March 2023 Civil Justice Reform Act

Introduction

The Civil Justice Reform Act of 1990 (CJRA) requires the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AO), under 28 U.S.C. § 476, to prepare a semiannual report showing, by U.S. district judge and U.S. magistrate judge, all motions pending more than six months, all bench trials that have remained undecided more than six months, and all civil cases pending more than three years. In accordance with the policy of the Judicial Conference of the United States, this report also presents data on bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months (Rpt. of Proc. of JCUS, Mar. 10, 1998, at 11) and Social Security appeals pending more than six months (Rpt. of Proc. of JCUS, Sept. 15, 1998, at 63). The reporting requirements under the CJRA are designed to help reduce both costs and delays in civil litigation in the district courts. The information also may be used to evaluate demands on the district courts’ resources.

The CJRA report is prepared through the use of the Case Management/Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF) system. As a result, pending motions, bench trials, three-year-old cases, bankruptcy appeals, and Social Security appeals are reported in a standardized and consistent fashion.

Appendix A provides data for each district judge and magistrate judge on motions pending, bench trials submitted, cases pending more than three years, bankruptcy appeals pending, and Social Security appeals pending. The CJRA requires the AO Director to establish uniform standards for determining when a motion, bench trial, case, or bankruptcy appeal is “pending”; Appendix B lists these definitions.

Along with the semiannual consolidated national report, the AO prepares a supplemental report, A Report on Motions Pending for More Than Six Months, Bench Trials Submitted for More Than Six Months, Civil Cases Pending Three Years or More, Bankruptcy Appeals Pending for More Than Six Months, and Social Security Appeals Pending for More Than Six Months, that provides detailed information regarding the individual cases, motions, bench trials, and appeals pending in the district courts. This document is available to the public through the district courts, the executive offices of the U.S. courts of appeals, and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

Report Findings

The information in this report presents what may best be described as a “snapshot” of motions pending more than six months, bench trials submitted more than six months, civil cases pending more than three years, bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months, and Social Security appeals pending more than six months on March 31, 2023. District judge and magistrate judge caseloads change constantly, so many of the matters pending on March 31, 2023, have since been decided or transferred to other judges. Therefore, persons using reports of this type should take into account the state of change in the district courts’ pending caseloads. Although the information provided in this report pertains to the pending civil caseload of district judges and magistrate judges, readers should take into consideration the overall case processing demands placed on the courts by both civil and criminal matters. An accurate assessment of the demands placed on the district courts also requires consideration of numerous factors, including vacant judgeships and the effects of all cases making up each court’s caseload.

Methodology

This national report is designed to place special emphasis on detailed analyses that are extracted from the national CM/ECF system. Each district court is required to analyze the reasons for delays in disposing of motions, bench trials, three-year-old cases, bankruptcy appeals, and Social Security appeals. Judges use status codes to provide reasons for delays in these matters (see Appendix C). The nature of suit codes for types of civil litigation appear in Appendix D. More specific information about cases pending, motions pending, bench trials submitted, bankruptcy appeals pending, and Social Security appeals pending on September 30, 2022, and March 31, 2023, appears in CJRA Tables 1-4.

Number of Motions Pending on March 31, 2023 

Motions. The total number of motions pending more than six months for all district judges and magistrate judges decreased by 590 motions (down 6 percent) from 10,113 on September 30, 2022, to 9,523 on March 31, 2023. Ninety-four percent of all motions pending were before district judges, and 6 percent were before magistrate judges.

For this CJRA report, eight circuits reported decreases in pending motions, and four circuits reported increases. The largest reductions in pending motions occurred in the First Circuit (down 309 motions), Sixth Circuit (down 236 motions), and Ninth Circuit (down 161 motions). Within these circuits, the following districts reported the largest decreases in pending motions (in many types of civil cases): The District of Puerto Rico (down 241 motions), Southern District of Ohio (down 114 motions), and Central District of California (down 65 motions).

Primary Reasons for Delays in Pending Motions. District courts provided one or more status codes to indicate primary reasons for delays for each of the 9,523 pending motions reported for March 31, 2023. The status codes cited most often were awaiting materials (2,263 motions), opinion/decision in draft (2,134 motions), heavy criminal and civil caseload (1,994 motions), complexity of case (1,682 motions), voluminous briefs/transcripts to be read (1,079 motions), and demands of criminal docket (722 motions).

Primary Nature of Suit Codes in Pending Motions. The primary nature of suit codes provided most often by district courts for pending motions were other statutory actions (2,289 motions), civil rights (2,022 motions), contract (1,158 motions), prisoner petitions (925 motions), intellectual property rights (744 motions), and labor (448 motions).

Number of Bench Trials Submitted Pending on March 31, 2023

Bench Trials. The total number of bench trials pending more than six months for all district judges and magistrate judges decreased by 4 to 78 on March 31, 2023. Ninety-six percent of all bench trials submitted were before district judges, and 4 percent were before magistrate judges. Five of the 12 circuits reported growth in pending bench trials, in 1 circuit the total remained unchanged, and 6 circuits reported decreases.

