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, September 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 September 30, 2025. District judge and magistrate judge caseloads change constantly, so many of the matters pending on September 30, 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 March 31, 2025, and September 30, 2025, appears in CJRA Tables 1-4.
Number of Motions Pending on September 30, 2025
Motions. The total number of motions pending more than six months for all district judges and magistrate judges decreased by 300 motions (down 3 percent) from 9,645 on March 31, 2025, to 9,345 on September 30, 2025. Ninety-five percent of all motions pending were before district judges, and 5 percent were before magistrate judges.
For this CJRA report, eight circuits reported decreases in pending motions, and four circuits reported increases. The largest reductions in pending motions occurred in the Ninth Circuit (down 187 motions), Tenth Circuit (down 129 motions), and First Circuit (down 114 motions). Within these circuits, the following districts reported the largest decreases in pending motions (in many types of civil cases): the Eastern District of California (down 126 motions), District of Puerto Rico (down 124 motions), and Northern District of Oklahoma (down 58 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 9,345 pending motions reported for September 30, 2025. The status codes cited most often were heavy criminal and civil caseload (2,572 motions), awaiting materials (2,188 motions), complexity of case (2,147 motions), opinion/decision in draft (1,993 motions), voluminous briefs/transcripts to be read (1,291 motions), and demands of criminal docket (965 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 (2,127 motions), civil rights (2,026 motions), contract (1,059 motions), prisoner petitions (931 motions), intellectual property rights (800 motions), and labor (463 motions).
Number of Bench Trials Submitted Pending on September 30, 2025
Bench Trials. The total number of bench trials pending more than six months for all district judges and magistrate judges decreased by 6 to 67 on September 30, 2025. Ninety percent of all bench trials submitted were before district judges, and 10 percent were before magistrate judges. Three of the 12 circuits reported growth in pending bench trials, in 4 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 67 pending bench trials reported for September 30, 2025. The status codes cited most often were opinion/decision in draft (32 trials), complexity of case (19 trials), voluminous briefs/transcripts to be read (12 trials), heavy criminal and civil caseload (11 trials), and parties given additional time to file supplemental briefs (6 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 (20 trials), intellectual property rights (13 trials), civil rights (7 trials), labor (5 trials), real property (5 trials), and motor vehicle personal injury (3 trials).
Number of Bankruptcy Appeals Pending on September 30, 2025
Bankruptcy Appeals. Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months decreased 8 percent from 111 on March 31, 2025, to 102 on September 30, 2025. All of these pending bankruptcy appeals were reported by district judges. Increases occurred in 3 of the 12 circuits, 6 circuits had decreases, and the totals for 3 circuits remained unchanged. Five circuits accounted for 83 percent of all pending bankruptcy appeals: the Third Circuit (27 appeals), Second Circuit (19 appeals), Fifth Circuit (18 appeals), Ninth Circuit (14 appeals), and Seventh Circuit (7 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 102 pending bankruptcy appeals reported for September 30, 2025. The status codes cited most often were opinion/decision in draft (24 appeals), heavy criminal and civil caseload (21 appeals), complexity of case (18 appeals), voluminous briefs/transcripts to be read (13 appeals), awaiting materials (12 appeals), and demands of criminal docket (4 appeals).
Number of Social Security Appeals Pending on September 30, 2025
Social Security Appeals. Social Security appeals pending more than six months dropped 1 percent from 946 on March 31, 2025, to 935 on September 30, 2025. District judges reported 63 percent of these appeals; magistrate judges reported 37 percent. Six of the 12 circuits reported decreases, 5 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 28 appeals), Eleventh Circuit (down 21 appeals), Eight Circuit (down 12 appeals), Ninth Circuit (down 7 appeals), and Fourth Circuit (down 6 appeal).
Primary Reasons for Delays in Pending Social Security Appeals. District courts provided one or more status codes to indicate reasons for delays for all 935 pending Social Security appeals reported for September 30, 2025. The status codes cited most often were voluminous briefs/transcripts to be read (299 appeals), heavy criminal and civil caseload (234 appeals), assigned to new judge (131 appeals), opinion/decision in draft (109 cases), recently received from the calendar of another judge (100 appeals), and referred to magistrate judge (75 appeals).
Primary Nature of Suit Codes in Pending Social Security Appeals. Sixty percent of pending Social Security appeals (565 appeals) involved disability insurance, 31 percent (293 appeals) addressed supplemental security income, and 8 percent (71 appeals) were related to retirement and survivors’ benefits.
Number of Civil Cases Pending on September 30, 2025
Civil Cases. The number of civil cases pending more than three years decreased 3 percent (down 2,358 cases) from 89,136 on March 31, 2025, to 86,778 on September 30, 2025. District judges reported 99 percent of all pending three-year-old cases, and magistrate judges reported 1 percent. Three-year-old cases declined in 8 of the 12 circuits and grew in 4 circuits. The largest reduction occurred in the Fifth Circuit, which had 3,615 fewer pending cases, most of them part of multidistrict litigation consisting of health care/pharmaceutical lawsuits alleging that the medication Taxotere (Docetaxel) causes permanent chemotherapy-induced alopecia (PCIA). The second-largest reduction occurred in the Eighth Circuit, which had 151 fewer pending cases, most of them part of multidistrict litigation consisting of health care/pharmaceutical lawsuits addressing Bair Hugger Forced Air Warning Devices Products.
Primary Reasons for Delays in Pending Civil Cases. District courts provided one or more status codes to indicate reasons for delays for all 86,778 civil cases reported for September 30, 2025. The status codes cited most often were multidistrict litigation (76,313 cases), complexity of case (2,681 cases), awaiting materials (1,816 cases), extensive discovery involved (1,528 cases), referred to magistrate judge (1,267 cases), trial scheduled (1,263 cases), heavy criminal and civil caseload (1,194 cases), settlement pending (932 cases), and opinion/decision in draft (907 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 (64,407 cases), personal injury/product liability (6,872 cases), prisoner petitions (2,373 cases), civil rights (2,311 cases), other personal injury (2,046 cases), Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) (1,865 cases), contract (1,426 cases), and labor (779 cases).