A pyramid, and almost nothing reaches the topArticle III of the Constitution created exactly one court — “one supreme Court” — and left every other federal court to Congress. What Congress built, starting with the Judiciary Act of 1789 and settling into its modern form by 1911, is a three-tier pyramid: 94 district courts where every case begins, 13 courts of appeals that review them, and the Supreme Court above.
The proportions are the whole story. In fiscal year 2025 the district courts took in 382,692 cases and the regional circuits 41,824. In October Term 2024 the Supreme Court decided 64 of them on the merits. That is not a failure of the system — it is the design. Since the Judges’ Bill of 1925 the Supreme Court has chosen its own docket, and it chooses to resolve conflicts, not to correct errors. For everyone else, the court below is the last one.
Where federal cases actually end · FY2025Each bar is one stage. Widths are on a logarithmic scale — on a linear one, everything below the first bar would be invisible.
Filed in the district courts382,692
303,563 civil cases and 79,129 criminal defendants, across 94 district courts (FY2025).
Appealed to a circuit court41,824
Filings in the 12 regional courts of appeals. Half were filed pro se; 20% were prisoner petitions.
Decided by a circuit court40,411
Appeals terminated in FY2025. For almost every one of these litigants, this is the last court that will ever look at the case.
Petitioned to the Supreme Court3,856
Total cases filed on the Supreme Court's docket in OT2024 — 2,527 in forma pauperis, 1,329 paid.
Argued73
Cases argued in OT2024.
Decided on the merits64
64 cases disposed of in 56 signed opinions, plus 4 per curiam opinions in argued cases.
Sources: AO Federal Judicial Caseload Statistics 2025 and Judicial Facts and Figures Table 2.1 (district and appellate figures, FY2025); Chief Justice’s 2025 Year-End Report (Supreme Court figures, October Term 2024 — the most recent complete term).
The three tiersU.S. District Courts94 courts · 677 judgeships
The trial courts. Every federal case starts in one of 94 districts — at least one per state, plus D.C., Puerto Rico, and three territorial courts. A single district judge presides; findings of fact are theirs to make, and appellate courts will not lightly disturb them. This is the only tier where witnesses testify and juries sit.
U.S. Courts of Appeals13 courts · 179 judgeships
Twelve regional circuits, each covering a group of states, plus the Federal Circuit, which has nationwide jurisdiction over subject matter rather than territory — patents, international trade, veterans' and federal-employee claims. Appeals are heard by randomly assigned three-judge panels; the full court can rehear a case en banc, but rarely does.
The Supreme Court1 court · 9 justices
Almost entirely discretionary since the Judges' Bill of 1925. It picks roughly 60–70 cases a year from nearly 4,000 petitions, and takes them not to correct errors but to resolve conflicts between circuits or settle questions of national importance. Error correction is not its job — which is precisely why the tier below it is where most law actually ends.
How a case moves upFiling
A complaint or indictment lands in one of 94 districts. Venue rules — and, in some districts, which division you file in — determine who hears it.
The district judge
Motions, discovery, summary judgment, and in a small minority of cases a trial. Over 98% of federal civil cases end without one. The judge's factual findings will bind every court above.
Appeal as of right
A losing party may appeal to the circuit — this is not discretionary. A randomly drawn three-judge panel decides. Most appeals are resolved on the briefs, without argument, in an unpublished opinion.
En banc (rarely)
The full circuit can rehear a panel decision. Circuits grant this a handful of times a year; it is the main internal check on a panel that goes its own way.
Certiorari (almost never)
A petition to the Supreme Court, which grants under 2%. Four justices must agree to hear it. For 99.8% of appellate decisions, the circuit was the end of the road.