U.S. Courts of Appeals — Judicial Business 2024

Appeals by pro se litigants, which constituted 48 percent of new filings, rose 3 percent to 19,101 cases. Thirty-eight percent of all filings by pro se litigants were prisoner petitions. Eighty-seven percent of the 8,388 prisoner petitions received were filed pro se, as were 84 percent of the 3,002 original proceedings and miscellaneous applications.

For the second year, 79 percent of filings arose from cases originating in the U.S. district courts. Civil appeals, which amounted to 53 percent of total filings in the courts of appeals, fell 2 percent to 21,270.

Criminal appeals, which once again accounted for 25 percent of total filings in the courts of appeals, grew 4 percent to 10,067. Appeals in cases in the categories of violent offenses, drug offenses, firearms and explosives offenses, sex offenses, general offenses, and unclassified offenses increased. Reductions occurred in appeals in cases involving property offenses, justice system offenses, immigration offenses, regulatory offenses, and traffic offenses.

Administrative agency appeals rose 8 percent to 4,992 and represented 13 percent of total filings in the courts of appeals. Appeals of Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) decisions, which grew 8 percent, constituted 78 percent of administrative agency appeals. Fifty-eight percent of BIA appeals were filed in the Ninth Circuit, and 16 percent were filed in the Second Circuit.

Original proceedings and miscellaneous applications filed in the courts of appeals fell 9 percent to 3,002. Bankruptcy appeals dropped 30 percent and amounted to 1 percent of total appellate filings.

Case terminations decreased 1 percent to 40,086. Pending cases remained relatively stable, dropping less than 1 percent to 31,972.

Since 2020, filings in the courts of appeals have declined 17 percent. Original proceedings and miscellaneous applications have gone down 43 percent. Administrative agency appeals have decreased 30 percent. Civil appeals (including prisoner petitions) have fallen 17 percent. Bankruptcy appeals have dropped 26 percent. Criminal appeals filings have increased 4 percent. 

For data on the activity of the U.S. courts of appeals, see Table 1 and Table 2 and the B series of tables.

Bankruptcy Appellate Panels

The Bankruptcy Appellate Panels (BAPs) reported that total filings declined 2 percent (down 5 appeals) to 315 in 2024, the lowest level of the past 20 years. BAPs are three-judge panels authorized to hear appeals of bankruptcy court decisions. BAPs are units of the federal courts of appeals, and each BAP must be established by a circuit judicial council. Five federal judicial circuits—the First, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits—have BAPs.

BAP filings dropped 5 percent in the Ninth Circuit (down 10 appeals). Filings increased 9 percent in the Eighth Circuit (up 1 appeal), 6 percent in the First Circuit (up 2 appeals), 4 percent in the Sixth Circuit (up 1 appeal), and 3 percent in the Tenth Circuit (up 1 appeal). BAP case filings tend to lag bankruptcy case filings by one to two years.

Since 2020, BAP filings have fallen 40 percent (down 210 appeals). All five BAP circuits reported reductions in filings over this period. The Ninth Circuit had the greatest numeric decline, a decrease of 132 appeals (down 39 percent). The Tenth Circuit had 30 fewer appeals (down 49 percent), the First Circuit had 23 fewer appeals (down 38 percent), the Eighth Circuit had 18 fewer appeals (down 60 percent), and the Sixth Circuit had 7 fewer appeals (down 20 percent).

For data on the activity of the BAPs, see Table BAP-1  and Table BAP-2 .

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

The jurisdiction of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is defined by subject matter rather than by geographic boundaries. This court is responsible for appeals involving customs and patents; rulings by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, U.S. Court of International Trade, and U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims; and decisions by several federal administrative bodies.

Filings in the Federal Circuit dropped 4 percent to 1,468 in 2024 (down by 54 cases). The largest numeric decrease was a reduction of 105 cases in appeals of decisions by the Patent and Trademark Office (down 20 percent). The largest numeric increase was a rise of 70 cases in appeals of decisions by Merit Systems Protection Board (up 30 percent). The highest numbers of filings were reported for appeals of decisions by the Patent and Trademark Office (420 cases), the U.S. district courts (344 cases), and the Merit Systems Protection Board (301 cases).

Terminations of cases grew 9 percent to 1,393. The number of pending cases went up 5 percent to 1,729.

Filings in the Federal Circuit have increased 1 percent (up 12 appeals) over the last five years. The largest numeric growth occurred in appeals of decisions by the Merit Systems Protection Board, which rose by 171 to 301 (up 132 percent). The largest numeric reduction occurred in appeals of decisions by the Patent and Trademark Office, which fell by 121 to 420 (down 22 percent). Since 2020, case terminations have dropped 11 percent (down 175 appeals), and pending cases have climbed 39 percent (up 486 appeals).

For data on the activity of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, see Table B-8.