Florida courts say March 2023 filing surge followed passage of HB 837, courts report backlog largely addressed

Judge Mark Mahan, a circuit court judge in Florida’s 4th Judicial Circuit and chair of the Trial Court Budget Commission, told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the state saw an extraordinary surge of civil litigation in March 2023 after the governor signed House Bill 837 on March 24, 2023. The legislation, he said, made immediate changes to negligence and insurance law and other litigation rules. "The observed extraordinary increase in civil cases in March 2023 was preceded by the passage of legislation relating to litigation reform," Mahan said.

Why it matters: The surge sharply increased clerks’ workloads and courtroom dockets and required coordinated county and circuit responses. Committee members were shown statewide data and told that many courts adopted new workflows to prevent long-term backlogs.

Mahan told the committee that about 28,000 civil cases were filed in March 2023 statewide and that the spike affected both county and circuit dockets. He said county small‑claims filings more than doubled in many places and that circuit civil filings were especially concentrated in auto negligence and premises liability matters. "In March of 2021 and 2022, there were a little over 3,000 auto negligence actions filed. In March of 2023, that number was 72,000," Mahan said. He identified Miami‑Dade and Hillsborough among the most affected counties and said the 4th Circuit experienced more than a 1,000% increase in civil filings.

Court response and progress: Mahan described a mix of state and local actions to process the surge. Clerks requested funds, hired staff and reassigned resources; circuits used active case‑management protocols the Florida Supreme Court had issued earlier; several circuits created temporary divisions or pooled judicial resources; Miami‑Dade and Hillsborough used triage and supplemental calendars; Broward engaged local bar leadership to coordinate handling; and many circuits employed case managers and dedicated trial calendars.

Mahan cited clearance rates as a metric for progress. He said the 4th Circuit’s clearance rate rose above 150% in fiscal 2023 after the surge and described similar recoveries elsewhere: "Through the extraordinary efforts of the clerk, the judges, and the court staff, that number rose to over a 150% in 2023, the highest circuit court clearance rate in the state of Florida for that year." He told senators that many surge cases have been resolved but that some workload effects will persist because time‑to‑resolution for many civil cases remains measured in years.

Committee discussion: Senators asked whether the surge reflected lawyers filing to preserve rights before the law took effect, and Mahan said the court's role is primarily operational and that he was not positioned to evaluate litigants’ motives. He offered that some filings appeared to be placeholders that, once reviewed, were dismissed or resolved quickly, which contributed to early high clearance rates.

What remains unresolved: Mahan and committee members noted that active case management increases resource needs—particularly magistrates and case managers—and that some circuits continue to seek staffing and other support. The court’s case‑weighting and time‑standard regimes remain the framework for resolving incoming caseloads.

Ending: The presentation framed the March 2023 surge as a significant operational challenge that the judiciary and clerks largely managed through active case‑management, temporary reassignments and other measures, while recommending continued attention to staffing and resources to sustain improved clearance rates.