Fifth Circuit Statistics

2,085
Total Cases Argued
1,615 decided
64.7%
Overall Affirmance Rate
1,027 affirmed · 561 reversed
117
Avg Days to Opinion
Argument date to opinion date

Civil vs. Criminal

Affirmed   Reversed
Affirmance RateRateCases
Civil
60.7%n=150
Criminal
73.5%n=132

Affirmance Rate by Appellant Side

Affirmed   Reversed
Affirmance RateRateCases
Plaintiff
67.8%n=886
Defendant
60.2%n=688

Cases by Type

All argued cases.

Affirmance Rate by Case Type

Affirmed   Reversed
Affirmance RateRateCases
Criminal (DCRIM)
72.4%n=294
Other Civil Rights
61.3%n=256
Other Contract Actions (Dvsty)
56.1%n=82
Insurance (Dvsty)
60.3%n=68
Other Statutes
54.4%n=57
Bankruptcy
67.3%n=55
Agency
58.2%n=55
Jobs (Civil Rights)
71.7%n=53
Unknown
72%n=50
Other Personal Liab (Dvsty)
77.5%n=40
Immigration
73.5%n=34
Fair Labor Standards Act(FedQ)
62.1%n=29
Prisoner - Civil Rights
35.7%n=28
Other Statutory Actions (FedQ)
67.9%n=28
Constitutional-St Stat (Fed Q)
48.1%n=27
Marine (Fed Q)
63%n=27
Civil Rights
70.4%n=27
Criminal (NCRIM)
68%n=25
Habeas Corpus
72.7%n=22
Other Personal Liab (Fed Q)
77.8%n=18
Americans w/Disab Act-Empl
66.7%n=18
Vacate Sentence (2255)
68.8%n=16
Copyright (Fed Q)
66.7%n=15
Voting (Civil Rights)
46.7%n=15
Insurance (Fed Q)
50%n=14
Other Immigration Actions
92.3%n=13
Other Property Actions (Fed Q)
61.5%n=13
P.I. - Product Liab (Dvsty)
63.6%n=11
Trademark (Fed Q)
54.5%n=11
Motor Vehicle (Dvsty)
81.8%n=11
Americans w/Disab Act - Other
40%n=10
Other Property Actions (Dvsty)
66.7%n=9
Other Contract Actions (Fed Q)
44.4%n=9
Direct Appeal - Bankruptcy Ct
33.3%n=9
Habeas Corpus - Death Penalty
87.5%n=8
Other personal prop dam(Dvsty)
62.5%n=8
Other Statutory Actions
42.9%n=7
Securities Commd Exchng(Fed Q)
57.1%n=7
Defend Trade Secrets Act(FedQ)
71.4%n=7
RICO (Fed Q)
85.7%n=7
Employee Retirement (Fed Q)
85.7%n=7
Other Fraud (Dvsty)
71.4%n=7
Consumer Credit (Fed Q)
33.3%n=6
Antitrust (Fed Q)
66.7%n=6
Torts
40%n=5
Environmental Matters
60%n=5
Other Labor Litigation (Fed Q)
40%n=5
Qui Tam (31 U.S.C. 3729(a))
40%n=5

Affirmance Rate by Case Type & Appellant

Cases with known outcome and known appellant side. Types with fewer than 5 combined cases omitted.

