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This post was originally published in September 2026 and updated in October 2026.
On June 15, 2026, the Supreme Court of Florida established a statewide requirement that a signer of a litigation filing represent that the referenced legal authorities truly exist and are accurately cited within the submitted document. See Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.515; In re Amends. to Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.515, No. SC2026-0673, slip op. at 1–3 (Fla. May 28, 2026).
The proliferation of AI technologies also coincides with a dramatic increase in civil case filings in Miami-Dade, where annual filings increased from 21,408 in 2023 to 29,150 in 2025, approximately 36%.
Tracking Miami Dade litigation trends helps legal professionals connect that activity with risk assessment and case strategy, and it is now made easy via Lex Machina®, the LexisNexis® Legal Analytics® platform. Lex Machina now provides advanced analytics and direct document access for commercially relevant Miami-Dade Circuit Civil and County Civil lawsuits filed since 2016, covering more than 577,000 cases. New cases, trial outcomes, and procedural milestones are added daily as litigation progresses.
An analysis of 108,001 tort filings and the timing of cases filed in 2016–2023 offers a closer look at Miami-Dade’s recovery from COVID-19. It also shows how the expanded coverage helps legal teams evaluate litigation costs and risk using local evidence.
Key Takeaways for Miami-Dade Litigation
- Post-COVID filing pressure remains elevated. Miami-Dade recorded 13,035 tort filings in 2025, up 16% from 2024 and 48% above 2022.
- More recent filing groups show shorter observed paths to trial. Among cases tried by October 6, 2026, the median for 2023 filings was 910 days, about 24% shorter than for 2020 filings.
- Separate timing benchmarks strengthen litigation planning. For 2023 filings, the termination median was 354 days among terminated cases. Lex Machina helps teams compare relevant cases to inform budgets and settlement discussions.
Miami-Dade Tort Litigation After COVID
Miami-Dade tort filings rose 16% in 2025, even as more recent filing groups showed shorter observed trial timelines. Among cases tried by October 6, 2026, the median time to trial for 2023 filings was 24% shorter than for 2020 filings.
Filings nearly doubled from 8,803 in 2022 to 16,938 in 2023, then fell to 11,226 in 2024 before rebounding to 13,035 in 2025. That left 2025 volume 48% above 2022.
Source: Lex Machina. Medical Malpractice, Product Liability, Torts (Non-Vehicle) and Torts (Vehicle), filed January 1, 2016–October 7, 2026. The 2026 count is year-to-date. The open dot is a full-year estimate.
The longer view shows how far filing volume has moved beyond its pre-pandemic baseline. Filings declined just 6% from 8,746 in 2019 to 8,201 in 2021. By 2025, annual volume was 49% above 2019, even though it remained 23% below the 2023 peak. For firms and insurers, that sustained increase makes recent filing patterns particularly useful when assessing staffing needs and claims exposure.
The court system had already absorbed several disruptions. A March 2020 order moved nonessential proceedings to video conferences. Structural concerns closed the historic civil courthouse for part of 2021, and the COVID Backlog Trial Project added trial assistance in 2022. The 2023 filing spike then coincided with the rush to sue before Florida’s HB 837 tort reforms, prompting clerk overtime to process the influx.
By 2025, the response included stricter circuit civil case management, three additional circuit judgeships and four county judgeships, and a new Justice Center with 46 courtrooms. These changes expanded the tools and capacity available to manage civil litigation. The added judgeships served the courts across their dockets.
Timing data offer a practical comparison across filing years. Cases filed in 2021, 2022 and 2023 had trial medians of 962, 1,019 and 910 days, respectively, each below the medians for 2018–2020 filings. The 2023 median was 280 days, or about 24%, shorter than the 1,190-day median for 2020 filings. Termination medians also declined across the more recent groups, from 396 days for 2021 to 354 days for 2023.
The table groups cases by filing year. Trial counts reflect trials reached through October 6, 2026.
| Filing year | Trials through Oct. 6, 2026 | Median time to trial (days) | Median time to termination (days) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 119 | 979 | 428 |
| 2017 | 108 | 753 | 383 |
| 2018 | 102 | 1,310 | 387 |
| 2019 | 84 | 1,174 | 319 |
| 2020 | 85 | 1,190 | 244 |
| 2021 | 69 | 962 | 396 |
| 2022 | 78 | 1,019 | 357 |
| 2023 | 74 | 910 | 354 |
Source: Lex Machina, through October 6, 2026. Trial counts indicate that a trial commenced, not necessarily that it reached a verdict or procedural resolution. Mid-trial settlements are relatively common. Termination medians include only terminated cases.
Looking more closely at the latest filing groups, the trial median fell 109 days, or about 11%, from 2022 to 2023. Across 2021–2023, the termination median declined by 42 days, about 11%. For 2023 filings, the trial median represents roughly two and a half years, while the termination median is just under one year. These distinct benchmarks help counsel budget for cases heading toward trial and discuss the broader range of possible resolution timelines.
Cases filed in 2024–2026 are excluded from the timing comparison because many remain open. Their observed trials and terminations would favor faster outcomes and skew the medians toward shorter timelines. The included medians may also change as pending cases progress.
