Court Statistics Reveal Civil Lawsuit Filings are Dropping

Public disinformation campaigns concocted by front groups for insurance companies and powerful corporations are designed to stoke prejudice and fear, and warp public understanding of how our civil justice system works.  By manufacturing a mythical “lawsuit crisis,” they are trying to pressure policymakers into shielding wrongdoers from financial liability when their dangerous actions harm innocent people. The numbers prove there is no litigation crisis in our state or our country.

Civil Lawsuit Filings are Dropping Significantly in Illinois:

• Civil case filings in Illinois have dropped 61 percent since 2010.¹
• The number of medical malpractice cases filed in Illinois is down 39 percent since 2003.²
• The number of civil cases filed in Cook County dropped 61 percent from 2010 to 2024.³
• The number of asbestos lawsuits filed in Madison County has declined 45 percent since 2013.⁴

Civil Lawsuit Filings are Dropping Across the Nation:

• Over a six-year period (2019-2024), civil caseloads in state trial courts fell by 4.4 percent, representing only 24 percent of incoming cases in state trial courts in 2024.⁵
• Contract cases (predominately businesses suing businesses or other people for money) made up the largest category of civil cases in 2024, representing 50 percent of incoming state court civil caseloads.⁶
• Tort cases are a tiny proportion of the overall civil caseload and accounted for only 6 percent of incoming state civil court caseloads in 2024. This rate has remained low for the past 13 years.⁷
• Medical malpractice cases represent a tiny percentage of civil caseloads in 2024, ranging from 0.02 to 0.58 percent. This range is consistent with NCSC data from the previous 12 years.⁸
• Product liability cases represented a tiny percentage of state civil caseloads in 2024, ranging from 0.0 to 0.37 percent. This range is consistent with NCSC data from the previous 12 years.⁹
• Juries resolved a tiny percentage of state civil cases in 2024, with rates ranging from 0.00 to 0.28 percent, which has remained tiny for the past 13 years.¹⁰

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¹ “Annual Report of the Illinois Courts, Statistical Summary,” 2010 to 2024,  http://illinoiscourts.gov/SupremeCourt/AnnReport.asp
² “Collar County Medical Malpractice New Suits,” Law Bulletin Publishing Company, reflecting filings through 2021 in 20 Illinois counties including: Cook, DuPage, Lake, Kendall, Kane, Madison, St. Clair and Will.
³ “Annual Report of the Illinois Courts, Statistical Summary,” 2010 to 2024. http://illinoiscourts.gov/SupremeCourt/AnnReport.asp
⁴ Madison County Circuit Clerk Office. Brian Davis: bdavis@co.madison.il.us
⁵ National Center for State Courts, “Trial Court Caseload Overview, Incoming Caseload Composition – Civil,” https://www.ncsctableauserver.org/t/Research/views/TrialDashboards/Civil.
⁶ Ibid.
⁷ Ibid.
⁸ Ibid.
⁹ Ibid.
¹⁰ Ibid.

PDF Fact Sheet: Court Statistics Reveal Civil Lawsuit Filings are Dropping