Civil Filings for October 2021Table 1. Civil Filings
Number Latest Month 29,890 Percent Change from previous month -9.2% Percent Change from 1 year ago -35.1% Percent Change from 5 years ago 6.6% The latest available data from the federal courts show that during October 2021 the government reported 29,890 new civil filings. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 9.2% over the previous month when the number of civil filings of this type totaled 32,930.
Litigation trends continue to be largely driven by the number of new suits filed in the Northern District of Florida by veterans against the 3M Company for allegedly defective earplugs. Earlier TRAC Reports on this are found here. 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 2021 civil filings of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, their number was down (-35.1%). Civil filings for October 2021 are higher than they were for the same period five years ago. Overall, the data show that civil filings of this type are up 6.6% from levels reported in October 2016.
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 2021 was for "Torts - Personal Injury - Product Liability", accounting for 41.6% of civil filings.
As shown in Figure 2, additional categories with substantial numbers of civil filings were "Prisoner Petitions " (12.0%) , "Civil Rights" (11.3%), "Contract" (7.2%), "Torts - Personal Injury - Other" (4.8%).
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 2021 was under the classification "Diversity", accounting for 52.5% of civil filings.
As shown in Figure 2, additional categories with substantial numbers of civil filings were "Federal Question" (33.4%) , "U.S. Government Defendant" (8.6%), "U.S. Government Plaintiff" (0.6%), "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 October 2021
Table 2. Specific Nature of Suit Types
Nature of Suit Count Rank 1 yr ago 5 yrs ago Personal Injury- Product Liability 10,742 1 1 3 More Health Care / Pharmaceutical Personal Injury Product Liability 1,651 2 2 4 More Civil Rights 1,417 3 3 2 More Other Civil Rights 1,257 4 6 6 More Insurance 1,140 5 7 13 More General Prisoner Petitions 1,035 6 5 5 More Consumer Credit 924 7 11 10 More Employment 894 8 12 8 More Amer w/Disabilities - Other 881 9 8 17 More Other Contract 744 10 9 9 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 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 2nd a year ago, while it was the 4th most frequently invoked five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Civil Rights". "Civil Rights" was ranked 3rd a year ago, while it was the 2nd most frequently invoked five years ago.
Among these top nature of suit categories, the one showing the greatest increase in civil filings — up 37.8 percent — compared to one year ago was "Personal Injury- Product Liability". This was the same category that had the largest increase — 638.8 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 23.5 percent — was "Other Contract". This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 22.4 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 2021 was 91.1 per every million persons in the United States. One year ago the relative number of filings was 91.3. 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 5,392.5 10,157 1 1 11 More D. C. 447.8 316 2 2 3 More N. J. 185.0 1,643 3 3 4 More La, W 173.8 371 4 35 26 More Delaware 156.1 152 5 5 6 More N. Y., S 155.2 806 6 4 5 More Ark, E 111.8 183 7 8 7 More Fla, S 98.7 738 8 7 9 More La, E 98.1 165 9 6 2 More Cal, N 91.8 769 10 15 19 More
The Northern District of Florida — with 5,392.5 civil filings as compared with 91.1 civil filings per one million people in the United States — was the most active during October 2021. 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 District of New Jersey now ranks 3rd. The District of New Jersey was ranked 3rd a year ago, while it was ranked 4th five years ago.
Recent entries to the top 10 list were Northern District of California (San Francisco) and Western District of Louisiana (Shreveport), now ranked 10th and 4th. These districts ranked 15th and 35th one year ago and 19th and 26th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of civil filings compared to one year ago — 170.8 percent — was Western District of Louisiana. Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 4888.5 percent — was Northern District of Florida .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of civil filings — 35.8 percent — was Eastern District of Louisiana. This was the same district that had the largest decrease — 78.4 percent — when compared with five years ago.
Report Generated: December 10, 2021
