How long does a tort lawsuit take?
Other torts (federal) — fraud and other federal tort suits — take a median of 189 days from filing to resolution, based on 196,477 real cases in the public federal court record. Most resolve between 94 days and 1.9 years — here's the full picture.
Filing to termination · 196,477 cases · median 189 days
How tort lawsuit cases end
Of 164,712 resolved cases — the observed record, not a prediction of any one case.
Other torts (federal) duration by court
Median time to resolution in the districts with the most tort lawsuit cases.
| District | Cases | Median | Slowest 10% |
|---|---|---|---|
| C.D. Cal. | 13,468 | 165d | 1.7 yr |
| E.D.N.Y. | 11,263 | 183d | 1.9 yr |
| N.D. Ill. | 10,537 | 154d | 1.7 yr |
| M.D. Fla. | 9,379 | 142d | 1.3 yr |
| N.D. Ga. | 9,251 | 153d | 1.3 yr |
| D.N.J. | 8,701 | 213d | 2.1 yr |
| S.D.N.Y. | 8,174 | 209d | 2.6 yr |
| S.D. Fla. | 7,014 | 123d | 1.1 yr |
| E.D. Pa. | 5,641 | 176d | 1.8 yr |
| N.D. Cal. | 5,449 | 257d | 3.2 yr |
| D. Minn. | 5,021 | 170d | 1.5 yr |
| S.D. Tex. | 4,529 | 208d | 1.8 yr |
| N.D. Tex. | 4,007 | 189d | 1.4 yr |
| E.D. Mich. | 3,621 | 204d | 1.9 yr |
| W.D. Tex. | 3,351 | 211d | 1.8 yr |
Have a specific tort lawsuit?
These are averages across every tort lawsuit. For a forecast tuned to your case — your court, your amount, your posture — get a free estimate, or the full report built from your complaint.
Other case types
Source: data/fjc/civil.parquet (Federal Judicial Center), cleaned by Tertius · model tertius-acta-3. Durations are filing to termination for U.S. federal civil cases. This is observed historical data, not a prediction of any specific case, and not legal advice. Tertius forecasts timing and disposition, never merits or damages.