Civil Filings for June 2016
Table 1. Civil Filings
Number Latest Month 40,060 Percent Change from previous month 49.2% Percent Change from 1 year ago 9.4% Percent Change from 5 years ago 14.3% The latest available data from the federal courts show that during June 2016 the government reported 40,060 new civil filings. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 49.2% over the previous month when the number of civil filings of this type totaled 26,853.
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 2016 civil filings of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, their number was up (9.4%). Civil filings for June 2016 are higher than they were for the same period five years ago. Overall, the data show that civil filings of this type are up 14.3% from levels reported in June 2011.
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 June 2016 was for "Prisoner Petitions", accounting for 44.5% of civil filings.
As shown in Figure 2, additional categories with substantial numbers of civil filings were "Torts - Personal Injury - Product Liability " (16.0%) , "Civil Rights" (8.4%), "Contract" (5.2%), "Social Security" (4.6%).
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 June 2016 was under the classification "U.S. Government Defendant", accounting for 38.4% of civil filings.
As shown in Figure 2, additional categories with substantial numbers of civil filings were "Federal Question" (31.3%) , "Diversity" (24.3%), "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 June 2016
Table 2. Top District filed
Nature of Suit Count Rank 1 yr ago 5 yrs ago Motions to Vacate Sentence 13,090 1 19 18 More Health Care / Pharmaceutical Personal Injury Product Liability 4,275 2 2 86 More Civil Rights 2,338 3 4 1 More Personal Injury- Product Liability 2,035 4 1 4 More General Prisoner Petitions 1,525 5 3 2 More Other Civil Rights 1,288 6 5 3 More Employment 1,077 7 6 5 More Other Contract 969 8 7 6 More Other Statutory Actions 963 9 10 9 More Consumer Credit 905 10 8 7 More
"Motions to Vacate Sentence" was the most frequent recorded nature of suit category.
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.
Ranked 3rd was "Civil Rights". "Civil Rights" was ranked 4th a year ago, while it was the 1st most frequently invoked five years ago.
Among these top nature of suit categories, the one showing the greatest increase in civil filings — up 3024.1 percent — compared to one year ago was "Motions to Vacate Sentence". This was the same category that had the largest increase — 427400 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 21.7 percent — was "Personal Injury- Product Liability". This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 22.5 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 June 2016 was 124.6 per every million persons in the United States. One year ago the relative number of filings was 79.7. 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 2,781.0 4,653 1 3 7 More W Virg, S 1,085.8 991 2 1 20 More D. C. 538.5 362 3 2 2 More N. Y., S 234.5 1,231 4 4 6 More Fla, S 232.1 1,681 5 12 10 More Tenn, M 225.6 550 6 53 34 More Texas, E 220.5 850 7 6 25 More Delaware 179.7 170 8 8 8 More Penn, E 177.7 1,040 9 9 3 More N Dakota 162.5 123 10 64 90 More
The Eastern District of Louisiana — with 2,781.0 civil filings as compared with 124.6 civil filings per one million people in the United States — was the most active during June 2016. The Eastern District of Louisiana was ranked 3rd a year ago, while it was ranked 7th five years ago.
The Southern District of West Virginia ranked 2nd. The Southern District of West Virginia was ranked 1st a year ago.
The District of Washington, D.C. now ranks 3rd. The District of Washington, D.C. was ranked 2nd a year ago as well as five years ago.
Recent entries to the top 10 list were Southern District of Florida (Miami), Middle District of Tennessee (Nashville) and North Dakota, now ranked 5th, 6th and 10th. These districts ranked 12th, 53rd and 64th one year ago and 10th, 34th and 90th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of civil filings compared to one year ago — 789.7 percent — was Eastern District of Louisiana. This was the same district that had the largest increase — 1764.4 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 — 52.1 percent — was Southern District of West Virginia. But over the past five years, Eastern District of Pennsylvania showed the largest drop — 24.3 percent.
Report Generated: July 18, 2016
