U.S. District Courts — Judicial Business 2021
Combined filings of civil cases and criminal defendants in the U.S. district courts fell 23 percent to 419,032 in 2021.
Civil case filings decreased 27 percent to 344,567, while filings for criminal defendants — including defendants transferred from other districts — grew nearly 1 percent to 74,465. Overall terminations for civil cases and criminal defendants declined 2 percent to 335,473 (this total does not include the 25,922 defendants in Class A misdemeanor cases and petty offense cases disposed of by magistrate judges). The total number of pending civil cases and criminal defendants went up 12 percent to 755,846.
Civil Filings
Civil case filings in the U.S. district courts declined 27 percent, decreasing by 126,014 cases to 344,567. Civil filings per authorized judgeship dropped from 695 in 2020 to 509 in 2021. Last year, civil filings had risen 58 percent because of more than 200,000 multidistrict litigation (MDL) cases directly filed in a single district that asserted that the 3M Company sold its Combat Arms earplugs to the U.S. military without disclosing defects that reduced hearing protection; this year, that district received more than 80,000 of those MDL cases. Excluding these cases, civil filings would have fallen 3 percent this year, mainly because of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Filings of diversity of citizenship cases (i.e., disputes between citizens of different states) fell 41 percent (down 117,755 cases) to 166,848 as personal injury case filings dropped 46 percent to 135,657. The Northern District of Florida (FL-N) had a 59 percent reduction in personal injury/product liability-other filings (down 119,412 cases to 83,763) as it received fewer cases addressing 3M Company earplugs. Personal injury filings declined by 1,600 cases to 711 in the Eastern District of Louisiana (LA-E) (down 69 percent) and dropped by 531 cases to 500 in the Northern District of Texas. The District of New Jersey had a 51 percent increase in personal injury/product liability cases (up 6,563 cases to 19,488) in the health care/pharmaceutical category, primarily because of directly filed MDL cases involving Johnson & Johnson talcum powder.
Filings with the United States as defendant dropped 11 percent (down 4,890) to 39,225. Prisoner petitions decreased 38 percent (down 5,436 petitions to 8,725) as motions to vacate sentence fell 50 percent (down 3,439 petitions to 3,395). The largest reductions in such motions occurred in the District of Maryland, where petitions fell by 379 to 83, and in the Southern District of Florida, where petitions fell by 173 to 147. Immigration cases, including those addressing naturalization applications and other immigration actions, rose 80 percent (up 2,036 cases) to 4,577. The Eastern District of New York had the largest numeric growth in other immigration actions (up 532 cases to 749), followed by the District of Columbia (up 212 cases to 690).
Federal question cases (i.e., actions under the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States in which the United States is not a party in the case) decreased 2 percent to 135,236. Cases related to the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) dropped 31 percent (down 259 cases to 574), primarily in response to lower MDL filings concerning national prescription opiate litigation. The largest reduction in such filings occurred in the Northern District of Ohio, which reported a decline of 79 percent (down 140 cases to 38). Personal injury filings went down 10 percent (down 484 cases) to 4,226 as cases related to airplanes fell 48 percent (down 86 cases) and “other personal injury” cases decreased 17 percent (down 2,004 cases). Cases addressing environmental matters grew 13 percent (up 27 cases to 241).
Filings with the United States as plaintiff fell 4 percent (down 150 cases) to 3,257, mainly due to a 40 percent decrease (down 22 cases to 33) in cases involving recovery of overpayments and enforcement of judgments. This reduction stemmed largely from an 88 percent drop in defaulted student loan cases (down 23 cases to 3).
Civil case terminations grew less than 1 percent (up 369 terminations) to 271,625. In FL-N, 15,738 cases were terminated (up 8,895 cases), many of them MDL cases dealing with 3M Company earplugs. The Northern District of Illinois had 11,013 terminations (up 1,671 cases), mostly of MDL cases related to testosterone replacement therapy products. In LA-E, terminations went down by 5,134 to 11,844, primarily due to the closing of fewer MDL cases concerning the blood-thinning drug Xarelto (rivaroxaban).
The median time from filing to disposition for civil cases was 8.5 months, down from 8.9 months in 2020. The median time in the Southern District of West Virginia decreased from 62.7 months in 2020 to 14.9 months in 2021, a year after that district terminated MDL cases related to the Ethicon, Inc., pelvic repair system products. In LA-E, the median time fell from 36.0 months to 24.9 months a year after that district terminated MDL cases addressing Xarelto.
