The states with the longest lawsuits

• New Hampshire has the longest lawsuits in the US, based on the average median time interval for all cases dispositioned over 12 months. 
• Florida comes second, with South Dakota in third. 
• Vermont has the shortest lawsuits, statistically. 

New research has revealed the states with the longest lawsuits, with New Hampshire coming out on top. 

The study by Las Vegas Personal Injury Lawyer H&P Law analyzed data from the US District Courts, which showed data for the median time from filing to deposition of civil cases active, covering the 12 months ending on the June 30^th 2024. 

Top ten states with the longest lawsuits 

It found that New Hampshire has the longest lawsuits. In the time studied, 2,231 cases were dispositioned in the state, of which 106,942 months were spent. The median time for all cases was 47.93 months on average, the most of any state. 

Florida comes in second place. 72,478 cases were dispositioned in the time studied, with 998,850 months spent on them. The average median time of all cases was found to be 13.78 months. 

Third place on the list goes to South Dakota, which has an average median time for cases of 11.74 months. 248 cases were dispositioned in the time studied, and 2,911 months were spent on them. 

Louisiana is fourth on the list, having seen 11,251 dispositioned cases in the time studied, making up 125,421 months. The average median time for these cases was found to be 11.15 months. 

Rounding out the top five is North Dakota, which saw an average median time of 11.05 months for all civil cases. 179 cases were dispositioned in the time studied, making up a total of 1,978 months. 

Statistically, Vermont is the state with the shortest lawsuits. In the time studied, 1,056 cases were dispositioned, with a median length of 2.43 months. All these cases took a total of 2,562 months. 

Commenting on the findings, Matthew Pfau from H&P Law said, “With New Hampshire’s Judicial Branch reporting on a backlog of civil cases from 2023 onwards, it’s possible that this could be the reason for the length of lawsuits in the state. However, with other states, it’s interesting to see how different the average median length of cases is when it goes all the way to 47 months with New Hampshire, 13 months with Florida and just two months with Vermont, even though the number of cases in each state varies so much.” 

Ends 

Source: Table C-5: “U.S. District Courts – Median Time From Filing to Disposition of Civil Cases, by Action Taken” from the Statistical Tables For The Federal Judiciary, covering the 12 months ending on June 30th 2024 

Methodology:  

1. Data was taken from the U.S. District Courts source mentioned above. 
2. The number of civil cases and the median time interval from filing to disposition were given per district, both in total and per stage of the process. 
3. This data was grouped per state (summation for number of cases, average for median time intervals). 
4. Each state was ranked highest to lowest regarding the average median time interval for all cases.