March 2022 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 March 31, 2022. District judge and magistrate judge caseloads change constantly, so many of the matters pending on March 31, 2022, 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 appears in Appendix D. More specific information about cases pending, motions pending, bench trials submitted, bankruptcy appeals pending, and Social Security appeals pending on September 30, 2021, and March 31, 2022, appears in CJRA Tables 1-4.

Number of Motions Pending on March 31, 2022 

Motions. The total number of motions pending more than six months for all district judges and magistrate judges decreased by 115 motions (down 1 percent) from 10,414 on September 30, 2021, to 10,299 on March 31, 2022. Ninety-six percent of all motions pending were before district judges, and 4 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 Seventh Circuit (down 181 motions), Sixth Circuit (down 88 motions), and Ninth Circuit (down 79 motions). Within these circuits, the following districts reported the largest decreases in pending motions (in many types of civil cases): The Southern District of California (down 132 motions), Western District of Kentucky (down 63 motions), and Western District of Wisconsin (down 48 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 10,299 pending motions reported for March 31, 2022. The status codes cited most often were opinion/decision in draft (2,441 motions), awaiting materials (2,322 motions), heavy criminal and civil caseload (1,745 motions), complexity of case (1,648 motions), voluminous briefs/transcripts to be read (1,069 motions), and demands of criminal docket (613 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 (2,603 motions), civil rights (2,109 motions), contract (1,248 motions), prisoner petitions (1,069 motions), intellectual property rights (767 motions), and labor (466 motions).

Number of Bench Trials Submitted Pending on March 31, 2022 

Bench Trials. The total number of bench trials pending more than six months for all district judges and magistrate judges increased by 14 to 70 on March 31, 2022. Ninety percent of all bench trials submitted were before district judges, and 10 percent were before magistrate judges. Nine of the 12 circuits reported growth in pending bench trials, in 1 circuit the total 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 70 pending bench trials reported for March 31, 2022. The status codes cited most often were opinion/decision in draft (47 trials), complexity of case (15 trials), heavy criminal and civil caseload (14 trials), voluminous briefs/transcripts to be read (10 trials), and awaiting materials (5 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 (16 trials), contract (11 trials), labor (8 trials), intellectual property rights (4 trials), and environmental matters (4 trials).

Number of Bankruptcy Appeals Pending on March 31, 2022 

Bankruptcy Appeals. Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months increased 60 percent from 362 on September 30, 2021, to 580 on March 31, 2022. Two hundred and seventeen pending bankruptcy appeals were reported by district judges, and one pending bankruptcy appeal was reported by a magistrate judge. Growth occurred in 7 of the 12 circuits, and 5 circuits reported decreases. Five circuits accounted for 94 percent of all pending bankruptcy appeals: the Second Circuit (479 appeals), Ninth Circuit (26 appeals), Third Circuit (16 appeals), Seventh Circuit (15 appeals), and Eleventh Circuit (10 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 580 pending bankruptcy appeals reported for March 31, 2022. The status codes cited most often were voluminous briefs/transcripts to be read (465 appeals), opinion/decision in draft (32 appeals), heavy criminal and civil caseload (28 appeals), complexity of case (17 appeals), awaiting materials (13 appeals), and set for status conference (9 appeals).

Number of Social Security Appeals Pending on March 31, 2022 

Social Security Appeals. Social Security appeals pending more than six months grew 128 percent from 597 on September 30, 2021, to 1,359 on March 31, 2022. District judges reported 70 percent of these appeals; magistrate judges reported 30 percent. Seven of the 12 circuits reported increases, 3 had decreases, and 2 reported that their totals remained unchanged. The largest growth in pending Social Security appeals occurred in the Second Circuit (up 398 appeals), Ninth Circuit (up 161 appeals), Third Circuit (up 132 appeals), and Tenth Circuit (up 53 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 1,359 pending Social Security appeals reported for March 31, 2022. The status codes cited most often were assigned to new judge (321 cases), heavy criminal and civil caseload (289 appeals), opinion/decision in draft (234 appeals), voluminous briefs/transcripts to be read (185 appeals), recently received from the calendar of another judge (159 appeals), demands of criminal docket (110 appeals), and referred to magistrate judge (74 appeals).

Primary Nature of Suit Codes in Pending Social Security Appeals. Sixty-five percent of pending Social Security appeals (883 appeals) involved disability insurance, 31 percent (419 appeals) addressed supplemental security income, and 4 percent (53 appeals) were related to retirement and survivors’ benefits.

Number of Civil Cases Pending on March 31, 2022 

Civil Cases. The number of civil cases pending more than three years increased 21 percent (up 10,177 cases) from 49,171 on September 30, 2021, to 59,348 on March 31, 2022. 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 9 of the 12 circuits and declined in 3 circuits. The largest growth occurred in the Third Circuit, which had 8,367 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 Seventh Circuit, which had 838 more pending cases, most of them part of multidistrict litigation involving an alleged defect in Cook Medical’s IVC filter, a medical device placed in the inferior vena cava to catch blood clots and stop them from traveling to the heart or lungs.

Primary Reasons for Delays in Pending Civil Cases. District courts provided one or more status codes to indicate reasons for delays for all 59,348 civil cases reported for March 31, 2022. The status codes cited most often were multidistrict litigation (48,173 cases), complexity of case (3,514 cases), settlement pending (2,843 cases), trial scheduled (2,308 cases), awaiting materials (1,566 cases), extensive discovery involved (1,521 cases), referred to magistrate judge (1,321 cases), heavy criminal and civil caseload (1,040 cases), and opinion/decision in draft (1,008 cases).

Primary Nature of Suit Codes in Pending Civil Cases. The primary natures of suit codes given most often by district courts for pending civil cases were health care/pharmaceutical (40,865 cases), prisoner petitions (2,941 cases), personal injury/product liability (2,695 petitions), civil rights (2,542 cases), other personal injury (2,020 cases), contract (1,439 cases), RICO (1,276 cases), and labor (831 cases).