Negotiable instruments
Federal civil · Contract · 40,520 cases filed and closed (1988–present).
40,520
Cases filed
62.7%
Ended before a merits judgment
25,399 of 40,520 cases
86.4%
Plaintiff win
of 15,121 merits judgments
9.7%
Defendant win
of merits judgments
How they closed
- Dismissed36.3%
- Plaintiff win32.2%
- Settled20.9%
- Defendant win3.6%
- Remanded2.4%
- Transferred2%
- Other1%
- Decided — other0.8%
- Mixed0.7%
- Affirmed0%
- Denied0%
Where you file matters
The same claim resolves differently across districts. Plaintiff-win rate among merits judgments, busiest courts first.
- District Court, S.D. Texas2,356 cases · 745 decided74.8%
- District Court, N.D. Texas2,267 cases · 800 decided86.4%
- District Court, S.D. New York2,219 cases · 621 decided88.2%
- District Court, N.D. Illinois1,403 cases · 519 decided84%
- District Court, E.D. Louisiana1,392 cases · 597 decided86.6%
- District Court, D. Connecticut1,217 cases · 281 decided87.2%
- District Court, W.D. Texas1,201 cases · 458 decided79.9%
- District Court, D. Nevada1,171 cases · 656 decided94.1%
- District Court, D. New Jersey1,106 cases · 402 decided84.6%
- District Court, E.D. New York1,098 cases · 488 decided93%
- District Court, D. Massachusetts1,078 cases · 334 decided83.5%
- District Court, M.D. Florida959 cases · 395 decided97%
- District Court, C.D. California931 cases · 168 decided79.2%
- District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania903 cases · 275 decided94.2%
- District Court, S.D. Florida871 cases · 208 decided86.1%
- District Court, E.D. Virginia818 cases · 266 decided92.5%
- District Court, D. South Carolina797 cases · 432 decided97.9%
- District Court, D. Maryland759 cases · 337 decided88.4%
- District Court, W.D. Oklahoma683 cases · 257 decided88.7%
- District Court, D. Colorado643 cases · 192 decided81.3%
- District Court, W.D. Louisiana613 cases · 261 decided85.1%
- District Court, N.D. Georgia600 cases · 258 decided82.9%
- District Court, E.D. Michigan570 cases · 242 decided84.3%
- District Court, E.D. Missouri517 cases · 276 decided93.1%
- District Court, District of Columbia504 cases · 153 decided88.9%
- District Court, D. Hawaii481 cases · 338 decided94.7%
- District Court, S.D. Mississippi465 cases · 207 decided83.6%
- District Court, E.D. Tennessee443 cases · 174 decided86.2%
- District Court, D. Arizona426 cases · 155 decided69%
- District Court, N.D. California408 cases · 111 decided63.1%
Source: FJC Integrated Database (public domain), via CourtListener — federal civil cases filed and terminated, 1988–present. Figures are descriptive statistics about how cases of a given type have closed in a given court. They describe the historical record — not a prediction or assessment of any specific case. Not legal advice.