Pro Se Litigants in Federal Court: How Many Lawsuits Are Filed Without a Lawyer
Original analysis of 6.2 million records from the Federal Judicial Center, FY2005–FY2025. Published October 10, 2026.
We counted 6.2 million civil case filings in U.S. district courts in fiscal years 2005–2025 and measured how often the plaintiff, the defendant or both had no lawyer, by year, case type and district.
What the federal court records show
In fiscal year 2025, 17.6% of non-prisoner civil lawsuits filed in U.S. district courts outside multidistrict litigation (37,810 cases) were brought by plaintiffs without a lawyer, the highest share of any fiscal year since 2005, when it was 9.6%. Counting prisoner petitions, 29.9% of all 303,716 federal civil cases filed in fiscal 2025 had at least one self-represented party.
- 17.6%Non-prisoner, non-MDL suits filed pro se, FY2025
- 1.8×Growth of that share since FY2005
- 29.9%All civil cases with a pro se party, FY2025
The highest share in two decades
Outside prisoner petitions and multidistrict litigation, the pro se plaintiff share was 9.6% in fiscal 2005 and 10.9% in fiscal 2019, fell to 10.0% in fiscal 2020 and has risen every year since, to 17.6% in fiscal 2025.
Civil rights cases lead
Self-represented plaintiffs filed 36.9% of non-employment civil rights cases in fiscal 2021–2025. In the catch-all code "other civil rights" the share was 57.6%, or 49,626 cases.
Immigration and consumer suits shifted
The pro se share of immigration cases outside detention rose from 4.5% in fiscal 2021 to 23.7% in fiscal 2025, when Vermont alone accounted for 974 of the 2,406 pro se cases; without Vermont the share was 15.7%. For consumer credit and protection cases it rose from 7.7% in fiscal 2005 to 22.2%.
Prisoners still file most pro se cases
88.8% of prisoner petitions in fiscal 2025 were filed by plaintiffs without a lawyer. Prisoner petitions account for 55.7% of all cases with a pro se plaintiff that year.
One district stands apart
In Vermont, 70.4% of non-prisoner cases in fiscal 2021–2025 had a pro se plaintiff, and 91.1% of those were "other immigration" cases. The median district was at 15.2%.
One MDL would distort the trend
204,787 cases in MDL No. 2885 (N.D. Florida) filed in fiscal 2020–2024 carry a pro se plaintiff code. Counting all MDL cases in, the fiscal 2020 share would read 31.0% instead of 10.0%, so we leave MDL cases out of the trend.
How Many Federal Lawsuits Are Filed Without a Lawyer
The trend line counts non-prisoner civil cases outside multidistrict litigation and the share in which the plaintiff side had no lawyer.
The share was 9.6% in fiscal 2005, 11.2% in fiscal 2015 and 17.6% in fiscal 2025, when 37,810 of 215,059 such cases were filed pro se.
Prisoner petitions are shown separately because almost all of them are filed without a lawyer: 88.8% in fiscal 2025. Adding them to the trend line would make the overall share depend mostly on how many prisoners file in a given year. The CSV also lists the share of all civil cases with any self-represented party, the measure the federal judiciary publishes in Table C-13: 30.9% in fiscal 2005 and 29.9% in fiscal 2025.
Cases that belong to a multidistrict litigation (MDL) are left out. In fiscal 2020 alone, 110,157 MDL cases carried a pro se plaintiff code, 99.8% of them in MDL No. 2885 (N.D. Florida). The exclusion cuts both ways: in fiscal 2025 only 194 of 34,762 non-prisoner MDL cases carried a pro se plaintiff code, so counting all non-prisoner cases including MDLs, the fiscal 2025 share was 15.2%. The CSV lists both shares for every year.
