Civil Filings for January 2018
Table 1. Civil Filings
Number Latest Month 22,242 Percent Change from previous month -6.0% Percent Change from 1 year ago 4.0% Percent Change from 5 years ago 6.3% The latest available data from the federal courts show that during January 2018 the government reported 22,242 new civil filings. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 6.0% over the previous month when the number of civil filings of this type totaled 23,666.
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 2018 civil filings of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, their number was up (4.0%). Civil filings for January 2018 are higher than they were for the same period five years ago. Overall, the data show that civil filings of this type are up 6.3% from levels reported in January 2013.
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 January 2018 was for "Prisoner Petitions", accounting for 19.9% of civil filings.
As shown in Figure 2, additional categories with substantial numbers of civil filings were "Civil Rights " (15.3%) , "Torts - Personal Injury - Product Liability" (13.4%), "Contract" (8.6%), "Social Security" (7.5%).
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 January 2018 was under the classification "Federal Question", accounting for 51.6% of civil filings.
As shown in Figure 2, additional categories with substantial numbers of civil filings were "Diversity" (26.6%) , "U.S. Government Defendant" (13.5%), "U.S. Government Plaintiff" (1.3%).
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 January 2018
Table 2. Top District filed
Nature of Suit Count Rank 1 yr ago 5 yrs ago Health Care / Pharmaceutical Personal Injury Product Liability 2,263 1 4 19 More Civil Rights 1,532 2 1 3 More General Prisoner Petitions 1,460 3 2 2 More Other Civil Rights 1,255 4 5 4 More Employment 968 5 6 5 More Other Contract 916 6 8 6 More Consumer Credit 892 7 6 7 More Prison Condition 883 8 9 10 More DIWC/DIWW (405(g)) 836 9 16 15 More Amer w/Disabilities - Other 821 10 12 21 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 4th a year ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the nature of suit category "Civil Rights". "Civil Rights" was ranked 1st a year ago, while it was the 3rd most frequently invoked five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "General Prisoner Petitions". "General Prisoner Petitions" was ranked 2nd 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 76.4 percent — compared to one year ago was "Health Care / Pharmaceutical Personal Injury Product Liability". This was the same category that had the largest increase — 484.8 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 6.8 percent — was "Civil Rights". This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 7.9 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 January 2018 was 68.8 per every million persons in the United States. One year ago the relative number of filings was 66.2. 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 La, E 552.3 928 1 2 6 More D. C. 340.6 232 2 3 3 More W Virg, S 270.5 244 3 1 1 More Delaware 198.5 189 4 10 4 More Fla, N 177.2 327 5 9 19 More N. Y., S 175.9 923 6 4 5 More N. J. 172.6 1,544 7 12 23 More Ill, S 129.8 164 8 17 2 More La, M 116.1 97 9 22 18 More Fla, S 106.9 783 10 7 9 More
The Eastern District of Louisiana — with 552.3 civil filings as compared with 68.8 civil filings per one million people in the United States — was the most active during January 2018. The Eastern District of Louisiana was ranked 2nd a year ago, while it was ranked 6th five years ago.
The District of Washington, D.C. ranked 2nd. The District of Washington, D.C. was ranked 3rd a year ago as well as five years ago.
The Southern District of West Virginia now ranks 3rd. The Southern District of West Virginia was ranked 1st a year ago as well as five years ago.
Recent entries to the top 10 list were New Jersey, Southern District of Illinois (East St. Louis) and Middle District of Louisiana (Baton Rouge), now ranked 7th, 8th and 9th. These districts ranked 12th, 17th and 22nd one year ago and 23rd, 2nd and 18th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of civil filings compared to one year ago — 90.9 percent — was Delaware. Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 363.8 percent — was Eastern District of Louisiana .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of civil filings — 78.0 percent — was Southern District of West Virginia. This was the same district that had the largest decrease — 85.9 percent — when compared with five years ago.
Report Generated: February 19, 2018
