
Delaware 145.5 146 7 6 5 More
Cal, N 126.4 1,040 8 10 16 More
Fla, S 100.6 747 9 8 12 More
W Virg, S 93.0 80 10 40 7 More

  • The Northern District of Florida — with 1,523.9 civil filings as compared with 70.4 civil filings per one million people in the United States — was the most active during October 2022. The Northern District of Florida was ranked 1st a year ago.

  • The District of Washington, D.C. ranked 2nd. The District of Washington, D.C. was ranked 2nd a year ago, while it was ranked 3rd five years ago.

  • The Eastern District of Louisiana now ranks 3rd. The Eastern District of Louisiana was ranked 9th a year ago, while it was ranked 2nd five years ago.

Recent entries to the top 10 list were Middle District of Louisiana (Baton Rouge) and Southern District of West Virginia (Charleston), now ranked 5th and 10th. These districts ranked 13th and 40th one year ago and 1st and 7th five years ago.

The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of civil filings compared to one year ago — 313.9 percent — was Eastern District of Louisiana. Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 1447.9 percent — was Northern District of Florida .

In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of civil filings — 71.1 percent — was Northern District of Florida. But over the past five years, Middle District of Louisiana showed the largest drop — 80.8 percent.

Report Generated: November 30, 2022
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