March 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 March 31, 2021. District judge and magistrate judge caseloads change constantly, so many of the matters pending on March 31, 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 September 30, 2020, and March 31, 2021, appears in CJRA Tables 1-4.

Number of Motions Pending on March 31, 2021

Motions. The total number of motions pending more than six months for all district judges and magistrate judges increased by 2,158 motions (up 27 percent) from 7,921 on September 30, 2020, to 10,079 on March 31, 2021. Ninety-five percent of all motions pending were before district judges, and five percent were before magistrate judges.

For this CJRA report, all 12 circuits reported growth in pending motions. The largest rises in pending motions occurred in the First Circuit (up 591 motions), Seventh Circuit (up 342 motions), and Tenth Circuit (up 339 motions). Within these circuits, the following districts reported the largest increases in pending motions (in many types of civil cases): the District of Puerto Rico (up 584 motions), Northern District of Illinois (up 154 motions), and Western District of Oklahoma (up 101 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 10,079 pending motions reported for March 31, 2021. The status codes cited most often were awaiting materials (2,386 motions), opinion/decision in draft (2,361 motions), heavy criminal and civil caseload (1,592 motions), complexity of case (1,212 motions), voluminous briefs/transcripts to be read (983 motions), and referred to magistrate judge (548 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 (2,498 motions), civil rights (2,096 motions), prisoner petitions (1,231 motions), contract (1,188 motions), labor (518 motions), and intellectual property rights (426 motions).

Number of Bench Trials Submitted Pending on March 31, 2021

Bench Trials. The total number of bench trials pending more than six months for all district judges and magistrate judges decreased by 20 to 49 on March 31, 2021. Ninety-two percent of all bench trials submitted were before district judges, and 8 percent were before magistrate judges. Eight of the 12 circuits reported decreases in pending bench trials, 2 circuits had increases in pending bench trials, and the totals for 2 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 49 pending bench trials reported for March 31, 2021. The status codes cited most often were opinion/decision in draft (32 trials), voluminous briefs/transcripts to be read (12 trials), complexity of cases (10 trials), heavy criminal and civil caseload (9 trials), and awaiting materials (2 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 (10 trials), contract (10 trials), labor (6 trials), environmental matters (3 trials), prisoner petitions (3 trials), and real property (3 trials).

Number of Bankruptcy Appeals Pending on March 31, 2021

Bankruptcy Appeals. Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months decreased 5 percent from 374 on September 30, 2020, to 357 on March 31, 2021. All pending bankruptcy appeals were reported by district judges. Reductions occurred in 5 of the 12 circuits, 5 circuits had increases, and the total for 2 circuits remained unchanged. Five circuits accounted for 93 percent of all pending bankruptcy appeals: the Second Circuit (261 appeals), Ninth Circuit (34 appeals), Seventh Circuit (14 appeals), Tenth Circuit (12 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 357 pending bankruptcy appeals reported for March 31, 2021. The status codes cited most often were voluminous briefs/transcripts to be read (253 appeals), opinion/decision in draft (24 appeals), awaiting materials (22 appeals), complexity of case (20 appeals), recently received from the calendar of another judge (15 appeals), and heavy criminal and civil caseload (10 appeals).

Number of Social Security Appeals Pending on March 31, 2021

Social Security Appeals. Social Security appeals pending more than six months decreased 11 percent from 797 on September 30, 2020, to 712 on March 31, 2021. District judges reported 74 percent of these appeals; magistrate judges reported 26 percent. Five of the 12 circuits reported decreases, 6 had increases, and 1 reported that its total remained unchanged. The largest reductions in pending Social Security appeals occurred in the Second Circuit (down 120 appeals), Third Circuit (down 25 appeals), and First Circuit (down 17 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 712 pending Social Security appeals reported for March 31, 2021. The status codes cited most often were heavy criminal and civil caseload (206 cases), opinion/decision in draft (161 appeals), voluminous briefs/transcripts to be read (119 appeals), demands of criminal docket (86 appeals), recently received from the calendar of another judge (81 appeals), assigned to new judge (45 appeals), and referred to a magistrate judge (44 appeals).

Primary Nature of Suit Codes in Pending Social Security Appeals. Sixty-one percent of pending Social Security appeals (437 appeals) involved disability insurance, 33 percent (237 appeals) addressed supplemental security income, and 5 percent (36 appeals) were related to retirement and survivors’ benefits.

Number of Civil Cases Pending on March 31, 2021

Civil Cases. The number of civil cases pending more than three years increased 36 percent (up 11,551 cases) from 31,651 on September 30, 2020, to 43,202 on March 31, 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 6,592 more pending cases, most of them part of multidistrict litigation involving healthcare/pharmaceutical lawsuits addressing Johnson & Johnson talcum powder products. The second-largest growth occurred in the Fifth Circuit, which had 5,103 more pending cases, most of them part of multidistrict litigation involving healthcare/pharmaceutical lawsuits against Janssen Pharmaceuticals.

Primary Reasons for Delays in Pending Civil Cases. District courts provided one or more status codes to indicate reasons for delays for all 43,202 civil cases reported for March 31, 2021. The status codes cited most often were multidistrict litigation (32,721 cases), complexity of case (2,854 cases), trial scheduled (1,647 cases), awaiting materials (1,545 cases), extensive discovery involved (1,217 cases), referred to magistrate judge (1,140 cases), heavy criminal and civil caseload (939 cases), set for status conference (936 cases), and opinion/decision in draft (901 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 (27,696 cases), prisoner petitions (2,911 cases), personal injury/product liability (2,311 petitions), civil rights (2,247 cases), other personal injury (1,490 cases), contract (1,362 cases), labor (765 cases), and antitrust (549 cases).