U.S. District Courts — Judicial Business 2025

Civil case filings increased 4 percent to 303,563, while criminal defendant filings—including defendants transferred from other districts—grew 13 percent to 79,129. Overall terminations for civil cases and criminal defendants went up 4 percent to 489,674 (this total does not include the 49,465 defendants in Class A misdemeanor cases and petty offense cases disposed of by magistrate judges). As terminations outnumbered filings, the total number of pending civil cases and criminal defendants declined 17 percent to 541,945.

Civil Filings

Civil case filings in the U.S. district courts increased 4 percent in 2025, rising by 12,667 cases to 303,563. Filings had declined 14 percent last year in response to a reduction in multidistrict litigation (MDL) cases, especially those 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, growth in filings of MDL cases resumed. Excluding MDL cases, combined filings of all other civil cases increased 9 percent (up 22,382 cases). Civil filings per authorized judgeship increased from 430 in 2024 to 448 in 2025.

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) rose 12 percent to 157,421. Of these cases, civil rights case filings grew 15 percent (up 6,135 cases to 46,854) as filings in the category of other civil rights climbed 25 percent to 20,591. Intellectual property rights cases rose 16 percent (up 2,362 cases to 17,234) as trademark cases increased 25 percent (up 848 cases to 4,211) and patent cases went up 23 percent (up 758 cases) to 4,075. The Northern District of Illinois (IL-N) had the largest numeric growth in trademark filings, a rise of 599 cases to 1,555. Prisoner petitions increased 5 percent (up 2,131 petitions to 42,972) as civil rights cases went up 7 percent (up 1,396 petitions to 20,149), with the Southern District of Indiana reporting that filings there soared 607 percent (up 449 cases to 523). Consumer credit cases rose 12 percent (up 1,049 cases to 9,574), and Telephone Consumer Protection Act cases climbed 78 percent (up 1,040 cases to 2,367). Arbitration cases grew 177 percent (up 1,008 cases to 1,577), with the largest growth in such filings being a rise of 257 percent (up 710 cases to 986) in the District of New Jersey (NJ). Cases related to the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) jumped 78 percent (up 629 cases to 1,437), with the largest numeric growth reported by NJ, where filings surged 509 percent (up 346 cases to 414). Labor filings declined 1 percent (down 167 cases) as cases related to the Fair Labor Standards Act fell 6 percent (down 288 cases to 4,810). Securities, commodities, and exchange filings dropped 25 percent (down 254 cases) to 743.

Filings with the United States as defendant rose 9 percent (up 3,859) to 46,426. Prisoner petitions increased 30 percent (up 2,468 petitions to 10,809) as motions for writs of habeas corpus by alien detainees soared 434 percent (up 1,873 petitions to 2,305), with such filings climbing 3,514 percent in the District of Massachusetts (up 246 petitions to 253). Motions for writs of habeas corpus grew 42 percent (up 1,019 petitions) as cases related to petitions for writs of mandamus and other rulings increased 13 percent (up 93 petitions to 813), with the Southern District of California reporting that filings there climbed 1,410 percent (up 141 petitions). Social Security law filings grew 13 percent (up 1,740 to 15,585) as cases involving disability insurance increased 13 percent (up 954 cases) and supplemental security income cases went up 12 percent (up 728 cases to 6,690). Filings in the category of personal injury/product liability-other climbed 47 percent (up 680 cases to 2,127), with the largest growth occurring in the Eastern District of North Carolina, where filings soared 71 percent (up 644 cases) to 1,545. Total civil rights filings rose 13 percent (up 203 cases to 1,804), with the largest growth occurring in the District of Columbia, where filings climbed 86 percent (up 169 cases to 365) in the category of other civil rights, which includes civil rights filings unrelated to voting, employment, housing/accommodations, the Americans with Disabilities Act, or education. Immigration cases, including those addressing naturalization applications and other immigration actions, dropped 17 percent (down 2,088) to 10,095. The Eastern District of New York had the largest numeric reduction in immigration actions in the “other” category, a decrease of 890 cases to 1,096; notable drops in cases in this category also occurred in the Central District of California (down 473 cases to 1,081), the District of Columbia (down 243 cases to 418), and the Eastern District of Virginia (down 198 cases to 540), whereas the District of Nebraska reported an increase of 224 percent (up 161 cases to 233) in such filings.