Non-prisoner civil cases filed by pro se plaintiffs, share by fiscal year
- 202517.6%37,810 of 215,059 cases
- 202414.7%28,462 of 194,085 cases
- 202312.7%24,540 of 193,791 cases
- 202211.9%20,819 of 175,456 cases
- 202110.2%18,533 of 181,340 cases
- 202010.0%18,496 of 184,062 cases
- 201910.9%21,146 of 194,312 cases
- 201811.6%21,468 of 185,432 cases
- 201711.6%20,756 of 179,287 cases
- 201611.3%20,179 of 179,051 cases
- 201511.2%20,709 of 185,302 cases
All fiscal years
- 201411.0%19,903 of 181,035 cases
- 201311.2%20,807 of 185,967 cases
- 201211.0%22,408 of 203,828 cases
- 20119.7%21,923 of 226,303 cases
- 20109.3%20,704 of 223,304 cases
- 20099.2%19,976 of 216,885 cases
- 20088.4%17,313 of 207,054 cases
- 20079.1%18,163 of 200,256 cases
- 20068.5%16,870 of 198,076 cases
- 20059.6%17,950 of 187,815 cases
Fiscal years run October through September; fiscal 2025 ended September 30, 2025. Fiscal 2026 is incomplete and not shown.
Which Types of Federal Cases Are Filed Without a Lawyer
Broad case categories group the nature-of-suit codes that filers pick on the civil cover sheet.
Outside prisoner petitions, Civil rights (non-employment) has the highest pro se plaintiff share in fiscal 2021–2025 at 36.9%, followed by Real property (22.1%) and Employment discrimination (18.5%).
Employment discrimination barely changed, from 19.6% in fiscal 2005 to 21.6% in fiscal 2025. Social Security appeals fell from 6.1% to 4.0%. Real property rose from 6.4% to 24.7%, contract cases from 3.6% to 6.7%. The CSV has cases, pro se plaintiffs and the share for every category and every fiscal year.
Pro se plaintiff share by case category
| Category | FY2005 | FY2025 | Cases FY21–25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prisoner petitions | 88.5% | 88.8% | 249K |
| Civil rights (non-employment) | 33.3% | 47.3% | 146K |
| Real property | 6.4% | 24.7% | 20.5K |
| Immigration (non-detention) | 10.6% | 23.7% | 45.9K |
| All other nature-of-suit codes | 11.8% | 22.8% | 79.8K |
| Consumer credit and protection | 7.7% | 22.2% | 56.6K |
| Employment discrimination | 19.6% | 21.6% | 75.9K |
| Torts and product liability | 5.1% | 8.3% | 176K |
| Contract | 3.6% | 6.7% | 146K |
| Labor and ERISA | 2.9% | 4.4% | 65.9K |
| Social Security | 6.1% | 4.0% | 77.5K |
| Intellectual property | 1.7% | 2.5% | 70.5K |
Cases = all cases in the category in fiscal 2021–2025, excluding MDL cases. In fiscal 2005 the immigration category held only 198 deportation cases; the naturalization and other immigration codes came into regular use in fiscal 2008.
Which Nature-of-Suit Codes Have the Most Pro Se Plaintiffs
The ranking lists every nature-of-suit code with at least one thousand cases outside MDLs in fiscal 2021–2025.
Most prisoner petition codes top the list. Among non-prisoner codes, Other civil rights ranks first at 57.6%, followed by Truth in Lending (46.2%) and Assault, libel and slander (40.8%).
At the other end, plaintiffs without a lawyer filed 2.5% of product liability cases and 2.8% of Social Security disability appeals outside MDLs. The defendants column shows how often the defense side had no lawyer. In most codes that is rare; in rent, lease and ejectment cases the share was 76.0%.
