U.S. Court of Federal Claims - Judicial Business 2015

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims has nationwide jurisdiction over a variety of monetary claims against the federal government, including those involving tax refunds, federal taking of private property for public use, pay and dismissal of federal civilian employees, pay and dismissal of military personnel, land claims brought by Native Americans and/or their tribe(s), contract disputes, bid protests, patents and copyright, congressional reference, and the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Act. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 791(c), each January the clerk of the court transmits to Congress a statement of all the judgments rendered, which notes the names of the claimants, the amounts, the dates of entry and the nature of the claims, and the disposition for all judgments rendered the previous fiscal year.

Filings in this court increased 15 percent to 1,435. Vaccine compensation cases climbed 25 percent to 809 cases. Contract/injunction cases rose 41 percent to 136 cases. Many of the general jurisdiction case filings, which grew 13 percent, were cases of increased complexity and national significance. Eighteen percent of cases filed in 2015 had multiple plaintiffs, and 12 percent of general jurisdiction cases involved intervening parties.

Cases involving property taken decreased 22 percent from 114 to 89. Such cases had risen 100 percent in 2014 when 38 consolidated cases were remanded to the court from the Federal Circuit.

Total case terminations increased 4 percent to 1,314. Vaccine case terminations rose 20 percent to 676. Pending cases grew 4 percent to 2,634. Filings in 2015 were 65 percent higher than filings in 2011.

For data on filings in the Court of Federal Claims, see Tables G-2A and G-2B.