As case filings outnumbered case terminations, pending civil cases rose 13 percent to 629,588. Most of the growth consisted of cases in the category of personal injury/product liability-other in FL-N, where the pending caseload grew 35 percent to 272,803 because of MDL cases involving 3M Company earplugs.
Since 2017, civil case filings in the district courts have climbed 29 percent (up 76,798 cases). Increases have occurred in cases involving torts and personal injury/product liability, with the latter consisting largely of MDL filings. During the same period, district courts also have reported more filings related to health care/pharma, civil rights, the Americans with Disabilities Act, RICO, and immigration.
For data on civil filings in the U.S. district courts, see Table 3, Table 4, and the C series of tables.
Criminal Filings
Filings for criminal defendants (including defendants transferred from other districts) increased nearly 1 percent to 74,465. Filings rose in 50 of 94 districts and fell in 44 districts.
The highest percentage growth occurred in filings for defendants charged with regulatory offenses, which went up 31 percent to 1,422 filings, and filings for defendants charged with justice system offenses, which went up 31 percent to 905 filings. Defendants charged with violent offenses rose 20 percent to 3,009, and filings for defendants charged with fraud, which equaled 9 percent of total filings and 78 percent of property offense filings, increased 18 percent to 6,429. Defendants accused of general offenses climbed 14 percent and accounted for 2 percent of total defendant filings. Defendants prosecuted for sex offenses went up 10 percent, and those prosecuted for firearms and explosives offenses went up 8 percent.
Filings for defendants charged with drug crimes rose 6 percent to 23,079 and constituted 31 percent of all defendant filings, up from 29 percent last year. Filings for non-marijuana drug defendants grew 8 percent to 21,533. Filings for defendants charged with crimes related to marijuana decreased 13 percent to 1,546. Filings related to the sale, distribution, or dispensing of illegal drugs dropped 3 percent to 987 for marijuana but climbed 9 percent to 18,203 for all other drugs.
Defendants accused of immigration offenses declined 18 percent to 19,266, accounting for 26 percent of total criminal filings. Defendants charged with improper entry by an alien dropped 19 percent to 111, and those charged with improper reentry by an alien decreased 29 percent to 13,709. Immigration filings in the five southwestern border districts fell 14 percent to 17,140 and equaled 89 percent of national immigration defendant filings (up from 84 percent in 2020). Filings decreased 57 percent in the District of New Mexico, 30 percent in the Southern District of California, 22 percent in the Western District of Texas, and 5 percent in the Southern District of Texas. Filings increased 25 percent in the District of Arizona.
Defendant filings related to traffic offenses also went down, falling 8 percent to 1,245.
Terminations for defendants (including defendants transferred to other districts) decreased 11 percent to 63,848. Excluding defendants transferred to other districts, terminations were reported for 63,725 defendants, of whom 58,516 (92 percent) were convicted, with 57,631 of them pleading guilty. The median time from filing of proceedings to termination for criminal defendants was 9.8 months. As filings exceeded terminations, the number for defendants pending (excluding fugitives pending more than 12 months before the end of the period) grew 9 percent to 126,258.
Since 2017, filings for criminal defendants (including transfers) have dropped 3 percent. This decrease can be attributed in part to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to a 46 percent reduction in filings associated with traffic offenses. Such filings increased from 2016 to 2017 but have fallen each year thereafter.
For data on criminal defendants in the district courts, see Table 5 and the D series of tables.
Trials Completed
The number of civil and criminal trials completed in the district courts by active and senior Article III judges rose 14 percent to 9,079 (up 1,098 trials). For statistical purposes, district court trials include proceedings resulting in jury verdicts and other final judgments by the courts, as well as other contested hearings at which evidence is presented. Despite the increase in trials completed this year, the total was below the levels typical before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Total civil trials climbed 11 percent (up 285 trials) to 2,833. Fifty-four districts reported more civil trials. Civil nonjury trials grew by 205 trials to 2,094, with 50 districts reporting increases. Civil jury trials rose 12 percent (up 80 trials) to 739, with 47 districts reporting growth.
Total criminal trials increased 15 percent to 6,246 (up 813 trials) as 64 district courts reported more criminal trials. Criminal non-jury trials rose 17 percent to 5,055 (up 726 trials), with 62 district courts reporting more of these trials. Criminal jury trials grew 8 percent to 1,191 (up 87 trials) as 46 district courts reported more trials of this type and totals in seven district courts stayed the same. Article III judges accepted guilty pleas from 54,820 felony defendants, down 12 percent from 61,991 in 2020.