Share of cases with pro se plaintiffs or defendants, FY2021–FY2025
| Case type | Cases | Plaintiffs | Defendants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prison condition | 50.6K | 92.4% | 6.5% |
| Habeas corpus | 68.8K | 91.6% | 1.4% |
| Prisoner civil rights | 97K | 91.5% | 1.3% |
| Motion to vacate sentence | 17.5K | 84.5% | 1.4% |
| Prisoner mandamus and other | 8.91K | 73.8% | 4.1% |
| Other civil rights | 86.1K | 57.6% | 3.3% |
| Truth in Lending | 1.29K | 46.2% | 3.7% |
| Alien detainee habeas | 4.4K | 41.5% | 0.8% |
| Assault, libel and slander | 3.35K | 40.8% | 6.5% |
| Bankruptcy appeal | 7.24K | 36.2% | 4.0% |
| Constitutionality of state statutes | 2.08K | 32.9% | 4.3% |
| RICO | 4.5K | 29.4% | 8.1% |
| Rent, lease and ejectment | 3.8K | 28.9% | 76.0% |
| All other real property | 5.62K | 26.9% | 10.5% |
| Housing/accommodations | 4.6K | 26.3% | 4.6% |
All case types
| Case type | Cases | Plaintiffs | Defendants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other statutory actions | 26.4K | 23.0% | 3.9% |
| Negotiable instrument | 2.09K | 22.6% | 8.8% |
| Foreclosure | 6.97K | 22.5% | 12.4% |
| Medical malpractice | 4.71K | 22.0% | 0.9% |
| Other fraud | 11K | 21.2% | 4.8% |
| Employment discrimination | 62.2K | 18.9% | 0.8% |
| ADA employment | 13.8K | 16.5% | 0.6% |
| Telephone Consumer Protection Act | 7.59K | 15.6% | 2.7% |
| Consumer credit | 45.9K | 15.3% | 2.0% |
| Taxes | 2.64K | 14.8% | 12.0% |
| False Claims Act | 2.64K | 14.5% | 3.0% |
| Torts to land | 1.39K | 14.2% | 4.5% |
| Other immigration | 44K | 13.9% | 1.1% |
| Freedom of Information Act | 4.17K | 12.5% | 0.4% |
| Other property damage | 6.58K | 11.9% | 2.4% |
| Education | 4.28K | 11.8% | 1.2% |
| Naturalization | 1.85K | 11.7% | 0.7% |
| Administrative Procedure Act | 7.11K | 11.4% | 1.1% |
| Qui tam | 3.76K | 10.2% | 1.2% |
| Antitrust | 2.15K | 8.9% | 2.7% |
| Other personal injury | 56.9K | 8.6% | 1.2% |
| Other contract | 56.8K | 8.4% | 4.1% |
| Labor/management relations | 2.12K | 8.4% | 1.0% |
| Recovery of overpayment | 2.13K | 7.4% | 6.6% |
| Federal Employers' Liability | 1.71K | 7.2% | 0.2% |
| Motor vehicle product liability | 1.32K | 7.1% | 1.0% |
| Other labor litigation | 7.27K | 6.4% | 1.2% |
| Supplemental Security Income | 32.8K | 5.7% | 0.3% |
| Property damage product liability | 2.23K | 5.3% | 1.2% |
| Environmental matters | 2.25K | 5.2% | 2.9% |
| Contract product liability | 2.07K | 5.2% | 0.6% |
| Stockholders' suits | 1.49K | 4.5% | 1.9% |
| Family and Medical Leave Act | 5.09K | 4.5% | 0.3% |
| ADA other | 50.3K | 4.4% | 1.7% |
| Arbitration | 5.31K | 4.4% | 2.1% |
| Tort product liability | 1.82K | 4.2% | 0.8% |
| Securities/commodities | 8.11K | 4.2% | 4.7% |
| Health care/pharmaceutical | 9.53K | 4.2% | 0.7% |
| Other forfeiture/penalty | 2.57K | 4.1% | 7.0% |
| Fair Labor Standards Act | 27.6K | 3.2% | 3.4% |
| Defend Trade Secrets Act | 3.41K | 3.2% | 5.4% |
| Insurance | 75.2K | 3.1% | 1.6% |
| Social Security disability (DIWC/DIWW) | 41.1K | 2.8% | 0.6% |
| Copyright | 30.3K | 2.6% | 1.9% |
| Product liability | 34.9K | 2.5% | 0.3% |
| Social Security retirement (RSI) | 3.07K | 2.4% | 0.3% |
| Franchise | 1K | 2.4% | 5.0% |
| Motor vehicle | 30.2K | 2.2% | 0.8% |
| Marine contract | 3.18K | 2.0% | 4.8% |
| Trademark | 17.5K | 1.8% | 4.5% |
| Patent | 17.9K | 1.8% | 1.1% |
| ERISA | 23.6K | 1.7% | 2.6% |
| Marine personal injury | 5.13K | 1.5% | 0.9% |
| Drug-related seizure | 1.95K | 1.0% | 13.0% |
| Cable/satellite TV | 1.78K | 0.8% | 7.9% |
| Patent (ANDA) | 1.29K | 0.2% | 1.2% |
Which Federal Districts Have the Most Pro Se Plaintiffs
Shares are computed from each district's own non-prisoner caseload, so large and small districts can be compared.
