September 2021 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, 2021. District judge and magistrate judge caseloads change constantly, so many of the matters pending on September 30, 2021, 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, 2021, and September 30, 2021, appears in CJRA Tables 1-4.

Number of Motions Pending on September 30, 2021

Motions. The total number of motions pending more than six months for all district judges and magistrate judges increased by 335 motions (up 3 percent) from 10,079 on March 31, 2021, to 10,414 on September 30, 2021. 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 growth in pending motions, and four circuits reported decreases. The largest rises in pending motions occurred in the Tenth Circuit (up 212 motions), Fifth Circuit (up 197 motions), and Sixth Circuit (up 177 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 265 motions), District of the Colorado (up 111 motions), and Western District of Kentucky (up 109 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 10,414 pending motions reported for September 30, 2021. The status codes cited most often were opinion/decision in draft (2,586 motions), awaiting materials (2,290 motions), heavy criminal and civil caseload (1,985 motions), complexity of case (1,453 motions), voluminous briefs/transcripts to be read (1,098 motions), and demands of criminal docket (580 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 (2,545 motions), civil rights (2,229 motions), contract (1,314 motions), prisoner petitions (1,112 motions), intellectual property rights (691 motions), and labor (511 motions).

Number of Bench Trials Submitted Pending on September 30, 2021

Bench Trials. The total number of bench trials pending more than six months for all district judges and magistrate judges increased by 7 to 56 on September 30, 2021. Ninety-three percent of all bench trials submitted were before district judges, and 7 percent were before magistrate judges. Seven of the 12 circuits reported growth in pending bench trials, in 3 circuits the totals remained unchanged, and 2 circuits reported decreases.

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 56 pending bench trials reported for September 30, 2021. The status codes cited most often were opinion/decision in draft (37 trials), voluminous briefs/transcripts to be read (13 trials), heavy criminal and civil caseload (12 trials), complexity of case (11 trials), and parties given additional time to file supplemental briefs (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 civil rights (15 trials), contract (9 trials), labor (4 trials), intellectual property rights (3 trials), and environmental matters (3 trials).

Number of Bankruptcy Appeals Pending on September 30, 2021

Bankruptcy Appeals. Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months increased 1 percent from 357 on March 31, 2021, to 362 on September 30, 2021. All pending bankruptcy appeals were reported by district judges. Growth occurred in 6 of the 12 circuits, 4 circuits had decreases, and the totals for 2 circuits remained unchanged. Six circuits accounted for 93 percent of all pending bankruptcy appeals: the Second Circuit (263 appeals), Ninth Circuit (28 appeals), Seventh Circuit (16 appeals), Tenth Circuit (10 appeals), Third Circuit (9 appeals) and Eleventh Circuit (9 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 362 pending bankruptcy appeals reported for September 30, 2021. The status codes cited most often were voluminous briefs/transcripts to be read (259 appeals), opinion/decision in draft (26 appeals), heavy criminal and civil caseload (23 appeals), complexity of case (18 appeals), awaiting materials (15 appeals), and case consolidated (7 appeals).

Number of Social Security Appeals Pending on September 30, 2021

Social Security Appeals. Social Security appeals pending more than six months dropped 16 percent from 712 on March 31, 2021, to 597 on September 30, 2021. District judges reported 66 percent of these appeals; magistrate judges reported 34 percent. One of the 12 circuits reported that its total remained unchanged, 4 reported increased, and 7 reported decreases. The largest reductions in pending Social Security appeals occurred in the Second Circuit (down 101 appeals), Ninth Circuit (down 27 appeals), First Circuit (down 18 appeals), and Tenth Circuit (down 12 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 597 pending Social Security appeals reported for September 30, 2021. The status codes cited most often were heavy criminal and civil caseload (242 cases), opinion/decision in draft (138 appeals), voluminous briefs/transcripts to be read (88 appeals), demands of criminal docket (57 appeals), recently received from the calendar of another judge (41 appeals), referred to magistrate judge (34 appeals), and assigned to new judge (32 appeals).

Primary Nature of Suit Codes in Pending Social Security Appeals. Sixty-one percent of pending Social Security appeals (367 appeals) involved disability insurance, 33 percent (196 appeals) addressed supplemental security income, and 6 percent (33 appeals) were related to retirement and survivors’ benefits.

Number of Civil Cases Pending on September 30, 2021

Civil Cases. The number of civil cases pending more than three years increased 14 percent (up 5,969 cases) from 43,202 on March 31, 2021, to 49,171 on September 30, 2021. District judges reported 99 percent of all pending three-year-old cases, and magistrate judges reported the remaining 1 percent. Three-year-old cases grew in 10 of the 12 circuits and declined in 2 circuits. The largest growth occurred in the Third Circuit, which had 3,237 more pending cases, most of them part of multidistrict litigation involving healthcare/pharmaceutical lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson talcum powder products. The second-largest growth occurred in the Sixth Circuit, which had 848 more pending cases, most of them part of multidistrict litigation involving the national prescription opiate litigation.

Primary Reasons for Delays in Pending Civil Cases. District courts provided one or more status codes to indicate reasons for delays for all 49,171 civil cases reported for September 30, 2021. The status codes cited most often were multidistrict litigation (38,127 cases), complexity of case (2,965 cases), settlement pending (2,291 cases), trial scheduled (2,196 cases), awaiting materials (1,532 cases), extensive discovery involved (1,382 cases), referred to magistrate judge (1,246 cases), recently received from the calendar of another judge (1,072 cases), and heavy criminal and civil caseload (1,045 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 (31,999 cases), prisoner petitions (3,012 cases), personal injury/product liability (2,562 petitions), civil rights (2,453 cases), other personal injury (1,525 cases), contract (1,446 cases), RICO (940 cases), and labor (798 cases).