This page provides a timeline of notable federal trials arranged by decade. These trials either reflect major historical trends or attracted significant attention and debate when they were decided. The page is not designed as a comprehensive analysis of all major federal trials or an attempt to capture the whole scope of the federal courts’ work at any point in history. Rather, this timeline is designed to give users a sense of important historical moments through an inexhaustive selection of cases.

Users can hover over the image associated with each trial to view a brief description of the case in historical context. The links in the information window lead to further information about the cases and the judges who participated in them. The controls to the right of the timeline allow users to build a custom timeline using geographical, subject-matter, and litigant filters.