Gravelle (1990) has shown that delay works as measure of the excess of demand characterizing a judicial system. In this paper, we adapt the Gravelle’s argument to Italian judicial system in order to verify whether it works, in the sense that delay discourages potential plaintiffs from starting a new dispute. Results of our analysis show a negative short-run impact of delay on new legal disputes according to Gravelle’s theory. By contrast, we do not find any long-run effect of delay on the demand of justice.