Filings with the United States as plaintiff rose 3 percent to 3,166, mainly due to a 105 percent increase in cases involving real property (up 115 cases to 225). This growth stemmed largely from a 186 percent rise in foreclosure cases (up 80 cases to 123). In addition, land condemnation filings surged 119 percent (up 37 cases to 68), with the Southern District of Texas reporting a rise of 24 cases to 29. Filings of qui tam actions under the False Claims Act increased 19 percent (up 60 cases to 374) as such cases climbed 192 percent to 38 in the Southern District of New York. Social Security law filings, including those involving disability insurance, increased 56 percent (up 20 cases to 56) as the District of Maryland received 25 more cases. Contract filings grew 7 percent (up 15 cases to 239) as cases in the category of other contract actions went up 67 percent to 82 cases. A 22 percent reduction in filings related to labor laws (down 45 cases to 157) occurred as cases involving the Fair Labor Standards Act went down 49 percent (down 70 cases to 74). Forfeiture and penalty actions declined 2 percent (down by 16 cases to 731) as cases related to drug-related seizures of property fell 16 percent (down by 48 cases to 251). The largest reduction in such filings was a decrease of 89 percent (a drop of 16 cases) in the District of Colorado. False Claims Act cases dropped 16 percent (down 52 cases to 280), with the Northern District of Mississippi reporting that filings there fell 51 percent (down 103 cases to 98). 

Filings of diversity of citizenship cases (i.e., disputes between citizens of different states) decreased 7 percent (down 7,706 cases) to 96,548 as personal injury case filings declined 39 percent to 22,182. The Northern District of Florida (FL-N) had a reduction of nearly 100 percent in personal injury filings (down 23,600 cases to 38) as it received fewer cases addressing 3M Company earplugs. Personal injury filings decreased 42 percent in the Southern District of Illinois (down 821 cases to 1,123) and fell 95 percent in the Southern District of Ohio (down 705 cases to 41). The District of South Carolina had a 172 percent rise in personal injury/product liability filings, mostly because of MDL cases involving aqueous film-forming foam products. IL-N had a rise of 1,513 cases to 2,486, and the Northern District of California had an increase of 1,323 cases to 2,991. Filings in the health care/pharmaceutical category climbed 21 percent (up 3,673 cases to 20,818), with the largest growth occurring in NJ, where filings increased 86 percent (up 4,807 cases to 10,408), and in FL-N, where filings soared 9,638 percent (up 1,253 cases to 1,266). Real property filings increased 1 percent (up 20 cases to 2,249) as foreclosure filings climbed 42 percent to 1,062, although real property product liability case filings dropped 51 percent to 215. Consumer credit case filings went down 34 percent (down 66 cases) to 128. Civil rights case filings rose 9 percent (up 301 cases to 3,540) as cases related to employment grew 13 percent (up 323 cases) to 2,806.

Civil case terminations went up 3 percent (up 10,904 terminations) to 407,539. In FL-N, 149,260 cases were terminated (up 8,046 terminations), many of them MDL cases dealing with 3M Company earplugs. In the Eastern District of Louisiana (LA-E), 10,713 cases were terminated (up 3,947 terminations). In IL-N, 13,186 cases were terminated (up 2,476 terminations).

The median time from filing to disposition for civil cases was 15.6 months, up from 13.7 months in 2024. The median time in LA-E increased from 10.7 months in 2024 to 79.9 months in 2025, a year after that district terminated MDL cases involving Taxotere (docetaxel) products. In the District of Guam, the median time grew from 34.9 months in 2024 to 77.3 months in 2025.

As case terminations outnumbered case filings, pending civil cases dropped 19 percent to 432,923. Most of the reduction occurred in the category of personal injury/product liability-other in FL-N, where the pending caseload declined 98 percent to 2,575 because of fewer pending MDL cases addressing 3M Company earplugs. 

Since 2021, civil case filings in the district courts have declined 12 percent (down 41,004 cases). Decreases have occurred in cases involving tort actions; personal injury/product liability; Social Security laws; securities, commodities, and exchanges; labor laws; forfeiture and penalty; consumer credit; and bankruptcy. During that period, district courts have received more cases related to civil rights, prisoner petitions, intellectual property rights, immigration, contract actions, real property, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, arbitration, the Freedom of Information Act, and federal tax laws.

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) grew 13 percent to 79,129. Filings rose in 62 of 94 districts and decreased in 32 districts. 

The highest percentage increase occurred in filings for defendants charged with regulatory offenses, which rose 224 percent to 3,893 and accounted for 5 percent of total criminal filings. This growth can be attributed in part to higher filings for defendants accused of crimes related to national defense, which climbed from 60 in 2024 to 2,645 in 2025. 

Defendants charged with immigration offenses rose 27 percent to 32,393. Defendants accused of improper entry by an alien soared more than 400 percent to 407, whereas those charged with alien smuggling fell 18 percent to 3,960. Immigration filings in the five southwestern border districts increased 17 percent to 26,712 and equaled 82 percent of national immigration defendant filings (down from 90 percent in 2024). Filings grew 106 percent in the Southern District of California, 105 percent in the District of New Mexico, 40 percent in the Southern District of Texas, and 12 percent in the Western District of Texas, but dropped 17 percent in the District of Arizona.

