Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Robert P. Horgos has not been assigned new jury trials for three months because of a federal investigation into his Florida land deals, and is expected to remain out of the trial rotation until the inquiry is resolved.

Prompted by concerns about the ongoing probe, President Judge Joseph M. James in March removed Judge Horgos from a medical malpractice case just before the jury trial was to start.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has learned that Judge James became aware of the investigation and worried that it had the potential to disrupt a lengthy jury trial, which would be unfair to the litigants.

Jury trials that last a week or longer require major investments in legal fees, reports and testimony from expert witnesses as well as the expense of empaneling a jury.

Although unable to preside at jury trials, Judge Horgos has heard testimony in one-day nonjury trials, written opinions and resolved old cases. He also continues to handle Liquor Control Board requests to close nuisance bars. Those hearings can last a week.

Judge Horgos is scheduled to serve as the motions judge for September, an assignment that was made last year. Judges hearing motions do not preside at trials.

A federal grand jury in Pittsburgh has been hearing testimony about Judge Horgos, 60, of Sewickley Hills, and his former business partner, Alfredo Sararo III, 38, a one-time Allegheny County probation officer who moved to Naples, Fla., in 2000.

Judge Horgos and Mr. Sararo are longtime friends and former partners in a West Virginia pizza shop.

While the scope of the investigation remains unclear, part of it centers on whether there are tax implications from Judge Horgos' real estate deals in the past several years on Florida's Gulf Coast.

He owns a luxury condominium in Naples and has claimed in three lawsuits filed this year in Florida that other properties in nearby counties were stolen from him by Mr. Sararo and others.

Louis M. Tarasi Jr., one of the judge's lawyers, said his client would not fail to pay his federal income taxes.

"He didn't do that and wouldn't do that," Mr. Tarasi said.

Last week, Mr. Tarasi filed a lawsuit in federal court in Pittsburgh on the judge's behalf. The suit asserts that Mr. Sararo and others defrauded Judge Horgos of his ownership in Florida properties by forging his name on deeds and documents.

By the time that suit was filed, Judge Horgos had not heard a jury trial since he was removed from a case on March 11.

The previous afternoon, Judge Horgos met with attorneys for both sides and reviewed a list of witnesses. The next morning began normally with arguments on motions.

Abruptly, Judge James appeared in Judge Horgos' courtroom and asked him to leave the bench to talk in chambers. The two spoke in private for about 10 minutes.

Sandra S. Neuman, one of the attorneys involved in the case, said she thought she heard Judge James being told, "But I'm in the process of ruling on motions."

When Judge Horgos returned to the bench, he told the lawyers he was recusing himself.

"Nobody asked for a recusal. It was a surprise to all of the parties," Ms. Neuman said.

She would not identify Judge Horgos as the presiding judge, but the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has confirmed that he was initially assigned to the case. The lawyers moved to Judge David N. Wecht's courtroom and tried their case to verdict.

No explanation for the recusal was provided; none is required.

During each six-week trial term in the civil division, 400 to 600 cases are on the list; about 80 percent of those are settled once they are listed for trial.

There are 14 judges currently assigned to the civil division, including Judge James, an administrative judge and one judge on senior status.

It is unusual for most judges not to hear jury trials because administrative judges want to divide the workload and keep the trial list moving.

The situation was made more challenging because civil division Judge Eugene Scanlon, who is retiring in July, heard motions, an assignment that precluded him from hearing jury trials.

Also, no replacement for Judge Cynthia Baldwin has been appointed since she became an associate justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court two years ago.