Reviewing Declining Dockets, Part 3 – Civil, 2001-2010

Last time we reviewed the data for civil dockets in the Districts of the Appellate Court for the years 1997 through 2000.  Today, we're looking at the data for the years 2001 through 2010.

In 2000, the First District saw 2,109 new proceedings.  That number dipped towards the middle of the decade, bottoming out at 1,862 in 2007, but by 2010, filings at the First District were actually up – 2,187 new cases for 2010.

The Second District saw a steep drop in the middle of the decade too, from 839 in 2010 to 653 in 2007, before staging a partial recovery to 727 new cases in 2010.  The recession cut into Third District cases as well.  There were 518 new civil matters in 2000 and 519 in 2001, but 498 in 2006 and 472 apiece in 2007 and 2008.  The number was up again in 2009 to 555 new cases but fell in 2010 to 482.