Other contract actions
Federal civil · Contract · 552,285 cases filed and closed (1988–present).
552,285
Cases filed
79.6%
Ended before a merits judgment
439,815 of 552,285 cases
63.5%
Plaintiff win
of 112,470 merits judgments
28.5%
Defendant win
of merits judgments
How they closed
- Dismissed37.2%
- Settled32.4%
- Plaintiff win12.9%
- Defendant win5.8%
- Remanded4.1%
- Transferred3.7%
- Other2.3%
- Decided — other0.8%
- Mixed0.8%
- 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. New York38,145 cases · 6,428 decided65.5%
- District Court, C.D. California28,164 cases · 3,758 decided62.3%
- District Court, D. New Jersey24,973 cases · 5,172 decided63.7%
- District Court, N.D. Illinois23,838 cases · 5,481 decided74.6%
- District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania23,735 cases · 4,673 decided81.8%
- District Court, E.D. Michigan16,374 cases · 5,625 decided75.1%
- District Court, S.D. Florida15,512 cases · 1,957 decided68.6%
- District Court, N.D. Texas14,749 cases · 2,983 decided61.1%
- District Court, S.D. Texas14,738 cases · 2,627 decided55.2%
- District Court, E.D. New York12,519 cases · 2,295 decided77.1%
- District Court, N.D. California12,002 cases · 2,409 decided48.4%
- District Court, D. Massachusetts11,629 cases · 2,307 decided46.3%
- District Court, M.D. Florida11,501 cases · 1,498 decided70.8%
- District Court, E.D. Virginia11,267 cases · 2,261 decided72.6%
- District Court, N.D. Georgia11,213 cases · 2,605 decided61.5%
- District Court, D. Maryland10,802 cases · 2,556 decided65.4%
- District Court, N.D. Ohio8,972 cases · 1,635 decided53.5%
- District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania7,927 cases · 2,320 decided80.5%
- District Court, D. Connecticut7,803 cases · 1,615 decided56.5%
- District Court, D. Minnesota7,704 cases · 1,418 decided51.5%
- District Court, D. Arizona7,515 cases · 1,977 decided54.6%
- District Court, D. South Carolina7,394 cases · 1,277 decided56.7%
- District Court, D. Colorado7,082 cases · 1,256 decided56%
- District Court, E.D. Louisiana6,830 cases · 1,530 decided51%
- District Court, W.D. Texas6,798 cases · 1,323 decided52.1%
- District Court, S.D. Mississippi6,681 cases · 1,240 decided46.9%
- District Court, S.D. Ohio6,524 cases · 1,059 decided50.4%
- District Court, N.D. Alabama6,413 cases · 1,200 decided77.6%
- District Court, District of Columbia5,759 cases · 1,308 decided53.4%
- District Court, S.D. California5,741 cases · 1,469 decided38%
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.