The Litigation King: Trump the Most Litigated Individual in History

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The Litigation King: Donald Trump and the Race for Most Litigated Individual in History

Donald Trump stands at the intersection of business, politics, and legal warfare in a way no other individual in modern American history has managed. With a career spanning over four decades in real estate, entertainment, and two presidential terms, Trump has accumulated a staggering number of lawsuits that positions him as potentially the most litigated individual in world history.

 

The Numbers: Trump's Litigation Empire

Historical Business Litigation (Pre-Presidency)

According to a comprehensive 2016 USA Today investigation, Trump and his businesses were involved in at least 4,000 lawsuits in federal and state courts over the three decades before his first presidency. These weren't small claims—they ranged from massive casino debt collection battles to complex real estate disputes, breach of contract cases, defamation claims, and labor violations. Attorney James D. Zirin documented approximately 3,500 of these cases in his 2019 book Plaintiff in Chief, noting that Trump appeared with unusual frequency on both sides of the courtroom as both plaintiff and defendant.

 

Second Administration Litigation Surge (2025-2026)

Trump's return to the White House in January 2025 triggered an unprecedented legal avalanche:

• 583 active cases tracked by Just Security's Litigation Tracker as of mid-January 2026
• 253 active cases tracked by Lawfare's Trump Administration Litigation Tracker
• 328 lawsuits reported by Bloomberg as of May 1, 2025 (just 101 days into his second term)
• 530 lawsuits reported by The Fulcrum as of November 2025
• 54 lawsuits filed by California Attorney General Rob Bonta alone in the first year

These figures represent only challenges to Trump administration executive actions and don't include the numerous lawsuits Trump has personally filed as plaintiff during the same period, including billion-dollar defamation suits against media outlets.

The Current Total

With approximately 4,500-5,000 lawsuits spanning his career (combining pre-presidential business litigation and government-related cases), Trump has established himself as the heavyweight champion of litigation among individuals.

 

Strike 3 Holdings: Corporate Litigation Heavyweight 

Strike 3 Holdings, parent company of pornography producer Vixen Media Group, has filed more than 20,000 copyright lawsuits as of November 2025, making them the single most prolific filer of copyright lawsuits in the US. The company owns copyrights to approximately 2,000 adult films and aggressively pursues alleged copyright infringers through federal court.

As of November 2025, only about ten out of Strike 3's more than 20,000 cases had resulted in litigation rather than being settled or withdrawn, with no cases having gone to trial. The company typically settles for $750 per film, with settlements ranging from $20,000-$30,000 for multiple films.

The Distinction: Strike 3 Holdings is a corporate entity specifically designed as a litigation vehicle for copyright enforcement. Trump is an individual whose lawsuits stem from business operations, personal disputes, and governmental actions.

 

The Most Sued Companies: Putting Individual Litigation in Perspective

To understand the scale of corporate litigation compared to individuals:

3M Combat Arms Earplugs: The Undisputed Champion

The 3M Combat Arms Earplug is the most sued product of 2025, with over 391,200 lawsuits filed. The last MDL case count reached 276,568 cases. These cases stem from military veterans and service members who suffered permanent hearing loss from defective earplugs distributed between 2003-2015.

In August 2023, 3M agreed to settle nearly 260,000 earplug lawsuits for $6 billion. As of July 25, 2025, over $2.75 billion had been disbursed to claimants.

Other Corporate Giants

While Trump leads among individuals, corporate defendants operate on an entirely different scale. Pharmaceutical companies like Johnson & Johnson (talc litigation), Purdue Pharma (opioid crisis), and BP (oil spill) have each faced tens of thousands of lawsuits.

 

What Makes Trump Different: The Substance Behind the Numbers

1. Substantive Legal Issues

Unlike frivolous filers, Trump's cases address genuine constitutional questions, federal regulatory authority, contract enforcement, and civil rights claims. Law professors at Fordham, Loyola, Cornell, and NYU uniformly described Trump's litigation as "definitely unprecedented" for someone holding or having held the presidency.

Courts take these cases seriously, resulting in hundreds of injunctions, emergency appeals, and Supreme Court reviews.

