Civil Filings for March 2024
Table 1. Civil Filings
Number Latest Month 24,448 Percent Change from previous month 17.5% Percent Change from 1 year ago 4.7% Percent Change from 5 years ago 5.4% The latest available data from the federal courts show that during March 2024 the government reported 24,448 new civil filings. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 17.5% over the previous month when the number of civil filings of this type totaled 20,807.
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 2024 civil filings of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, their number was up (4.7%). Civil filings for March 2024 are higher than they were for the same period five years ago. Overall, the data show that civil filings of this type are up 5.4% from levels reported in March 2019.
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 March 2024 was for "Torts - Personal Injury - Product Liability", accounting for 19.6% of civil filings.
As shown in Figure 2, additional categories with substantial numbers of civil filings were "Prisoner Petitions " (16.4%) , "Civil Rights" (15.3%), "Contract" (10.3%), "Torts - Personal Injury - Other" (7.7%).
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 March 2024 was under the classification "Federal Question", accounting for 47.1% of civil filings.
As shown in Figure 2, additional categories with substantial numbers of civil filings were "Diversity" (37.3%) , "U.S. Government Defendant" (14.7%), "U.S. Government Plaintiff" (0.8%), "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 March 2024
Table 2. Specific Nature of Suit Types
Nature of Suit Count Rank 1 yr ago 5 yrs ago Health Care / Pharmaceutical Personal Injury Product Liability 3,571 1 1 1 More Civil Rights 1,588 2 3 2 More Other Civil Rights 1,532 3 5 6 More Personal Injury- Product Liability 1,198 4 2 5 More Other Contract 1,139 5 9 8 More Insurance 1,121 6 7 11 More Other Personal Injury 1,103 7 4 3 More Other Immigration Actions 1,044 8 8 25 More Employment 993 9 10 10 More General Prisoner Petitions 972 10 6 4 More
"Health Care / Pharmaceutical Personal Injury Product Liability" was the most frequent recorded nature of suit category. "Health Care / Pharmaceutical 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 "Civil Rights". "Civil Rights" was ranked 3rd 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 6th most frequently invoked five years ago.
Among these top nature of suit categories, the one showing the greatest increase in civil filings — up 11.6 percent — compared to one year ago was "Other Contract". This was the same category that had the largest increase — 493.2 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 72.7 percent — was "Personal Injury- Product Liability". This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 39.6 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 March 2024 was 73.4 per every million persons in the United States. One year ago the relative number of filings was 93.5. 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 D. C. 467.4 314 1 3 2 More N. J. 363.8 3,369 2 19 3 More Fla, N 223.7 437 3 1 19 More N. Y., S 173.9 902 4 5 6 More Vermont 171.5 111 5 74 88 More Delaware 132.6 135 6 8 5 More La, E 121.2 200 7 4 1 More S Car 107.5 568 8 14 28 More N. Y., E 102.8 850 9 12 21 More Fla, S 100.3 753 10 2 7 More
The District of Washington, D.C. — with 467.4 civil filings as compared with 73.4 civil filings per one million people in the United States — was the most active during March 2024. The District of Washington, D.C. was ranked 3rd a year ago, while it was ranked 2nd five years ago.
The District of New Jersey ranked 2nd.
The Northern District of Florida now ranks 3rd. The Northern District of Florida was ranked 1st a year ago.
Recent entries to the top 10 list were Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn), South Carolina, New Jersey and Vermont, now ranked 9th, 8th, 2nd and 5th. These districts ranked 12th, 14th, 19th and 74th one year ago and 21st, 28th, 3rd and 88th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of civil filings compared to one year ago — 344.0 percent — was Vermont. This was the same district that had the largest increase — 723.4 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 — 88.6 percent — was Southern District of Florida. But over the past five years, Eastern District of Louisiana showed the largest drop — 94.7 percent.
Report Generated: April 16, 2024