Primary Reasons for Delays in Pending Bench Trials. District courts provided one or more status codes to indicate the primary reasons for delays for each of the 78 pending bench trials reported for March 31, 2023. The status codes cited most often were opinion/decision in draft (44 trials), complexity of case (19 trials), voluminous briefs/transcripts to be read (17 trials), heavy criminal and civil caseload (15 trials), and parties given additional time to file supplemental briefs (7 trials).

Primary Nature of Suit Codes in Pending Bench Trials. The primary nature of suit codes provided most often for pending bench trials were contract (13 trials), civil rights (12 trials), intellectual property rights (6 trials), labor (6 trials), and real property (5 trials).

Number of Bankruptcy Appeals Pending on March 31, 2023 

Bankruptcy Appeals. Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months decreased 26 percent from 145 on September 30, 2022, to 107 on March 31, 2023. Ninety-nine percent of all bankruptcy appeals submitted were before district judges, and 1 percent were before magistrate judges. Reductions occurred in 7 of the 12 circuits, 2 circuits had increases, and the totals for 3 circuits remained unchanged. Five circuits accounted for 86 percent of all pending bankruptcy appeals: the Third Circuit (26 appeals), Ninth Circuit (26 appeals), Second Circuit (15 appeals), Fifth Circuit (13 appeals), and Seventh Circuit (12 appeals).

Primary Reasons for Delays in Pending Bankruptcy Appeals. District courts provided one or more status codes to indicate reasons for delays for each of the 107 pending bankruptcy appeals reported for March 31, 2023. The status codes cited most often were heavy criminal and civil caseload (30 appeals), opinion/decision in draft (28 appeals), complexity of case (20 appeals), awaiting materials (12 appeals), recently received from the calendar of another judge (10 appeals), and voluminous briefs/transcripts to be read (10 appeals). 

Number of Social Security Appeals Pending on March 31, 2023

Social Security Appeals. Social Security appeals pending more than six months dropped 23 percent from 1,912 on September 30, 2022, to 1,473 on March 31, 2023. District judges reported 60 percent of these appeals; magistrate judges reported 40 percent. Eleven of the 12 circuits reported decreases, and 1 reported that its total remained unchanged. The largest reductions in pending Social Security appeals occurred in the Second Circuit (down 189 appeals), Ninth Circuit (down 75 appeals), Sixth Circuit (down 45 appeals), Seventh Circuit (down 41 appeals), Third Circuit (down 24 appeals), and Tenth Circuit (down 22 appeals).

Primary Reasons for Delays in Pending Social Security Appeals. District courts provided one or more status codes to indicate reasons for delays for all 1,473 pending Social Security appeals reported for March 31, 2023. The status codes cited most often were voluminous briefs/transcripts to be read (457 appeals), heavy criminal and civil caseload (422 appeals), assigned to new judge (196 cases), opinion/decision in draft (174 appeals), recently received from the calendar of another judge (101 appeals), demands of criminal docket (94 appeals), and referred to magistrate judge (68 appeals).

Primary Nature of Suit Codes in Pending Social Security Appeals. Sixty-two percent of pending Social Security appeals (913 appeals) involved disability insurance, 27 percent (403 appeals) addressed supplemental security income, and 10 percent (149 appeals) were related to retirement and survivors’ benefits.

Number of Civil Cases Pending on March 31, 2023

Civil Cases. The number of civil cases pending more than three years increased 2 percent (up 1,021 cases) from 64,815 on September 30, 2022, to 65,836 on March 31, 2023. District judges reported 99 percent of all pending three-year-old cases, and magistrate judges reported 1 percent. Three-year-old cases grew in 10 of the 12 circuits and declined in 2 circuits. The largest growth occurred in the Third Circuit, which had 2,929 more pending cases, most of them part of multidistrict litigation consisting of healthcare/pharmaceutical lawsuits addressing Johnson & Johnson talcum powder products. The second-largest growth occurred in the Seventh Circuit, which had 692 more pending cases, most of them part of multidistrict litigation involving an alleged defect in Cook Medical’s IVC filter, a medical device placed in the inferior vena cava to catch blood clots and stop them from traveling to the heart or lungs.

Primary Reasons for Delays in Pending Civil Cases. District courts provided one or more status codes to indicate reasons for delays for all 65,836 civil cases reported for March 31, 2023. The status codes cited most often were multidistrict litigation (54,290 cases), complexity of case (3,091 cases), settlement pending (2,106 cases), awaiting materials (1,756 cases), trial scheduled (1,684 cases), extensive discovery involved (1,586 cases), referred to magistrate judge (1,465 cases), heavy criminal and civil caseload (1,245 cases), and opinion/decision in draft (1,092 cases).

Primary Nature of Suit Codes in Pending Civil Cases. The primary nature of suit codes given most often by district courts for pending civil cases were health care/pharmaceutical (44,523 cases), personal injury/product liability (4,573 petitions), prisoner petitions (2,825 cases), civil rights (2,645 cases), other personal injury (2,167 cases), RICO (1,815 cases), contract (1,524 cases), and labor (841 cases).