Civil litigation has grown at a healthy rate in the Dallas-Fort Worth district courts in the past five years.

Dallas County district courts saw a 25% increase in civil litigation from 2015 to 2019, while Tarrant County district courts saw a 28% gain, according to statistics from the Texas Office of Court Administration.

Civil district judges are seeing the rise, according to 14th District Judge Eric Moyé, who serves as the local civil administrative judge in Dallas County. He said he's unsure of the reason but feels that population growth can't fully explain it.

"There's been an increase in the number of cases in virtually all of the courts," Moyé said. "I have confidence that my colleagues and I are able to manage the increasing numbers in our docket."

Some civil practice areas are enjoying larger upticks than others. In Dallas County, the booming areas are consumer debt, civil cases relating to criminal cases, and motor vehicle. In Tarrant County, large growth came to civil cases relating to criminal cases, contract, real property and motor vehicle practice areas. In both counties, the practice area that's declined the most over the five-year period is tax cases.

Booming Practice: Consumer Debt

Consumer debt is the civil practice area growing the most in Dallas County district courts. The number of debt cases increased by 90% over five years, from 4,146 to 7,887 cases. In Tarrant County district court, the number of debt cases grew by 27% in the five-year period, from 2,007 to 2,550.

Source: Texas Office of Court Administration. Graphic: Angela Morris/ALM

The increasing debt caseload traces a statewide trend. The most recent Annual Statistical Report for the Texas Judiciary said that in the past five years, debt cases across the state have risen by 88% in district courts and county courts at law.

"It is a national trend being reported similarly by other states," wrote David Slayton, administrative director of the Texas Office of Court Administration, in an email.

Moyé, the Dallas County district judge, said he has noticed that the amount of money that creditors sue over has been decreasing.

"I'm astounded by the numbers of suits, and I see them typically get default judgments. Two months after the filing of the suit, they will take a default judgment for $2,000, or $1,500," Moyé said.

The increase in debt cases traces back to the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, created in 2011 after the Great Recession, which changed the landscape for consumer debt cases, said Mike Weston, owner of Weston Legal in Houston.

"They started suing the banks that were selling the debt, for massive amounts. They were suing the big debt collectors," explained Weston, who represents debtors in the Dallas-Fort Worth region and across Texas.

That prompted disruption from 2013 to 2016 among Texas debt collection law firms. Smaller law firms and solo practices stopped representing banks and creditors.

"It really consolidated into the bigger law firms, they consolidated, because they had to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars into compliance, to be allowed to represent the banks, so the banks don't get sued for collecting bad debt," he said.

Today, banks and their outside counsel are in compliance with federal regulation about debt collection, and it makes the creditors more comfortable filing larger numbers of debt lawsuits, Weston said.

This has created opportunity for attorneys who represent the debtors, such as Weston, but he noted that the cases now are harder to defend because the creditors have better documentation to prove up the debt.

Also, since many debtors do not have a lot of money to pay an attorney, lawyers like Weston must charge affordable fees. He noted that his firm offers a flat fee, and puts clients on 10-month payment plans. To make it a viable practice, an attorney must have a very high-volume practice, and hire many support staff to manage all those cases.

"There are competitors," Weston noted. "Most of us in this area have been doing it a really long time."

Other Court Trends

There were lesser increases in Dallas County district courts in other practice areas, including motor vehicle, contract, and medical malpractice. Place your cursor over the graphic below to view the numbers.

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Source: Texas Office of Court Administration. Graphic: Angela Morris/ALM

Over the five years in Tarrant County, multiple district court practice areas saw significant growth. Contract cases ticked up by 49%, from 303 to 452. Real property cases grew by 34%, while motor vehicle cases grew by 28% and debt cases climbed by 27%. Place your cursor on the graphic below to view the numbers.

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Source: Texas Office of Court Administration. Graphic: Angela Morris/ALM