Today, we wrap up our analysis of the areas of law which have comprised the California Supreme Court’s civil docket over the past sixteen years, focusing on the civil docket for the years 2013 through 2015.

Government and administrative law jumped to the top spot in the civil docket for 2013, accounting for 18.92% of the docket.  Civil procedure was up slightly, producing 13.51% of the caseload.  Employment law was down and consumer law was up, as each accounted for 8.11% of the docket in 2013. Seven different areas of law – constitutional, tort, arbitration, contract, tax law, property and secured transactions – produced 5.41% of the docket apiece.  Finally, the Court decided one case each in domestic relations, workers compensation, commercial law, tax and wills and estates.

Tort law, traditionally quite high on all appellate dockets, was the most common area of law on the Court’s 2014 civil docket, accounting for 20.83% of the cases. Employment and civil procedure were next, producing 16.67% of the cases apiece.  Government and administrative law contributed 12.5% of the docket.  Tax law was up slightly at 8.33%, followed by constitutional law, domestic relations, insurance, arbitration, contract law and environmental law, each accounting for 4.17%.

Government and administrative law dominated the civil docket last year, accounting for fully 40% of the cases, with all other areas of the law far behind.  Constitutional law, employment, insurance, workers compensation, commercial law, arbitration and contract law each accounted for 5.71% of the cases.  Civil procedure, domestic relations, tort, tax, wills and estates, property law and secured transactions accounted for 2.86% of the docket apiece.

Join us back here next week as we complete our tour through the areas of law on the California Supreme Court’s docket by reviewing the criminal docket between 2010 and 2015.

Image courtesy of Flickr by Chris Hunkeler (no changes).