Vermont ranks first at 70.4%, followed by Alaska (34.3%) and M.D. Alabama (25.3%). S.D. Illinois is lowest at 3.1%.
The ranking covers the 90 districts with at least one thousand non-prisoner cases outside MDLs in fiscal 2021–2025. Across all of them, 13.6% of these cases had a pro se plaintiff. The Vermont figure is driven by one case type: 91.1% of its 2,528 pro se plaintiff cases are coded "other immigration." Outside that code, 225 of 919 non-prisoner cases in Vermont had a pro se plaintiff (24.5%).
Non-prisoner cases filed by pro se plaintiffs, by district, FY2021–FY2025
- Vermont70.4%2,528 of 3,593 cases
- Alaska34.3%469 of 1,369 cases
- M.D. Alabama25.3%661 of 2,612 cases
- Hawaii24.8%645 of 2,606 cases
- New Hampshire24.5%386 of 1,574 cases
- Nevada24.0%2,512 of 10,450 cases
- Nebraska23.9%753 of 3,149 cases
- District of Columbia23.6%4,191 of 17,733 cases
- S.D. Georgia23.0%629 of 2,737 cases
- South Dakota22.8%268 of 1,174 cases
- W.D. Wisconsin21.2%598 of 2,817 cases
- Maryland21.2%3,174 of 14,977 cases
- E.D. Virginia21.1%2,717 of 12,890 cases
- E.D. Wisconsin20.9%1,063 of 5,095 cases
- N.D. New York20.7%1,341 of 6,478 cases
All districts
- W.D. North Carolina20.3%1,048 of 5,153 cases
- C.D. Illinois20.2%680 of 3,369 cases
- N.D. Georgia20.0%4,993 of 24,952 cases
- Arizona19.7%2,218 of 11,256 cases
- Connecticut19.6%1,457 of 7,449 cases
- M.D. Georgia19.4%670 of 3,457 cases
- M.D. Pennsylvania19.3%1,453 of 7,517 cases
- S.D. Iowa19.1%343 of 1,794 cases
- N.D. West Virginia18.9%273 of 1,442 cases
- W.D. Tennessee18.9%780 of 4,120 cases
- Massachusetts18.9%2,215 of 11,711 cases
- W.D. Michigan18.8%917 of 4,890 cases
- Rhode Island18.8%453 of 2,416 cases
- M.D. North Carolina18.6%599 of 3,221 cases
- Colorado18.3%2,474 of 13,494 cases
- E.D. Arkansas18.2%741 of 4,065 cases
- N.D. Iowa18.1%245 of 1,357 cases
- S.D. Alabama17.9%366 of 2,039 cases
- E.D. Tennessee17.9%770 of 4,307 cases
- N.D. Florida17.9%934 of 5,231 cases
- Idaho17.1%344 of 2,015 cases
- Maine17.0%357 of 2,097 cases
- E.D. Michigan16.8%2,250 of 13,428 cases
- W.D. Washington16.5%2,171 of 13,143 cases
- W.D. Virginia16.2%462 of 2,858 cases
- M.D. Tennessee15.9%919 of 5,776 cases
- N.D. Alabama15.6%1,158 of 7,416 cases
- N.D. Texas15.6%2,954 of 18,962 cases
- S.D. California15.5%1,586 of 10,227 cases
- S.D. Indiana15.4%1,437 of 9,317 cases
- N.D. Indiana15.0%981 of 6,529 cases
- E.D. California14.9%2,017 of 13,567 cases
- Kansas14.8%730 of 4,925 cases
- Oregon14.8%1,115 of 7,527 cases
- E.D. Missouri14.4%1,017 of 7,081 cases
- W.D. Kentucky14.0%666 of 4,743 cases
- Utah13.8%757 of 5,496 cases
- Montana13.7%278 of 2,029 cases
- New Mexico13.7%628 of 4,590 cases
- Wyoming13.5%171 of 1,262 cases
- N.D. Oklahoma13.3%320 of 2,405 cases
- E.D. North Carolina13.0%1,133 of 8,728 cases
- E.D. Pennsylvania13.0%3,718 of 28,667 cases
- W.D. Pennsylvania12.9%1,296 of 10,022 cases
