U.S. Court of Federal Claims — Judicial Business 2020

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 decreased 9 percent to 1,868 in 2020. General jurisdiction cases fell 11 percent to 671. 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 10 percent involved intervening parties. Contract/injunction cases declined 16 percent to 124, and vaccine compensation cases dropped 7 percent to 1,197.

Total case terminations increased 19 percent to 1,742. Vaccine case terminations rose 13 percent to 938 cases. Pending cases grew 3 percent to 4,332.

Filings in 2020 were 5 percent higher than in 2016. Case filings under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Act have climbed 6 percent from 1,124 petitions in 2016 to 1,197 petitions in 2020.

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