The consolidated Civil Justice Reform Act (CJRA) report contains aggregate data on motions pending, bench trials submitted, bankruptcy appeals, Social Security appeal cases each pending more than six months, and civil cases pending more than three years.
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, civil case, or bankruptcy appeal is “pending”; In addition to Appendix A of the CJRA report, Appendix B lists the inclusion definitions, Appendix C includes the exclusion definitions, Appendix D lists CJRA status codes, and Appendix E lists the nature of suit codes used in civil litigation.
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 September 30, 2024. District judge and magistrate judge caseloads change constantly, so many of the matters pending on September 30, 2024, 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 caseloads 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 March 31, 2024, and September 30, 2024, appears in CJRA Tables 1-4.
Number of Motions Pending on September 30, 2024
Motions. The total number of motions pending more than six months for all district judges and magistrate judges increased by 119 motions (up 1 percent) from 9,588 on March 31, 2024, to 9,707 on September 30, 2024. Ninety-six percent of all motions pending were before district judges, and 4 percent were before magistrate judges.
For this CJRA report, eight circuits reported increases in pending motions, and four circuits reported decreases. The largest rises in pending motions occurred in the Fifth Circuit (up 116 motions), Eleventh Circuit (up 65 motions), and Fourth Circuit (up 60 motions). Within these circuits, the following districts reported the largest increases in pending motions (in many types of civil cases): the Western District of Texas (up 52 motions), Northern District of Alabama (up 75 motions), and Middle District of North Carolina (up 40 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 9,707 pending motions reported for September 30, 2024. The status codes cited most often were heavy criminal and civil caseload (2,458 motions), awaiting materials (2,148 motions), opinion/decision in draft (2,019 motions), complexity of case (2,015 motions), voluminous briefs/transcripts to be read (1,158 motions), and demands of criminal docket (829 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 (2,263 motions), civil rights (2,151 motions), contract (1,060 motions), prisoner petitions (1,040 motions), intellectual property rights (741 motions), and labor (502 motions).
Number of Bench Trials Submitted Pending on September 30, 2024
Bench Trials. The total number of bench trials pending more than six months for all district judges and magistrate judges increased by 6 to 72 on September 30, 2024. Ninety-four percent of all bench trials submitted were before district judges, and 6 percent were before magistrate judges. Five of the 12 circuits reported growth in pending bench trials, in 2 circuits the totals remained unchanged, and 5 circuits reported reductions.
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 72 pending bench trials reported for September 30, 2024. The status codes cited most often were opinion/decision in draft (46 trials), voluminous briefs/transcripts to be read (20 trials), complexity of case (17 trials), heavy criminal and civil caseload (11 trials), and awaiting materials (4 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 (22 trials), civil rights (11 trials), intellectual property rights (11 trials), labor (8 trials), and other statutory actions (5 trials).
Number of Bankruptcy Appeals Pending on September 30, 2024
Bankruptcy Appeals. Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months decreased 21 percent from 126 on March 31, 2024, to 99 on September 30, 2024. All of these pending bankruptcy appeals were reported by district judges. Reductions occurred in 8 of the 12 circuits, 3 circuits had increases, and in 1 circuit the total remained unchanged. Five circuits accounted for 89 percent of all pending bankruptcy appeals: the Third Circuit (25 appeals), Second Circuit (18 appeals), Fifth Circuit (16 appeals), Seventh Circuit (16 appeals), and Ninth Circuit (13 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 99 pending bankruptcy appeals reported for September 30, 2024. The status codes cited most often were heavy criminal and civil caseload (26 appeals), voluminous briefs/transcripts to be read (21 appeals), complexity of case (18 appeals), awaiting materials (13 appeals), opinion/decision in draft (12 appeals), and case consolidated (5 appeals).
Number of Social Security Appeals Pending on September 30, 2024
Social Security Appeals. Social Security appeals pending more than six months dropped 7 percent from 1,195 on March 31, 2024, to 1,117 on September 30, 2024. District judges reported 54 percent of these appeals; magistrate judges reported 46 percent. Seven of the 12 circuits reported decreases, and 4 reported increases, and in 1 circuit the total remained unchanged. The largest reductions in pending Social Security appeals occurred in the Seventh Circuit (down 31 appeals), Ninth Circuit (down 31appeals), Tenth Circuit (down 23 appeals), Sixth Circuit (down 12 appeals), and Fifth Circuit (down 9 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 1,117 pending Social Security appeals reported for September 30, 2024. The status codes cited most often were voluminous briefs/transcripts to be read (446 appeals), heavy criminal and civil caseload (287 appeals), opinion/decision in draft (102 appeals), assigned to new judge (89 appeals), recently received from the calendar of another judge (88 appeals), referred to magistrate judge (60 appeals), and demands of criminal docket (53 appeals).
Primary Nature of Suit Codes in Pending Social Security Appeals. Fifty-eight percent of pending Social Security appeals (648 appeals) involved disability insurance, 31 percent (345 appeals) addressed supplemental security income, and 11 percent (120 appeals) were related to retirement and survivors’ benefits.
Number of Civil Cases Pending on September 30, 2024
Civil Cases. The number of civil cases pending more than three years increased 5 percent (up 4,125 cases) from 81,617 on March 31, 2024, to 85,742 on September 30, 2024. District judges reported 99 percent of all pending three-year-old cases, and magistrate judges reported 1 percent. Three-year-old cases grew in 5 of the 12 circuits and declined in 7 circuits. The largest growth occurred in the Third Circuit, which had 6,053 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 928 more pending cases, most of them part of multidistrict litigation in which plaintiffs allege defects 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 85,742 civil cases reported for September 30, 2024. The status codes cited most often were multidistrict litigation (74,934 cases), complexity of case (2,907 cases), awaiting materials (1,914 cases), extensive discovery involved (1,519 cases), referred to magistrate judge (1,368 cases), trial scheduled (1,363 cases), heavy criminal and civil caseload (1,307 cases), settlement pending (1,005 cases), and opinion/decision in draft (925 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 (65,071 cases), personal injury/product liability (4,648 cases), prisoner petitions (2,501 cases), civil rights (2,420 cases), other personal injury (2,124 cases), Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) (1,864 cases), contract (1,438 cases), and antitrust (798 cases).