- S.D. Ohio12.9%1,269 of 9,816 cases
- M.D. Florida12.5%4,303 of 34,398 cases
- South Carolina12.5%1,404 of 11,258 cases
- W.D. Texas12.4%2,352 of 19,035 cases
- E.D. Kentucky12.2%419 of 3,447 cases
- W.D. Oklahoma11.9%581 of 4,867 cases
- Minnesota11.9%1,449 of 12,209 cases
- Delaware11.9%901 of 7,596 cases
- E.D. Oklahoma11.7%195 of 1,671 cases
- New Jersey11.6%3,919 of 33,762 cases
- W.D. Louisiana11.4%1,548 of 13,528 cases
- E.D. Texas11.3%1,411 of 12,504 cases
- W.D. Missouri10.9%808 of 7,407 cases
- S.D. New York10.7%5,421 of 50,698 cases
- S.D. Texas10.6%2,868 of 27,012 cases
- N.D. Ohio10.4%1,029 of 9,899 cases
- N.D. Mississippi10.3%327 of 3,186 cases
- E.D. New York10.2%3,757 of 37,008 cases
- S.D. West Virginia10.1%222 of 2,208 cases
- W.D. Arkansas10.0%259 of 2,587 cases
- C.D. California10.0%7,145 of 71,763 cases
- W.D. New York9.9%812 of 8,218 cases
- N.D. Illinois9.4%4,159 of 44,104 cases
- S.D. Florida8.7%3,362 of 38,502 cases
- S.D. Mississippi8.7%624 of 7,175 cases
- M.D. Louisiana8.6%405 of 4,716 cases
- E.D. Washington8.5%316 of 3,722 cases
- N.D. California7.6%3,012 of 39,519 cases
- Puerto Rico7.6%236 of 3,103 cases
- E.D. Louisiana5.4%888 of 16,380 cases
- S.D. Illinois3.1%338 of 11,075 cases
How Our Counts Compare With U.S. Courts Statistics
The federal judiciary publishes pro se filing totals each year in Judicial Business Table C-13. We recomputed them from the case-level data.
For fiscal 2025 we count 90,866 civil cases with a pro se party; Table C-13 reports 89,971, a difference of 0.99%. For fiscal 2024 the difference is 1.38%.
Total civil filings for fiscal 2025 differ from Table C-13 by 0.05%. For fiscal 2000–2019, we find 27.7% of civil cases with at least one pro se party; the judiciary's 2021 Just the Facts article reports 27% for 2000 to 2019. Rows marked % compare shares; their difference is relative to the published share. Small gaps are possible: the judiciary notes that filing counts from the Integrated Database may not match its published tables because the database is built from termination and pending case data.
Our counts vs. published U.S. Courts figures
| Measure | Ours | Published | Diff. |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 civil cases | 303,716 | 303,563 | 0.05% |
| FY2024 civil cases | 291,016 | 290,896 | 0.04% |
| FY2024 pro se cases | 101,025 | 99,647 | 1.38% |
| FY2025 pro se cases | 90,866 | 89,971 | 0.99% |
| FY2024 pro se nonprisoner cases | 56,294 | 54,675 | 2.96% |
| FY2025 pro se prisoner cases | 48,022 | 48,183 | −0.33% |
| FY2024 pro se prisoner cases | 44,731 | 44,972 | −0.54% |
| FY2025 pro se nonprisoner cases | 42,844 | 41,788 | 2.53% |
| FY2000-19 prisoner petitions filed pro se (%) | 89.48 | 91 | −1.67% |
| FY2000-19 share with a pro se party (%) | 27.72 | 27 | 2.66% |
Download the Data and Cite This Study
Every table on this page as a CSV file, free to reuse with attribution (CC BY 4.0).
