U.S. Court of Federal Claims — Judicial Business 2021

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 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 nature of the claims, and the dispositions for all judgments rendered the previous fiscal year.

Filings in this court increased 47 percent to 2,753 in 2021. Vaccine compensation cases soared 72 percent to 2,063. Excluding vaccine compensation cases, filings rose 3 percent to 690 as contract/injunction cases grew 15 percent to 142. Many of the general jurisdiction cases were of increased complexity and national significance; for example, 19 percent of the general jurisdiction cases filed this fiscal year contained multiple plaintiffs, and 14 percent involved intervening parties.

Total case terminations decreased 4 percent to 1,679. Vaccine case terminations rose 10 percent to 1,028. Pending cases increased 25 percent to 5,399.

Filings in 2021 were 43 percent higher than in 2017. Case filings under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Act have climbed 65 percent from 1,247 petitions in 2017 to 2,063 petitions in 2021.

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