Filings for defendants prosecuted for sex offenses rose 9 percent to 3,513. Filings for defendants charged with traffic offenses increased 6 percent to 2,011. Filings for defendants accused of fraud, which equaled 7 percent of total filings and 80 percent of property offense filings, went up 5 percent to 5,553. Filings for defendants prosecuted for general offenses, violent crimes, and firearms and explosives violations grew between 1 to 2 percent for each category. 

Defendant filings related to justice system offenses fell 9 percent to 617. Filings for defendants charged with drug crimes declined 6 percent to 15,651 and constituted 20 percent of all defendant filings, down from 24 percent last year. Filings for defendants accused of crimes related to marijuana decreased 7 percent to 597. Filings for non-marijuana drug crime defendants dropped 6 percent to 15,054. Filings related to the sale, distribution, or dispensing of illegal drugs fell 7 percent to 554 for marijuana and declined 7 percent to 13,427 for all other drugs.

Terminations for defendants (including defendants transferred to other districts) increased 10 percent to 82,135. Excluding defendants transferred to other districts, terminations were reported for 82,042 defendants, of whom 76,514 (93 percent) were convicted, with 75,151 of them pleading guilty. The median time from filing of proceedings to termination for criminal defendants was 6.9 months. The number for defendants pending (excluding fugitives pending more than 12 months before the end of the period) decreased 3 percent to 109,022.

Since 2021, filings for criminal defendants (including transfers) have increased 6 percent. This growth can be attributed in part to a 68 percent rise in filings associated with immigration offenses.

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 declined 1 percent to 10,151 (down 141 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.

Total civil trials rose 2 percent (up 82 trials) to 3,377. Forty-seven districts had more civil trials. Civil non-jury trials increased by 196 trials to 2,329, with 50 districts reporting growth. Civil jury trials fell 10 percent (down 114 trials) to 1,048, with 48 districts reporting reductions.

Total criminal trials decreased 3 percent to 6,774 (down 223 trials) as 48 district courts reported fewer criminal trials. Criminal non-jury trials fell 3 percent to 5,266 (down 150 trials), with 47 district courts reporting fewer of these trials. Criminal jury trials decreased 5 percent to 1,508 (down 73 trials) as 41 district courts reported fewer trials of this type and totals in 15 district courts stayed the same. Article III judges accepted guilty pleas from 62,961 felony defendants, up 7 percent from 59,033 in 2024.

Contested hearings on motions for preliminary injunctions, temporary restraining orders, evidence, or other matters not resulting in final judgments or verdicts are tracked for both civil and criminal trials. In 2025, the number of contested hearings in civil trials increased 14 percent to 1,865 (up 236 hearings), and the number of contested hearings in criminal trials decreased 2 percent to 5,061 (down 108 hearings).

In addition to trials conducted by active and senior Article III judges, 3,055 trials were conducted by magistrate judges, a reduction of 2 percent (down 70 trials). These proceedings comprised 190 petty offense trials, 175 civil consent trials, 31 Class A misdemeanor trials, and 2,659 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, 63 districts operated ADR programs, all of which conducted mediation or judge-hosted settlement conferences. The ADR programs affected more than 40,600 civil cases.

Since 2021, the total number of trials has risen 12 percent. Civil trials have increased 19 percent. Criminal trials have grown 8 percent. Civil and criminal trials lasting four days or longer, which fell 16 percent this year to 1,513, have climbed 26 percent since 2021.

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 per Authorized Judgeship

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 calculated through adjustments to a court’s direct 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 2025, weighted filings per authorized judgeship increased by 32 to 534. Weighted civil case filings, which had decreased 11 percent last year, this year climbed 8 percent from 384 to 414. Weighted criminal defendant filings increased 2 percent from 114 to 117. Weighted supervised release hearings rose 1 percent from 3.7 to 3.8.

Seventy-two of the 91 districts whose filings received weights reported increases in total weighted filings, 22 more than in 2024. Forty-three districts had increases of 10 percent or more, 19 more than in 2024. Twenty districts had 600 or more weighted filings per authorized judgeship.

Weighted civil filings rose in 79 districts and fell in 12 districts. Four districts each had increases of more than 150 weighted civil filings per judgeship: the Eastern District of North Carolina, the Northern District of Illinois, the District of New Jersey, and the District of South Carolina. The District of South Carolina had a 172 percent increase in personal injury/product liability filings, mostly because of MDL cases involving aqueous film-forming foam products.

Weighted criminal filings went up in 49 districts and went down in 42 districts. The rise in weighted criminal filings stemmed partly from growth in defendants accused of regulatory offenses and immigration offenses. Forty-eight districts reported increases in weighted supervised release hearings, and 43 reported decreases.

Compared with 2021, unweighted filings (i.e., civil case filings, criminal defendant filings, and supervised release hearings of the types that would qualify to receive case weights) were 6 percent lower in 2025. Unweighted civil filings were 12 percent lower due to reductions in cases involving personal injury and product liability claims. Unweighted criminal filings have declined 6 percent.

For data on weighted filings and unweighted filings per authorized judgeship, see Table X-1A.