- Calibration: our counts vs. published U.S. Courts pro se statisticsOur counts from the FJC Integrated Database next to the totals in U.S. Courts Table C-13 (FY2024, FY2025) and the shares in the 2021 Just the Facts article (rows marked %). · 10 rows · CSV, 1 KB
- Pro se plaintiff share by case category, FY2005-FY2025Cases outside multidistrict litigation and the number and share filed by self-represented plaintiffs, per broad nature-of-suit category, for every fiscal year from 2005 to 2025. · 12 rows · CSV, 6 KB
- Pro se plaintiff share in non-prisoner cases by federal district, FY2021-FY2025Non-prisoner civil cases outside multidistrict litigation filed in each U.S. district court in fiscal 2021-2025 and the share filed by self-represented plaintiffs. · 90 rows · CSV, 3 KB
- Pro se plaintiff share by nature of suit, FY2021-FY2025Every nature-of-suit code with at least one thousand cases outside multidistrict litigation in fiscal 2021-2025, ranked by the share filed by self-represented plaintiffs. · 71 rows · CSV, 5 KB
- Federal civil cases with a self-represented party, by fiscal year, FY2005-FY2025Cases filed per fiscal year in U.S. district courts, the share with any pro se party, the pro se plaintiff share among prisoner petitions and among non-prisoner cases outside and including multidistrict litigation. · 21 rows · CSV, 2 KB
How to cite
Goldberg, L. (2026). Pro Se Litigants in U.S. District Courts — Share of Civil Cases Filed Without a Lawyer by Year, Case Type and District (FY2005–FY2025) [Data set]. Settlement Insight. https://settlementinsight.com/research/pro-se-litigants-share
BibTeX
@dataset{goldberg_2026_pro_se_litigants_share,
author = {Goldberg, Leonard},
title = {Pro Se Litigants in U.S. District Courts --- Share of Civil Cases Filed Without a Lawyer by Year, Case Type and District (FY2005--FY2025)},
year = {2026},
publisher = {Settlement Insight},
url = {https://settlementinsight.com/research/pro-se-litigants-share}
}How We Measured
Checked against published figures
- U.S. district courts, pro se civil cases filed, fiscal year 2025 (12 months ending Sept. 30, 2025): published 89,971, our count 90,866 (0.99% apart).Table C-13. U.S. District Courts–Civil Pro Se and Non-Pro Se Filings, by District, During the 12-Month Period Ending September 30, 2025
- U.S. district courts, civil cases filed, fiscal year 2025 (12 months ending Sept. 30, 2025): published 303,563, our count 303,716 (0.05% apart).Table C-13. U.S. District Courts–Civil Pro Se and Non-Pro Se Filings, by District, During the 12-Month Period Ending September 30, 2025
- U.S. district courts, pro se prisoner petitions filed, fiscal year 2025 (12 months ending Sept. 30, 2025): published 48,183, our count 48,022 (0.33% apart).Table C-13. U.S. District Courts–Civil Pro Se and Non-Pro Se Filings, by District, During the 12-Month Period Ending September 30, 2025
- U.S. district courts, pro se nonprisoner cases filed, fiscal year 2025 (12 months ending Sept. 30, 2025): published 41,788, our count 42,844 (2.53% apart).Table C-13. U.S. District Courts–Civil Pro Se and Non-Pro Se Filings, by District, During the 12-Month Period Ending September 30, 2025
- U.S. district courts, pro se civil cases filed, fiscal year 2024 (12 months ending Sept. 30, 2024): published 99,647, our count 101,025 (1.38% apart).Table C-13. U.S. District Courts–Civil Pro Se and Non-Pro Se Filings, by District, During the 12-Month Period Ending September 30, 2024
- Share of federal civil cases filed 2000-2019 with at least one pro se plaintiff or defendant: published 27.0%, our count 27.7% (2.66% apart).Just the Facts: Trends in Pro Se Civil Litigation from 2000 to 2019
- Share of prisoner petitions filed 2000-2019 in which the plaintiffs were self-represented: published 91.0%, our count 89.5% (1.67% apart).Just the Facts: Trends in Pro Se Civil Litigation from 2000 to 2019
Full method and limits of the data
Scope: records are assigned to the federal fiscal year (October through September) of their filing date, fiscal 2005 through 2025, 6,209,437 records in all. Fiscal 2026 is incomplete and excluded. A case counts as having a pro se plaintiff when the plaintiff side is self-represented, alone or together with the defendant side. Prisoner petitions are the nature-of-suit codes listed under Prisoner Petitions on the civil cover sheet, including alien detainee habeas petitions.
Calculation: the main trend divides non-prisoner cases with a pro se plaintiff by all non-prisoner cases, leaving out any case with a multidistrict litigation (MDL) docket number. The category and nature-of-suit tables apply the same pro se plaintiff and MDL rules to all cases, including prisoner petitions, which appear as their own category and codes; the district ranking covers non-prisoner cases only. Rankings pool fiscal 2021–2025. Nature-of-suit codes and districts with fewer than one thousand cases in that window are not ranked.
