September 2019 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 September 30, 2019. District judge and magistrate judge caseloads change constantly, so many of the matters pending on September 30, 2019, 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 March 31, 2019, and September 30, 2019, appears in CJRA Tables 1-4.

Number of Motions Pending on September 30, 2019

Motions. The total number of motions pending more than six months for all district judges and magistrate judges dropped by 154 motions from 5,520 on March 31, 2019, to 5,366 on September 30, 2019. Ninety-two percent of all motions pending were before district judges, and eight percent were before magistrate judges.

For this CJRA report, seven circuits reported decreases in pending motions, and five circuits reported increases. The largest reductions in pending motions occurred in the Fifth Circuit (down 191 motions), Second Circuit (down 101 motions), and Eleventh Circuit (down 55 motions). Within these circuits, the following districts reported the largest declines in pending motions (in many types of civil cases): The Western District of Louisiana (down 106 motions), Western District of Kentucky (down 71 motions), and Western District of Oklahoma (down 57 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 5,366 pending motions reported for September 30, 2019. The status codes cited most often were opinion/decision in draft (1,559 motions), complexity of case (1,114 motions), heavy criminal and civil caseload (1,078 motions), voluminous briefs/transcripts to be read (777 motions), referred to magistrate judge (387 motions), and awaiting materials (354 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 civil rights (1,219 motions), prisoner petitions (986 motions), contract (778 motions), labor (373 motions), other statutory actions (300 motions), and intellectual property rights (263 motions).

Number of Bench Trials Submitted Pending on September 30, 2019

Bench Trials. The total number of bench trials pending more than six months for all district judges and magistrate judges increased by 6 to 54 on September 30, 2019. Eighty-five percent of all bench trials submitted were before district judges, and 15 percent were before magistrate judges. Four of the 12 circuits reported growth in pending bench trials, 3 circuits had fewer pending bench trials, and the totals for 5 circuits remained unchanged.

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 54 pending bench trials reported for September 30, 2019. The status codes cited most often were opinion/decision in draft (24 trials), voluminous briefs/transcripts to be read (14 trials), complexity of case (13 trials), heavy criminal and civil caseload (10 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 (12 trials), civil rights (11 trials), labor (7 trials), and prisoner petitions (6 trials).

Number of Bankruptcy Appeals Pending on September 30, 2019

Bankruptcy Appeals. Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months increased 11 percent from 116 on March 31, 2019, to 129 on September 30, 2019. All pending bankruptcy appeals were reported by district judges. Growth occurred in 6 of the 12 circuits, 5 circuits had decreases, and the total for 1 circuit remained unchanged. Five circuits accounted for 81 percent of all pending bankruptcy appeals: the Ninth Circuit (47 appeals), Fifth Circuit (19 appeals), Seventh Circuit (14 appeals), Second Circuit (13 appeals), and Third Circuit (11 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 129 pending bankruptcy appeals reported for September 30, 2019. The status codes cited most often were opinion/decision in draft (38 appeals), heavy criminal and civil caseload (25 appeals), complexity of case (23 appeals), case consolidated (20 appeals), voluminous briefs/transcripts to be read (17 appeals), and awaiting materials (15 appeals).

Number of Social Security Appeals Pending on September 30, 2019

Social Security Appeals. Social Security appeals pending more than six months fell 11 percent from 854 on March 31, 2019, to 760 on September 30, 2019. District judges reported 74 percent of these appeals; magistrate judges reported 26 percent. Five of the 12 circuits reported decreases, 5 had increases, and 2 reported that their totals remained unchanged. The largest reductions in pending Social Security appeals occurred in the Second Circuit (down 92 appeals), Third Circuit (down 60 appeals), Sixth Circuit (down 3 appeals), Seventh Circuit (down 2 appeals), and Tenth Circuit (down 1 appeal).

Primary Reasons for Delays in Pending Social Security Appeals. District courts provided one or more status codes to indicate reasons for delays for all 760 pending Social Security appeals reported for September 30, 2019. The status codes cited most often were heavy criminal and civil caseload (173 cases), recently received from the calendar of another judge (150 appeals), opinion/decision in draft (149 appeals), voluminous briefs/transcripts to be read (108 appeals), referred to magistrate judge (80 appeals), recently received from the magistrate judge on recommendation (54 appeals), and decided after the end of the reporting period (40 appeals).

Primary Nature of Suit Codes in Pending Social Security Appeals. Fifty-nine percent of pending Social Security appeals (451 appeals) involved disability insurance, 35 percent (264 appeals) addressed supplemental security income, and 6 percent (42 appeals) were related to retirement and survivors’ benefits.

Number of Civil Cases Pending on September 30, 2019

Civil Cases. The number of civil cases pending more than three years decreased 14 percent (down 5,538 cases) from 40,535 on March 31, 2019, to 34,997 on September 30, 2019. District judges reported 99 percent of all pending three-year-old cases, and magistrate judges reported the remaining 1 percent. Three-year-old cases declined in 4 of the 12 circuits and grew in 8 circuits. The largest reduction occurred in the Fourth Circuit, which had 12,730 fewer pending cases, mostly due to the termination of multidistrict litigation involving pelvic support system products. The second-largest reduction occurred in the Third Circuit, which had 498 fewer pending cases.

Primary Reasons for Delays in Pending Civil Cases. District courts provided one or more status codes to indicate reasons for delays for all 34,997 civil cases reported for September 30, 2019. The status codes cited most often were multidistrict litigation (26,537 cases), complexity of case (2,225 cases), awaiting materials (1,231 cases), extensive discovery involved (1,035 cases), settlement pending (1,034 cases), opinion/decision in draft (918 cases), referred to magistrate judge (881 cases), trial scheduled (880 cases), and heavy criminal and civil caseload (840 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 (18,704 cases), personal injury/product liability (5,134 cases), prisoner petitions (2,619 petitions), civil rights (1,606 cases), contract (1,102 cases), antitrust (871 cases), and other statutory actions (738 cases).