Lex Machina Releases its 2024 Contracts: Commercial Litigation Report

Lex Machina is proud to release its 2024 Contracts: Commercial Litigation Report, which provides insights into commercial litigation trends in federal district court and appellate court over the three-year period from 2021 to 2023. This report surveys emerging trends in case filings (including federal appellate cases), most active venues, judges, law firms, attorneys, parties, timing metrics, case resolutions, findings, and damages. The report often focuses on different sets of data, e.g., filtering cases in order to provide analytics on general contracts cases, commercial cases, contracts non-compete cases, contracts and trade secret non-compete cases, contracts franchise agreement cases, contracts class action cases, and contracts appellate cases.

Key Trends and Highlights from the report include:

• In 2023, 10,253 contracts cases and 6,654 commercial cases were filed in federal district courts.
• In the three-year period from 2021 to 2023, the highest number of commercial cases was filed in the Southern District of New York, while Judge Selna from the Central District of California was the most active judge for commercial cases.
• Financial institutions dominated the lists of the most active plaintiffs and defendants over the three years from 2021 to 2023.
• In the three-year period from 2021 to 2023, Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani was the most active law firm representing defendants and plaintiffs in commercial cases.
• For contracts cases that were appealed to a federal appellate court and terminated from 2021 to 2023 with a decision on the merits of the appeal, 31% were ultimately reversed.
• $13 billion in contract damages was awarded from 2021 to 2023.

View our infographic.

Legal Analytics is used for planning, budgeting, and litigation strategy. The metrics in this report can help readers decide who to pursue as clients, whether to file a particular motion, or when to settle (and for how much). This research supplements traditional legal research and anecdotal data in order to gain a competitive edge in litigation.

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