Trends in Federal Courts Caseload

The most recent edition of The Third Branch, Newsletter of the Federal Courts contains a new report “A Decade of Change in the Federal Courts Caseload: Fiscal Years 1997-2006” that examines the identifiable caseload trends and the forces behind the changing nature of the federal courts’ caseload in the past decade. Statistics on criminal and civil cases in the Courts of Appeals and the District Courts are examined. According to the report, “Between September 30, 1997 and September 30, 2006, appeals court filings steadily climbed, district court caseloads fluctuated, and bankruptcy filings hit a record high before tumbling following the enactment of sweeping bankruptcy reform legislation.”