Florida Experiments with Commercial Litigation Courts

Aubrey Ford

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A new court in Tampa, Florida seeks to resolve commercial litigation matters between businesses. The Complex Business Litigation Division is a new court established to resolve business-related cases such as contract disputes, non-compete agreements, trade secrets claims, and other business matters. The Tampa court is part of a trend in various parts of the United States to establish business courts. The ostensible purpose is to "make the results more predictable" and to assign such cases to judges with commercial expertise. Fourteen states now have some type of business court, whether state-wide or in just specific jurisdictions. Only cases where the amount at stake is more than $75,000 and involve disputes between business will be assigned to the new division. Personal injury cases, consumer claims, and claims by individuals are not eligible. The judge assigned to the court in Tampa was a former commercial litigator.

The court system in the Commonwealth of Virginia does not have any such specialized courts specifically for business litigation.