Circuit Civil & County Court
Circuit Civil:
The Circuit Civil Division is responsible for all civil matters including:
Automobile Negligence, Professional Malpractice, Product Liability, Condominium Lawsuits, Eminent Domain , Real Property, Mortgage Foreclosure, Contract Indebtedness, etc.
Circuit Civil Division is responsible for all civil matters including: Automobile Negligence, Professional Malpractice, Product Liability, Condominium Lawsuits, Eminent Domain, Real Property, Mortgage Foreclosure, Contract Indebtedness, etc.
Complex Business Litigation
The Complex Litigation Unit is established to hear complex cases. The Complex Litigation Unit shall consist of business and tort subdivsion
Complex litigation is defined as:
(A) A “complex case” is a case involving a complex legal and case management issues requiring extensive judicial management to expedite the case, keep costs reasonable, and promote effective decision making by the court, the parties, and counsel.
(B) In deciding whether an action is a complex case, the court must consider whether the action is likely to involve:
– Numerous pre-trial motions raising difficult or novel legal issues or legal issues that are inextricably intertwined that will be time consuming to resolve;
– Management of a large number of separately represented parties;
– Coordination with related actions pending in one or more courts in other counties, states or countries, or in a federal court; Management of a large number of witnesses or a substantial amount of documentary evidence (including electronically stored information);
– Substantial time required to complete the trial;
– Management at trial of a large number of expert witnesses, attorneys or exhibits;
– Substantial post-judgment judicial supervision; and
Any other special factors identified by the court or a party.
The Complex Business and Tort Divisions of the 17th Judicial Circuit were created by Administrative Order in 2004. The divisions were created to manage difficult, time consuming and complicated business and tort cases. The divisions were created to promote the efficient case management of cases requiring extensive judicial labor. The tort divisions generally handle cases taking more than (10) days of trial and include Engle tobacco litigation; complex products liability cases; medical malpractice cases and any other tort cases needing extensive judicial management. The complex business court handles complex class action cases, dissolution of certain business entities, assignment for the benefit of creditor cases, and management of large business and construction litigation cases. The complex tort and business divisions manage cases which general civil division judges do not have adequate time to devote the resources necessary to manage and try.
Cases can be filed directly in the complex business division. Tort cases may be transferred into a complex division. All requests to transfer a tort or business case from a general circuit civil division must meet prerequisites of the Administrative Order governing transfer of cases to the complex division. See,
Establishing Procedures for Direct Filing or Reassignment of Circuit Civil Cases to a Complex Business or Complex Tort Division
INSERT AO HERE _______________________________________________________
If all Counsel are in agreement as to a case being transferred to a complex division, a hearing may not be necessary. Simply submit the motion to transfer to the Court. If the Court finds the matter meets criteria, the case may be reassigned accordingly. Any party objecting to a transfer of a case to a complex division must be placed on the Division (07) Wednesday Motion Calendar docket by the Court’s Judicial Assistant. Please e-mail the Court at div07@17th.flcourts.org with the style of the case, a notice of hearing setting forth which date the matter is to be heard and a copy of the motion to transfer. The Court will place the matter on the transfer docket and confirm with all counsel
New Courthouse Technology – The west Courthouse has new technology for presentation of video and other imaging. To view how to use the equipment please follow either link: https://youtu.be/V8aqOA0fZ5g or http://www.17th.flcourts.org/index.php/self-help/courttutorials/evidence-presentation-system
Practices and Procedures for judges assigned to any complex division maybe seen at _____________________________________________.These practices and procedures assist the party’s and their counsel information on setting hearings, trial calendars, filing of motions and other procedures set out to promote the efficient case management of complex cases.
Presiding judges over Complex Business and Tort Litigation are:
Hon. Chief Judge Jack Tuter
Division (07)
Division 07 Business Court Procedures
Hon. Judge John Murphy
Division (19)
Division 19 Procedures
Hon. Judge Patti Englander Henning
Division (26)
Division 26 Procedures
County Court:
The County Court is a limited jurisdiction court.
It is divided into two divisions: Criminal and Civil.
The Criminal Division has jurisdiction over all traffic cases and misdemeanor criminal cases. Misdemeanors are criminal acts which carry a penalty of up to one year in the county jail.
The Civil Division has jurisdiction over all actions at law in which the controversy does not exceed $15,000, small claims, and most landlord and tenant disputes.
The 17th Judicial Circuit utilizes County Court Judges at Regional Courthouses to best serve the citizens of Broward County. These court facilities are fully functional County Courts: both civil and criminal cases are heard by these judges. No jury trials are held at these locations.
The County Court Criminal Division consists of minor criminal misdemeanor cases ,criminal traffic matters, municipal and county ordinance violations and Civil Traffic Infractions. Minor criminal misdemeanor cases includes violations such as petit theft, simple battery and trespassing. Criminal Traffic matters, includes violations for DWLS( Driving While license suspended ), DUI (Driving under the influence), NVDL(No valid drivers license) . Civil Traffic infractions, which are non criminal related violations, consists of moving and non-moving violations. Moving violations such as speeding and running a red light, may assess points on your license , whereas non-moving violations, such as Expired registration or no seatbelt, will not assess points against your license. Criminal Traffic matters as well as minor misdemeanor violations ,are exclusively handled by Judges and may be punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for less than one year. A higher percentage of Civil Traffic violations are heard by Civil Traffic hearing Officers however, accident cases with injuries and those in which a judge is requested are heard by judges. The county court criminal judiciary and their staff are located at the main courthouse location, REG(Richard E Gerstein Justice Building), located at 1351 NW 13 Street Miami , FL 33125 and at the 5 branch locations (North Dade Justice Center, South Dade Justice Center, Miami Beach, Hialeah, Coral Gables. The county court criminal operations staff is also assigned at the main courthouse and the 5 branch locations.
The County Court Criminal Division handles criminal misdemeanor cases, criminal traffic matters, municipal and county ordinance violations and civil traffic infractions.
Criminal misdemeanor cases include violations of the law such as Petit Theft, Simple Battery and Trespassing. Criminal Traffic matters include violations such as Driving While License Suspended, Driving under the Influence and no valid driversl. Misdemeanor and Criminal Traffic matters are heard by county court judges. First degree misdemeanors are punishable by imprisonment of up to a year in the county jail and a fine of up to $1,000.00. Second degree misdemeanors are punishable by imprisonment of up to 60 days in the county jail and a fine of up to $500.00. Driving under the Influence has its own penalty provisions, which are mandated by law.
Civil Traffic infractions, which are non-criminal related violations, are mainly heard by Civil Traffic Hearing Officers and consist of moving and nonmoving violations. Moving violations, such as Speeding and Running a Red Light, may assess points on your license. Non-moving violations, such as Expired Registration or No Seat Belt, do not.
The County Court Criminal Judiciary and their staff are located at the Broward County Central Courthouse, 201 SE. 6th Street, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. 33301 and at the three satellite courthouses located in Hollywood, Plantation and Deerfield Beach.
Circuit Civil Division is responsible for all civil matters including: Automobile Negligence, Professional Malpractice, Product Liability, Condominium Lawsuits, Eminent Domain, Real Property, Mortgage Foreclosure, Contract Indebtedness, etc.