What this data cannot tell you
- The PROSE code shows whether a party was self-represented, not why. A party may hire a lawyer while a case is pending, and the FJC notes that pro se information may change over the life of a case, that each record reflects the case as of the most recent update and that the field has no data quality control checks. The code can therefore differ from representation at filing, and recent cases may be coded at an earlier stage than older, closed ones.
- The data count cases, not people. One person who files many lawsuits adds many cases, which can lift the share in a small district or case type.
- Leaving out MDL cases removes MDL No. 2885, whose cases the database codes as pro se plaintiff cases in very large numbers for reasons we could not verify. It also removes all other MDL cases, which in fiscal 2025 rarely carried a pro se plaintiff code: 34,762 non-prisoner MDL cases, 194 of them with a pro se plaintiff code. Counting all non-prisoner cases, the fiscal 2025 share is 15.2% instead of 17.6%; leaving out only MDL No. 2885, the share rose from 9.6% in fiscal 2005 to 15.2% in fiscal 2025.
- Several nature-of-suit codes came into regular use (at least 100 cases a year outside MDLs) only during the period: the naturalization, other immigration and alien detainee habeas codes in fiscal 2008, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act code in fiscal 2020. Category shares for fiscal 2005 therefore rest on a different mix of codes than those for fiscal 2025.
- Figures from the Integrated Database can differ slightly from the judiciary's published tables because, as the judiciary notes, the database is built from termination and pending case data.
- Shares describe filings in federal district courts only; state courts are not covered.
Frequently Asked Questions
What percentage of federal lawsuits are filed pro se?
In fiscal 2025, 29.9% of the 303,716 civil cases filed in U.S. district courts had at least one self-represented party. Leaving out prisoner petitions and multidistrict litigation, 17.6% of cases were filed by plaintiffs without a lawyer.
Is pro se litigation increasing in federal court?
Among non-prisoner cases outside multidistrict litigation, yes. The pro se plaintiff share was 9.6% in fiscal 2005 and 17.6% in fiscal 2025, the highest of any year in the series; counting MDL cases too, it was 15.2% in fiscal 2025. Among prisoner petitions, 88.8% were filed without a lawyer in fiscal 2025.
Which federal cases are most often filed without a lawyer?
Prisoner petitions: 92.4% of prison condition cases, 91.6% of habeas corpus petitions and 91.5% of prisoner civil rights cases in fiscal 2021–2025 had a pro se plaintiff. Outside prison cases, the code "Other civil rights" leads at 57.6%.
Which federal district has the most pro se plaintiffs?
By share of non-prisoner cases in fiscal 2021–2025, Vermont ranks first at 70.4%, mostly immigration cases, followed by Alaska at 34.3%. The median district was at 15.2%.
How many people sue in federal court without a lawyer each year?
In fiscal 2025, 85,854 civil cases in U.S. district courts had a pro se plaintiff, 47,850 of them prisoner petitions. Outside prisoner petitions and multidistrict litigation, 37,810 cases were filed by plaintiffs without a lawyer, up from 17,950 in fiscal 2005. These are case counts; one person can file several cases.
Where do these pro se numbers come from?
From the Federal Judicial Center's Integrated Database, which records a pro se code for nearly every federal civil case; 591 of the 6,209,437 records for fiscal 2005–2025 have none. Our fiscal 2025 total of cases with a pro se party is within 0.99% of the judiciary's published Table C-13.
Sources
- Integrated Database (IDB) — Federal Judicial Center
- The Integrated Database: A Research Guide — Federal Judicial Center
- Table C-13. U.S. District Courts–Civil Pro Se and Non-Pro Se Filings, by District, During the 12-Month Period Ending September 30, 2025 — Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts
- Table C-13. U.S. District Courts–Civil Pro Se and Non-Pro Se Filings, by District, During the 12-Month Period Ending September 30, 2024 — Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts
- Just the Facts: Trends in Pro Se Civil Litigation from 2000 to 2019 — Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts
- Civil Nature of Suit Code Descriptions (JS 44) — Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts
- Independent analysis. Settlement Insight is not a law firm and not affiliated with any agency named here. Analysis by Leonard Goldberg, Editor. How we work: methodology, our data.
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