U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois: court analysis
9,226 linked cases · High confidence · Computed Oct 7, 2026
- Speed vs peers
- Fast
- trial general
- Median days to close
- 245
- 5,144 closed cases
- Cases in the index
- 9,226
- 2,081 with no closing date
- Judges with cases
- 83
How fast cases close here
Compared with courts at the same level. Fast is the quickest third of those courts, slow the slowest third.
Fast
Median 245 days from filing to closing (n=5,144) vs 274 days median across 94 federal trial general courts; fast is the quickest third (≤248 days), slow the slowest third (>301 days).
Official figure: U.S. Courts Federal Court Management Statistics report a median of 5 months from filing to disposition for civil cases and 24 months for felony defendants (12 months ending June 30, 2026). Source PDF
- Median
- 245 days
- Half of cases closed sooner
- Faster quarter
- 89 days or less
- Slower quarter
- more than 630 days
Based on 5,144 closed cases · High confidence
Caseload
Linked cases by filing year and type. A count is not an outcome.
1966–2005: 55 cases in total.
| Type | Cases |
|---|---|
| Civilcv | 5,521 |
| Miscellaneousmc | 2,073 |
| Criminalcr | 1,423 |
| Not classified | 208 |
| Magistrate judge mattermj | 1 |
How civil cases ended
Only results stated in a source document count.
- Plaintiff win rate
- 54%
- 1,102 judgments for one side
- Dismissal rate
- 29%
- 1,419 dismissed of 4,960 with a stated result
Jury or judge decided
- Share of trials before a jury
- 88%
- 84 trials
- Jury demanded on the docket
- 64%
- 1,132 of 1,761 dockets with the flag. A demand is not a trial.
Criminal cases
- Resolved by guilty plea
- 84%
- 565 criminal outcomes
- Convicted at trial
- 98%
- 50 trials
Judges with the most cases here
| Judge | Cases |
|---|---|
| Heather K. McShainU.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois | 302 |
| Virginia M. KendallU.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois | 250 |
| Jeffrey I CummingsU.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois | 247 |
Showing the top 3 of 83 judges. JudgeFinder Pro shows the full list.
Law firms most active here
An appearance is not an endorsement.
No attorney appearances with a firm are linked to this court yet.
How these figures are calculated
Read the methodology
Computed nightly from the cases linked to this court in the JudgeFinder record and sourced case outcomes.
Every figure carries its sample size. Confidence tiers: insufficient (fewer than 30), low (30–99), medium (100–499), high (500 or more). Below the minimum a rate is not shown and the page says "Insufficient data".
Speed compares this court's median days from filing to closing with other courts at the same level (for example, federal district courts with each other). Courts are split into thirds: fast is the quickest third, slow the slowest third. A label needs 30+ closed cases here and 3+ comparable courts. Federal district courts also cite the official median from the U.S. Courts Federal Court Management Statistics.
Caseload counts linked docket entries by filing year and type; open means no closing date is recorded.
Outcome rates follow the same definitions as judge analysis pages.