The consolidated Civil Justice Reform Act (CJRA) report contains aggregate data on motions pending, bench trials submitted, bankruptcy appeals, Social Security appeal cases each pending more than six months, and civil cases pending more than three years.
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, 2025. District judge and magistrate judge caseloads change constantly, so many of the matters pending on March 31, 2025, 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, 2024, and March 31, 2025, appears in CJRA Tables 1-4.
Number of Motions Pending on March 31, 2025
Motions. The total number of motions pending more than six months for all district judges and magistrate judges decreased by 62 motions (down less than 1 percent) from 9,707 on September 30, 2024, to 9,645 on March 31, 2025. Ninety-five percent of all motions pending were before district judges, and 5 percent were before magistrate judges.
For this CJRA report, five circuits reported decreases in pending motions, and seven circuits reported increases. The largest reductions in pending motions occurred in the Seventh Circuit (down 116 motions), District of Columbia Circuit (down 95 motions), and Eleventh Circuit (down 47 motions). Within these circuits, the following districts reported the largest decreases in pending motions (in many types of civil cases): the District of Columbia (down 95 motions), Northern District of Illinois (down 78 motions), and Northern District of Alabama (down 24 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 9,645 pending motions reported for March 31, 2025. The status codes cited most often were heavy criminal and civil caseload (2,673 motions), awaiting materials (2,187 motions), complexity of case (2,069 motions), opinion/decision in draft (1,957 motions), voluminous briefs/transcripts to be read (1,326 motions), and demands of criminal docket (993 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 (2,287 motions), civil rights (2,084 motions), contract (1,158 motions), prisoner petitions (953 motions), intellectual property rights (809 motions), and labor (513 motions).
Number of Bench Trials Submitted Pending on March 31, 2025
Bench Trials. The total number of bench trials pending more than six months for all district judges and magistrate judges increased by 1 to 73 on March 31, 2025. Ninety-two percent of all bench trials submitted were before district judges, and 8 percent were before magistrate judges. Five of the 12 circuits reported growth in pending bench trials, in 2 circuits the totals remained unchanged, and 5 circuits reported reductions.
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 73 pending bench trials reported for March 31, 2025. The status codes cited most often were opinion/decision in draft (39 trials), voluminous briefs/transcripts to be read (17 trials), complexity of case (15 trials), heavy criminal and civil caseload (11 trials), and awaiting materials (7 trials).
Primary Nature of Suit Codes in Pending Bench Trials. The primary nature of suit codes provided most often for pending bench trials were contract (19 trials), civil rights (11 trials), intellectual property rights (8 trials), labor (8 trials), and other statutory actions (5 trials).
Number of Bankruptcy Appeals Pending on March 31, 2025
Bankruptcy Appeals. Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months increased 12 percent from 99 on September 30, 2024, to 111 on March 31, 2025. All of these pending bankruptcy appeals were reported by district judges. Increases occurred in 6 of the 12 circuits, 4 circuits had decreases, and the totals for 2 circuits remained unchanged. Five circuits accounted for 84 percent of all pending bankruptcy appeals: the Third Circuit (24 appeals), Second Circuit (21 appeals), Fifth Circuit (20 appeals), Ninth Circuit (18 appeals), and Fourth 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 111 pending bankruptcy appeals reported for March 31, 2025. The status codes cited most often were opinion/decision in draft (24 appeals), complexity of case (23 appeals), voluminous briefs/transcripts to be read (17 appeals), heavy criminal and civil caseload (16 appeals), awaiting materials (12 appeals), and demands of criminal docket (10 appeals).
Number of Social Security Appeals Pending on March 31, 2025
Social Security Appeals. Social Security appeals pending more than six months dropped 15 percent from 1,117 on September 30, 2024, to 946 on March 31, 2025. District judges reported 55 percent of these appeals; magistrate judges reported 45 percent. Seven of the 12 circuits reported decreases, 4 circuits had increases, and in 1 circuit the total remained unchanged. The largest reductions in pending Social Security appeals occurred in the Seventh Circuit (down 100 appeals), Second Circuit (down 71 appeals), Fourth Circuit (down 11 appeals), Sixth Circuit (down 7 appeals), and Third Circuit (down 3 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 946 pending Social Security appeals reported for March 31, 2025. The status codes cited most often were voluminous briefs/transcripts to be read (354 appeals), heavy criminal and civil caseload (251 appeals), recently received from the calendar of another judge (90 appeals), opinion/decision in draft (88 cases), assigned to new judge (65 appeals), and referred to magistrate judge (55 appeals).
Primary Nature of Suit Codes in Pending Social Security Appeals. Fifty-seven percent of pending Social Security appeals (536 appeals) involved disability insurance, 34 percent (321 appeals) addressed supplemental security income, and 9 percent (86 appeals) were related to retirement and survivors’ benefits.
Number of Civil Cases Pending on March 31, 2025
Civil Cases. The number of civil cases pending more than three years increased 4 percent (3,394 cases) from 85,742 on September 30, 2024, to 89,136 on March 31, 2025. District judges reported 99 percent of all pending three-year-old cases, and magistrate judges reported 1 percent. Three-year-old cases grew in 7 of the 12 circuits and declined in 5 circuits. The largest growth occurred in the Eighth Circuit, which had 4,709 more pending cases, most of them part of multidistrict litigation consisting of health care/pharmaceutical lawsuits addressing Bair Hugger Forced Air Warning Devices Products. The second-largest growth occurred in the Third Circuit, which had 1,626 more pending cases, most of them part of multidistrict litigation consisting of healthcare/pharmaceutical lawsuits addressing Johnson & Johnson talcum powder products.
Primary Reasons for Delays in Pending Civil Cases. District courts provided one or more status codes to indicate reasons for delays for all 89,136 civil cases reported for March 31, 2025. The status codes cited most often were multidistrict litigation (78,627 cases), complexity of case (2,743 cases), awaiting materials (1,753 cases), extensive discovery involved (1,506 cases), referred to magistrate judge (1,358 cases), trial scheduled (1,321 cases), heavy criminal and civil caseload (1,239 cases), opinion/decision in draft (900 cases), and settlement pending (899 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 (68,099 cases), personal injury/product liability (5,366 cases), prisoner petitions (2,427 cases), civil rights (2,320 cases), other personal injury (2,124 cases), Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) (1,853 cases), contract (1,453 cases), and labor (776 cases).