2. Both Plaintiff and Defendant

Trump appears on both sides of the litigation ledger with equal vigor. As of January 2026, he has filed major defamation lawsuits seeking billions against major media outlets, plus a $10 billion suit against the IRS and Treasury Department over leaked tax records. Simultaneously, he faces hundreds of challenges to his executive actions.

3. High Stakes and Real Consequences

According to Bloomberg's analysis, courts had blocked Trump administration actions in 128 cases as of May 2025, compared to only 43 cases where courts allowed contested policies to proceed. Just Security reports 200 plaintiff wins versus 110 government wins through mid-January 2026. These aren't symbolic victories—they've halted executive orders, frozen funding, and reversed policy implementations.

 

First Term vs. Second Term: A Comparative Analysis

First Term (2017-2021)

Trump's first presidency was unprecedented for legal challenges, but the scale pales compared to his second term. First-term litigation focused primarily on:

• The travel ban (multiple iterations and appeals)
• Emoluments clause violations
• Census citizenship question
• Border wall emergency declaration
• DACA rescission
• Environmental regulation rollbacks

 

Second Term (2025-Present)

The second term has generated exponentially more litigation across broader policy areas:

• Immigration Policy: Executive orders ending birthright citizenship and deportations under the Alien Enemies Act spawned extensive multistate litigation. 

• Federal Funding Freezes: The Office of Management and Budget's directive temporarily pausing federal grants, loans, and financial assistance triggered immediate lawsuits from 22 states plus the District of Columbia. 

• Education Policy: Education Week tallied 72 lawsuits challenging Trump's education policies in 2025, including challenges to department downsizing, grant terminations, and ideological restrictions. 

• Federal Employee Rights: The American Federation of Government Employees filed multiple lawsuits challenging mass terminations of probationary employees, collective bargaining restrictions, and loyalty requirements. 

• Environmental and Land Management: The Center for Biological Diversity alone filed 51 lawsuits in Trump's second term defending environmental protections and public lands.

The daily filing rate during 2025 averaged approximately 1.5 new cases per business day—triple the rate from his first term.

 

The Undisputed Champion

After comprehensive research, no individual in documented history has accumulated more substantive lawsuits than Donald Trump. While companies like 3M and Strike 3 Holdings have vastly higher case counts, they are corporate entities, not individuals. Among natural persons:

• Jonathan Lee Riches filed thousands of frivolous, instantly-dismissed cases
• Serial filers in various countries have racked up hundreds of cases
• Wealthy individuals involved in complex business empires rarely exceed 1,000 cases

Trump's combination of business litigation (4,000+), personal lawsuits (hundreds), and government-related cases (600+ annually in his second term) creates a total approaching or exceeding 5,000 cases. This isn't just a volume record—it's unprecedented for someone who has served as head of state.

As Jed Shugerman, a law professor at Fordham University, noted, Trump's litigation is "definitely unprecedented" for someone holding or having held the presidency, adding that "one thing that makes Donald Trump unique is that he doesn't shy away from litigation".

 

Conclusion: The Title Belongs to Trump

With a career total exceeding 4,500-5,000 lawsuits and counting, Donald Trump holds the heavyweight title as the most litigated individual in world history. Unlike corporate defendants or frivolous filers, Trump's lawsuits represent substantive legal battles with real consequences—constitutional challenges, billion-dollar defamation claims, federal policy disputes, and commercial litigation spanning decades.

The litigation surge during his second administration, averaging 1.5 new cases per day during 2025, reflects both the unprecedented scope of his executive actions and the determination of states, advocacy groups, and individuals to challenge them through the judicial system. This legal phenomenon represents not merely personal litigiousness but a fundamental stress test of constitutional checks and balances.

In the ring of litigation, Trump stands alone—the undisputed, undefeated champion of lawsuits among individuals in recorded history.

 

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Primary Sources:

• Just Security Trump Administration Litigation Tracker
• Lawfare Trump Administration Litigation Tracker
• Bloomberg litigation analysis
• USA Today investigation (2016)
• James D. Zirin, Plaintiff in Chief: A Portrait of Donald Trump in 3,500 Lawsuits (2019)
• Education Week litigation database
• The Fulcrum analysis of Trump administration legal costs