In addition to trials conducted by active and senior Article III judges, 3,287 trials were conducted by magistrate judges, a rise of 8 percent (up 231 trials). These proceedings comprised 246 petty offense trials, 150 civil consent trials, 26 Class A misdemeanor trials, and 2,865 evidentiary hearings.
Judges conduct many other proceedings in courtrooms in addition to trials, including hearings on motions for summary judgment and other motions, calendar calls, preliminary proceedings in criminal cases, hearings on sentencing issues, Daubert hearings on expert witnesses, and evidentiary hearings in supervised release and probation revocation proceedings. Judges also are heavily involved in case management efforts, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) activities, and settlement negotiations and consultations. This year, 59 districts operated ADR programs, with 56 of these districts conducting mediation or judge-hosted settlement conferences. The ADR programs affected more than 36,600 civil cases.
Since 2017, the total number of trials has fallen 18 percent. Civil trials have decreased 33 percent. Criminal trials have declined 9 percent. Civil and criminal trials lasting four days or longer increased 22 percent this year to 1,199 but have fallen 39 percent since 2017.
For data on civil and criminal trials conducted by Article III judges, see the T series of tables. For data on matters handled by magistrate judges, see the M series of tables .
Weighted Filings Methodology
The current weights were developed by the Federal Judicial Center in 2016. To calculate weighted filings per authorized judgeship, weighted filings (i.e., the sum of all weights assigned to civil cases, criminal defendants, and supervised release hearings) are divided by the number of authorized Article III judgeships assigned to each district. Weights for criminal proceedings are calculated on a per-defendant basis rather than a per-case basis. Weights are not applied in the district courts for the Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands, as the district judgeship positions in those courts are filled by term appointments. Weights are assigned only to those cases in district courts that arise as original proceedings, by removal from state court, or by interdistrict transfer or that are directly filed in the same court that is managing a master multidistrict litigation docket (which is known as the transferee court). Cases that stem from reopenings, remands, or transfers by order of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation are excluded.
Weighted Filings per Authorized Judgeship
Updated 2/9/2022: Due to technical changes, the total number of districts with weighted filings was updated.
Weighted filings statistics take into account the different amounts of time a judge takes to resolve various types of civil and criminal actions. Weighted filings, which are adjustments to a court’s standard counts of civil and criminal filings, vary based on the mix of cases and the average judge time required to resolve the cases. Case types that on average are more time consuming for district judges to resolve receive weight values greater than 1.00, whereas case types that are less time consuming receive lower weights. For example, in the district court weighted filings system, each antitrust case is weighted as 3.72, and each criminal fraud defendant is weighted as 1.76, but a defaulted student loan case receives a weight of 0.16.
In 2021, weighted filings per authorized judgeship decreased by 108 to 573. Weighted civil case filings, which had surged 45 percent last year in response to multidistrict litigation cases filed in a single district, this year fell from 554 to 434 (down 22 percent). Weighted criminal defendant filings increased from 124 to 135 (up 9 percent). Weighted supervised release hearings rose from 3.1 to 3.5 (up 14 percent).
Forty-one of the 91 districts whose filings received weights reported increases in total weighted filings, 19 more than in 2020. Thirteen districts had increases of 10 percent or more, seven more than in 2020. Seventeen districts had 600 or more weighted filings per authorized judgeship. For the district courts, a district judgeship vacancy of any duration in a district with weighted filings per authorized judgeship in excess of 600 is defined as a judicial emergency.
Weighted civil filings fell in 69 districts, increased in 21 districts, and remained the same in 1 district. Three districts each had reductions of more than 100 weighted civil filings per judgeship: the Eastern District of Louisiana (LA-E), Southern District of Alabama, and Western District of Wisconsin. The decrease in LA-E stemmed from an 87 percent drop in health care/pharmaceutical cases consisting mainly of multidistrict litigation cases involving Taxotere (Docetaxel) cancer medication manufactured by Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC.
Weighted criminal filings rose in 56 districts, fell in 34 districts, and remained the same in 1 district. The increase in weighted criminal filings stemmed partly from growth in defendants accused of property offenses, violent offenses, and justice system offenses. Sixty-two districts reported increases in weighted supervised release hearings, and 26 reported decreases.
Since 2017, weighted filings per authorized judgeship have grown 21 percent. Unweighted filings (i.e., civil case filings, criminal defendant filings, and supervised release hearings of the types that would qualify to receive case weights) also have climbed 21 percent. Unweighted civil filings have risen 31 percent due to growth in personal injury/product liability cases involving airplanes. Unweighted criminal filings have decreased 3 percent.
For data on weighted filings and unweighted filings per authorized judgeship, see Table X-1A .