Affirmed   Reversed
Affirmance Rate Rate Cases
Criminal (DCRIM)n=293
Plaintiff appellant
100% n=1
Defendant appellant
72.3% n=292
Other Civil Rightsn=254
Plaintiff appellant
69% n=155
Defendant appellant
48.5% n=99
Other Contract Actions (Dvsty)n=81
Plaintiff appellant
54.7% n=53
Defendant appellant
57.1% n=28
Insurance (Dvsty)n=67
Plaintiff appellant
63.3% n=49
Defendant appellant
50% n=18
Other Statutesn=57
Plaintiff appellant
57.1% n=35
Defendant appellant
50% n=22
Bankruptcyn=55
Plaintiff appellant
70% n=50
Defendant appellant
40% n=5
Agencyn=53
Plaintiff appellant
57.7% n=52
Defendant appellant
0% n=1
Jobs (Civil Rights)n=53
Plaintiff appellant
77.8% n=45
Defendant appellant
37.5% n=8
Unknownn=47
Plaintiff appellant
80% n=30
Defendant appellant
52.9% n=17
Other Personal Liab (Dvsty)n=40
Plaintiff appellant
77.5% n=40
Immigrationn=34
Plaintiff appellant
73.5% n=34
Prisoner - Civil Rightsn=28
Plaintiff appellant
38.9% n=18
Defendant appellant
30% n=10
Fair Labor Standards Act(FedQ)n=28
Plaintiff appellant
66.7% n=15
Defendant appellant
61.5% n=13
Civil Rightsn=27
Plaintiff appellant
85.7% n=21
Defendant appellant
16.7% n=6
Constitutional-St Stat (Fed Q)n=27
Plaintiff appellant
64.7% n=17
Defendant appellant
20% n=10
Other Statutory Actions (FedQ)n=26
Plaintiff appellant
71.4% n=14
Defendant appellant
66.7% n=12
Marine (Fed Q)n=26
Plaintiff appellant
69.2% n=13
Defendant appellant
53.8% n=13
Criminal (NCRIM)n=25
Plaintiff appellant
37.5% n=8
Defendant appellant
82.4% n=17
Habeas Corpusn=22
Plaintiff appellant
84.2% n=19
Defendant appellant
0% n=3
Other Personal Liab (Fed Q)n=18
Plaintiff appellant
100% n=12
Defendant appellant
33.3% n=6
Americans w/Disab Act-Empln=18
Plaintiff appellant
70.6% n=17
Defendant appellant
0% n=1
Vacate Sentence (2255)n=16
Plaintiff appellant
0% n=2
Defendant appellant
78.6% n=14
Copyright (Fed Q)n=15
Plaintiff appellant
77.8% n=9
Defendant appellant
50% n=6
Voting (Civil Rights)n=15
Plaintiff appellant
60% n=5
Defendant appellant
40% n=10
Insurance (Fed Q)n=14
Plaintiff appellant
28.6% n=7
Defendant appellant
71.4% n=7
Other Property Actions (Fed Q)n=13
Plaintiff appellant
63.6% n=11
Defendant appellant
50% n=2
Other Immigration Actionsn=13
Plaintiff appellant
92.3% n=13
Motor Vehicle (Dvsty)n=11
Plaintiff appellant
75% n=8
Defendant appellant
100% n=3
Trademark (Fed Q)n=11
Plaintiff appellant
66.7% n=6
Defendant appellant
40% n=5
P.I. - Product Liab (Dvsty)n=11
Plaintiff appellant
55.6% n=9
Defendant appellant
100% n=2
Americans w/Disab Act - Othern=10
Plaintiff appellant
50% n=6
Defendant appellant
25% n=4
Direct Appeal - Bankruptcy Ctn=9
Plaintiff appellant
16.7% n=6
Defendant appellant
66.7% n=3
Other Contract Actions (Fed Q)n=9
Plaintiff appellant
40% n=5
Defendant appellant
50% n=4
Other Property Actions (Dvsty)n=9
Plaintiff appellant
75% n=8
Defendant appellant
0% n=1
Habeas Corpus - Death Penaltyn=8
Plaintiff appellant
100% n=5
Defendant appellant
66.7% n=3
Other personal prop dam(Dvsty)n=8
Plaintiff appellant
80% n=5
Defendant appellant
33.3% n=3
Other Fraud (Dvsty)n=7
Plaintiff appellant
66.7% n=6
Defendant appellant
100% n=1
Other Statutory Actionsn=7
Plaintiff appellant
50% n=4
Defendant appellant
33.3% n=3
Securities Commd Exchng(Fed Q)n=7
Plaintiff appellant
60% n=5
Defendant appellant
50% n=2
RICO (Fed Q)n=7
Plaintiff appellant
83.3% n=6
Defendant appellant
100% n=1
Defend Trade Secrets Act(FedQ)n=7
Plaintiff appellant
71.4% n=7
Employee Retirement (Fed Q)n=7
Plaintiff appellant
80% n=5
Defendant appellant
100% n=2
Antitrust (Fed Q)n=6
Plaintiff appellant
80% n=5
Defendant appellant
0% n=1
Consumer Credit (Fed Q)n=6
Plaintiff appellant
50% n=4
Defendant appellant
0% n=2
Environmental Mattersn=5
Plaintiff appellant
66.7% n=3
Defendant appellant
50% n=2
Other Labor Litigation (Fed Q)n=5
Plaintiff appellant
40% n=5
Tortsn=5
Plaintiff appellant
50% n=2
Defendant appellant
33.3% n=3
Qui Tam (31 U.S.C. 3729(a))n=5
Plaintiff appellant
66.7% n=3
Defendant appellant
0% n=2

Affirmance Rate by Case Posture (Who Is the Appellant)

Affirmed   Reversed
Affirmance RateRateCases
Unknown
64.7%n=1588

Affirmance Rate by Time to Opinion

Affirmed   Reversed
Affirmance RateRateCasesAvg Days
0–30 days
78%n=25916 avg days
31–90 days
68.9%n=63658 avg days
91–180 days
62.3%n=411126 avg days
181–365 days
42%n=200246 avg days
Over 1 year
53.6%n=69605 avg days

Time to Opinion: Affirmed vs. Reversed

Based on cases with a known outcome and a non-negative days-to-opinion value.

69
Median Days – Affirmed
Avg 103.4 days · n=1,017
98
Median Days – Reversed
Avg 141.6 days · n=558