Texas Federal Court Rankings: Which Courts Move Fastest?

Texas is home to four federal judicial districts — the Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western Districts — encompassing some of the busiest federal dockets in the country. For attorneys who can choose where to file, or who need to advise clients on litigation timelines, understanding how these courts compare on speed and efficiency is essential intelligence.

This analysis draws on Administrative Office statistics and RulingIQ docket data to rank Texas federal courts on the metrics that matter most to civil litigators.

The Four Texas Federal Districts: An Overview

Texas's federal judicial geography reflects the state's size. The Northern District covers Dallas, Fort Worth, Lubbock, Amarillo, and Abilene. The Southern District covers Houston, Corpus Christi, Brownsville, Laredo, and McAllen. The Eastern District — made famous by its patent litigation concentration — covers Tyler, Marshall, Sherman, Texarkana, and Beaumont. The Western District covers San Antonio, Austin, El Paso, Waco, Midland-Odessa, and Del Rio.

Each district has a distinct character shaped by its judge roster, case mix, and local bar.

Median Time to Disposition: The Core Metric

The Administrative Office tracks median time from filing to disposition for civil cases. This is the most reliable single-number comparison across courts, because it captures the full lifecycle of a case rather than any single procedural milestone.

Based on the most recent available data:

• Western District of Texas (Waco Division): Historically among the fastest in the state for patent cases under certain judges, though post-2022 transfer rule changes have affected this profile significantly.
• Northern District of Texas (Dallas Division): Runs median dispositions in the 22-28 month range for civil cases, competitive with peer large-city districts nationally.
• Southern District of Texas (Houston Division): The Houston docket is large and complex. Commercial cases often run 24-36 months from filing to disposition, reflecting the case mix.
• Eastern District of Texas (Marshall Division): Patent cases historically had faster trial settings here than in other districts, though the transfer landscape has changed the incentive structure significantly.

Caseload per Judge: The Understated Metric

Median time to disposition is partly a function of caseload per judge. A district with 600 pending civil cases per active judge will move more slowly than one with 350, all else being equal. Texas courts vary significantly on this dimension.

The Southern District of Texas, which handles a high volume of immigration-related civil matters in addition to complex commercial litigation, has among the highest per-judge caseloads in the state. The Western District's Waco and Austin divisions have seen caseload spikes in recent years as patent filers and technology companies have consolidated filings there.

The Northern District's Dallas Division and the Southern District's Houston Division both have large judge rosters — currently 17 and 19 active Article III judges respectively — which provides more capacity to absorb caseload surges than smaller divisions.

Trial Rates: Where Cases Actually Go to Trial

The national civil trial rate in federal courts hovers around 1.1-1.3% of filed cases. Texas districts cluster near this average, but there are meaningful outliers:

Divisions within the Eastern District have historically had higher-than-average patent trial rates, reflecting the case mix and the patent bar's preference for certain judges' trial procedures. Jury verdicts in those cases can be substantial, making the trial rate relevant to risk assessment in patent matters even post-transfer-order era.

For general commercial litigation, Texas federal courts are largely settlement machines like the rest of the federal system. The practical question is not whether your case will try, but how the trial date functions as a settlement forcing mechanism. A judge who sets firm trial dates 18 months out and refuses continuances creates different settlement dynamics than one whose trial calendar is perpetually pushed by complex case congestion.

Individual Judge Variation Within Districts

District-level statistics mask enormous judge-to-judge variation. Within the Northern District of Texas alone, median time-to-disposition across active judges ranges from under 18 months to over 40 months depending on caseload, practice, and docket management philosophy.

This variance is why district-level rankings are the beginning of judicial research, not the end. Once you know the district, the critical question becomes: which judge are you likely to draw, and what does that judge's specific docket history look like?

RulingIQ profiles every active federal judge in all four Texas districts, providing individual motion grant rates, time-to-disposition trends, and ruling pattern analysis that district-level averages cannot capture.

Patent Litigation: The Eastern District's Changing Profile

No discussion of Texas federal courts would be complete without addressing the Eastern District's patent litigation history. For over a decade, the Marshall and Tyler divisions were the preferred venue for non-practicing entity patent plaintiffs, driven by a plaintiff-favorable reputation, willing local juries, and the procedural practice of certain judges.

The Supreme Court's 2017 decision in TC Heartland v. Kraft Foods Group changed venue rules significantly, and subsequent Federal Circuit guidance on transfer motions has further redistributed patent filings. The Eastern District's share of national patent filings has declined substantially, though it retains active patent dockets with experienced judges.

For practitioners handling patent matters, understanding the post-TC Heartland landscape in Texas requires current data on each district's transfer motion grant rates, not just the pre-2017 historical reputation.

Venue Strategy Implications

When you have the ability to choose among Texas federal venues — because your defendant is present in multiple districts, or because contract venue clauses permit flexibility — the right choice depends on your client's goals.

For a plaintiff seeking a fast trial date to maximize settlement pressure: research current individual judge docket statistics in the Northern and Southern Districts, where large judicial rosters mean more options.

For a defense-side client seeking to extend proceedings and test plaintiff commitment: understand which divisions have the highest pending caseloads and longest median dispositions — time is generally on the defense side in civil litigation.

For IP matters: the post-2022 patent venue landscape in Texas is genuinely in flux. Current data on transfer motion grant rates by judge is more predictive than historical district reputations.

Conclusion

Texas federal court rankings are more nuanced than they appear in broad-brush comparisons. District-level statistics provide a starting point, but individual judge profiles within each division determine whether your specific case will move at the pace you need.

RulingIQ tracks all four Texas federal districts at the individual judge level, with time-to-disposition data updated quarterly and motion grant rates computed from thousands of docket entries. If you are making a venue decision in Texas, building a RulingIQ profile for each potential judge before filing will meaningfully improve your strategic analysis.