Trial lawyers might expect to see a growing case backlog because of the way the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted Texas courts.

But they would be wrong—at least for now.

Case data from the Texas Office of Court Administration shows that—rather than a growing backlog—Texas courts have increased their clearance rates during the first three months of the pandemic.

Texas Lawyer analyzed data from March, April and May that comprised civil and family law cases in both district courts and county courts-at-law across the whole state.

One of the biggest findings: It's true that Texas courts became less efficient at disposing of cases during the pandemic.

In March, courts statewide disposed of 26,038 civil and family cases. By May, the disposition number had dropped to 17,972, which is a significant 31% decline.

But a drop in new cases meant the dockets didn't become congested during the pandemic, despite courthouse closures. During that time, the number of new case filings dropped significantly. In March, there were 28,953 new cases filed, but by May, the number had fallen to 17,138—a 41% decrease.

The result was that at the end of March, there were 564,595 active pending cases, and the total dropped by 11% to 505,051 by the end of May.

View the numbers:

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

'Courts have been active'

The good news: The courts' clearance rate actually improved from 90% in March to 105% in May.

David Slayton

"It shows that Texas judges during the pandemic—the courts have been active and at work and working with litigants and attorneys. They have been moving cases," said David Slayton, administrative director of the Texas Office of Court Administration. "I think it shows the value of the Zoom remote hearings that we've been using in the state. We've been able to not only move the cases coming into the courts, we actually started digging into some of the backlog already in existence when the pandemic hit."

Slayton noted that new case filings were down across the board, regardless of practice area, but that some dropped more than others. Debt cases, child support actions, tax delinquency matters and protective order cases decreased the most, he said.

Tom Phillips

Baker Botts partner Tom Phillips of Austin said he thinks litigators are just waiting to file their cases because the Texas Supreme Court has extended the statute of limitations during the pandemic.

The court's latest emergency order, issued Monday, extended the filing deadlines to Sept. 15.

Phillips, a former chief justice of the Supreme Court, said there's another explanation too.

"We saw some of this after the 2008 to 2009 crisis: People don't want to spend the money it takes to litigate, and they work harder to settle—find some sort of business solution, or they work it out informally," he said.

Future backlog?

But although courts' clearance rates are great now, it doesn't mean the Texas judiciary is in the clear.

If the case filing numbers rise to normal levels again, but the case disposition numbers are still down, that would create a backlog.

"I think that hasn't happened yet, but I think that's coming," said Houston trial lawyer Rebeca Huddle, who expects an uptick in new filings whenever the statute-of-limitations deadline extension expires.