The combined court view is especially useful because Florida raised the county civil monetary threshold from $15,000 to $30,000 in 2020 and to $50,000 in 2023. Examining circuit and county cases together helps account for filings that shifted between courts as jurisdiction changed. For an individual dispute, narrowing the comparison by court and case type can further improve the relevance of the timing benchmarks.
Together, these findings give a more current picture of Miami-Dade tort litigation and a basis for revisiting budgets and settlement assumptions. Lex Machina connects those trends with the cases behind them.
Find Comparable Cases to Assess Exposure, Counsel, and Budgets
The expansion of the Lex Machina platform to include enhanced litigation analytics for Miami-Dade County connects wider trends with the individual cases behind them. Coverage includes condominium law, contracts, employment, insurance, medical malpractice, product liability, real property, vehicle torts, and other civil disputes. Filters for case types, party industry codes, and procedural milestones help customers focus on cases and sectors like their own.
Detailed analytics for more than 4,660 civil trials show prevailing parties, damages awarded, and trial judges’ rulings. For an insurer reviewing a claim for premises liability, property insurance coverage, or other dispute, comparable trial outcomes can help frame settlement discussions. Counsel can review relevant results and consult underlying filings to identify factual or procedural differences.
Lex Machina also enables customers to analyze cases handled by attorneys and law firms to assess their experience litigating comparable Miami-Dade disputes. A healthcare facility can examine local counsel experience on medical malpractice matters. A condominium association can investigate firms that have handled disputes involving similar issues. Those records make counsel interviews more specific. What role did the proposed team play? Which matters reached trial? How does that experience apply to the current dispute?
The same case histories help counsel discuss expected duration, staffing, and legal budgets. For a business, this can mean planning when employees, records, and outside counsel may be needed. Historical timing provides a starting point for those discussions, not a fixed schedule for a new lawsuit.
Turn Miami-Dade Litigation Insights into Action
Litigators can use outcomes from similar cases to assess potential exposure, shape case strategy, and support settlement recommendations. Relevant experience makes a pitch stronger. Timely awareness creates the opportunity to deliver it.
Customers can set automatic email alerts for new Miami-Dade lawsuits and use trackers to receive updates to existing matters. Business development teams can bring a new filing to the attorney best positioned to respond and connect the firm’s Miami-Dade experience with the new allegations, relevant timing benchmarks, and comparable outcomes. An update in an existing matter can prompt further research, a client briefing, or a discussion about new litigation needs.
“Access to reliable litigation data has always been the difference between guessing and knowing, and Miami-Dade’s volume and complexity make that gap especially costly to ignore,” said Ryan Hasting, a legal data expert for Lex Machina as well as an experienced litigator in South Florida. “Analytics from Lex Machina give litigators a sharper view of how cases actually play out and the insight to strategize accordingly, while giving insurers, businesses, and other non-legal professionals the ability to assess risk and plan with confidence.”
Miami-Dade litigation analytics and document access support different professional priorities:
- Florida litigators: Examine local timing, trial outcomes, opposing counsel’s experience, and underlying filings to prepare case strategies, explain exposure, and ground settlement discussions in comparable litigation.
- Law firm administrators and business development professionals: Assess activity by practice area, inform staffing discussions, identify prospects through new-case alerts, and support pitches with hard numbers that demonstrate experience in Miami-Dade.
- General counsel and corporate legal professionals: Evaluate outside counsel, test litigation budget assumptions, and communicate risk to business leaders using relevant case histories and supporting documents.
- Insurers, claim consultants, and economic advisers: Compare sector-specific filing patterns, trial damages, and case timing to support exposure assessments, claims evaluations, and settlement recommendations.
See how the Miami-Dade expansion can support your next case assessment, counsel selection or budget review. Request a Lex Machina demonstration to explore relevant cases, outcomes and supporting documents.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Lawsuits for Businesses Going Up in Miami Dade?
It depends on the category. County civil lawsuits in Miami-Dade have climbed each year since 2022. For circuit civil cases, recent trends differ based on the variety of dispute. For example, business-transactions cases increased from 294 filings in 2020 to 382 in 2025, while insurance coverage disputes declined from 4,010 in 2021 to 827 in 2025. These examples show why businesses should examine relevant disputes rather than assume all Miami-Dade litigation follows the same trend.
Where Can I Find Miami Dade Court Case Data for Research and Drafting Inspiration?
Lex Machina provides advanced analytics and direct access to filings for commercially relevant Miami-Dade civil cases filed since 2016. Researchers can examine timing, trial outcomes, and counsel experience, then review relevant pleadings, briefs, and rulings. Those documents offer examples of how comparable disputes were presented and decided.
How Often Is Miami-Dade Litigation Data Updated?
New cases, trial outcomes, and procedural milestones are added daily as litigation progresses. Customers can revisit comparable matters before budget reviews, client meetings, or settlement discussions. Automatic new-lawsuit alerts and existing-matter trackers help teams follow developments between research sessions and identify when a fresh assessment may be useful.
