For generations, the jury trial has been the defining feature of the American civil justice system. It is where facts are tested, witnesses are challenged, and ordinary citizens— not judges, regulators, or corporate executives— decide whether justice has been served. However, jury trials have become increasingly rare.
The Florida Bar has cautioned that the steady decline in civil jury trials has implications that extend far beyond courtroom statistics, raising concerns about the future of trial advocacy and the continued vitality of the Seventh Amendment right to a civil jury trial.
“ When fewer cases reach juries, the constitutional promise risks being forgotten. Lawyers have a responsibility to resist that drift,” wrote Jim Vickaryous, managing partner of the Vickaryous Law Firm, in a column published by The Florida Bar in January 2026.
Likewise, statistics compiled by the Administrative Office of the U. S. Courts illustrate the dramatic decline in federal civil jury trials over the past three decades. According to the Judiciary’ s annual Judicial Business reports, federal district courts completed 4,765 civil jury trials in 1990. By 2025, that number had fallen to 1,048.
For Mike Papantonio, senior partner at Levin Papantonio and one of the country’ s best-known trial lawyers, the issue is more than an interesting trend. He believes it represents an existential challenge to the plaintiffs’ bar.
“ I think it’ s an endangered species.
The Trial Lawyer 75