With half of the year over, Docket Alarm data can reveal critical insights into federal civil litigation trends for 2026 so far.
In terms of the parties that have been involved in lawsuits the most in 2026, the top five are all current or former federal government officials being sued in their official capacity. The officials sued include the heads of the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement – each have been involved in over 10,000 lawsuits so far this year, largely as the respondent. Unsurprisingly, most of these matters involve immigration enforcement.
Cases filed under PACER Nature of Suit code 463 have spiked massively during the second Trump administration, an almost eightfold increase.
Outside of government entities, the most-sued private companies are Pfizer and its subsidiary Pharmacia & Upjohn. The cases are connected to a multidistrict litigation captioned In re: Depo-Provera Products Liability Litigation. The core allegation is that Depo-Provera, a widely used injectable contraceptive manufactured primarily by Pfizer (under the brand name) and various generic manufacturers, could cause brain tumours.
The case was originally filed last year, but Pfizer is involved in over 5,000 lawsuits so far this year, with many of these cases later associated with the multidistrict litigation. Williams & Connolly represents Pfizer in these cases, and as such is the private law firm involved in the most lawsuits filed so far this year.
Another major company involved in litigation this year is credit reporting agency Equifax. While not tied to a multidistrict case, the company has faced over 2,000 cases filed under consumer credit case types, largely as defendant.