Civil Filings for November 2012
Number Latest Month 19,793 Percent Change from previous month -9.7% Percent Change from 1 year ago -12.8% Percent Change from 5 years ago 2.4%
Table 1: Civil FilingsThe latest available data from the federal courts show that during November 2012 the government reported 19,793 new civil filings. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 9.7% over the previous month when the number of civil filings of this type totaled 21,911.
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 2012 civil filings of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, their number was down (-12.8%). Civil filings for November 2012 are higher than they were for the same period five years ago. Overall, the data show that civil filings of this type are up 2.4% from levels reported in November 2007.
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 through November 2012 was for "Prisoner Petitions", accounting for 19.0% of civil filings.
As shown in Figure 2, additional categories with substantial numbers of civil filings were "Civil Rights " (14.2%) , "Torts - Personal Injury - Product Liability" (12.0%), "Contract" (11.1%), "Social Security" (7.8%).
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 through November 2012 was under the classification "Federal Question", accounting for 48.5% of civil filings.
As shown in Figure 2, additional categories with substantial numbers of civil filings were "Diversity" (26.9%) , "U.S. Government Defendant" (13.6%), "U.S. Government Plaintiff" (2.1%).
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 November 2012
Nature of Suit Count Rank 1 yr ago 5 yrs ago Personal Injury- Product Liability 2,009 1 7 9 More General Prisoner Petitions 1,338 2 2 2 More Other Civil Rights 1,205 3 5 4 More Civil Rights 1,203 4 4 3 More Employment 1,156 5 3 8 More Other Contract 1,029 6 6 5 More SSID Title XVI 833 7 9 14 More Insurance 712 8 13 1 More Consumer Credit 686 9 8 19 More Other Statutory Actions 667 10 11 7 More
Table 2: Top district filed
"Personal Injury- Product Liability" was the most frequent recorded nature of suit category. "Personal Injury- Product Liability" was ranked 7th a year ago, while it was the 9th most frequently invoked five years ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the nature of suit category "General Prisoner Petitions". "General Prisoner Petitions" was ranked 2nd 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 4th most frequently invoked five years ago.
Among these top nature of suit categories, the one showing the greatest increase in civil filings—up 94.9 percent—compared to one year ago was "Personal Injury- Product Liability". This was the same category that had the largest increase—154.1%—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 17.0 percent—was "Consumer Credit". This was the same statute that had the largest decrease—64.2%—when compared with five years ago.
Judicial District Percapita Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago W Virg, S 1,299.1 1,200 1 6 10 More Delaware 290.4 257 2 5 7 More D. C. 290.2 174 3 2 2 More Ill, S 156.2 199 4 3 53 More N. Y., S 141.6 727 5 4 3 More La, E 138.0 221 6 7 1 More Penn, E 111.2 636 7 1 9 More R. I. 102.5 108 8 17 17 More Miss, S 98.7 182 9 19 6 More Texas, N 97.8 656 10 32 46 More
Table 3: Top 10 districts (per one million people)
The Southern District of West Virginia—with 1,299.1 civil filings as compared with &nationalpercapita civil filings per one million people in the United States—was the most active through November 2012. The Southern District of West Virginia was ranked 6th a year ago, while it was ranked 10th five years ago.
The District of Delaware ranked 2nd. The District of Delaware was ranked 5th a year ago, while it was ranked 7th five years 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 Rhode Island, Southern District of Mississippi (Jackson) and Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth), now ranked 8th, 9th and 10th. These districts ranked 17th, 19th and 32nd one year ago and 17th, 6th and 46th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of civil filings compared to one year ago—816.0 percent—was Southern District of West Virginia. This was the same district that had the largest increase—1216.9%—when compared with five years ago.
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of civil filings—91.6 percent—was Eastern District of Pennsylvania. But over the past five years, Eastern District of Louisiana showed the largest drop—85.5 percent.
Report Generated: December 20, 2012
