Florida Changes the Rules, Effective January 1, 2025

Michelle Garcia Gilbert, Esquire
Managing Partner, Gilbert Garcia Group, P.A.
mgilbert@gilbertgrouplaw.com

After a five (5) year process, the Florida Supreme Court amended several state civil rules of procedure with an effective date of January 1, 2025.  These amendments are intended to streamline civil case management, ensure timely judicial decisions, and improve efficiency in civil litigation.

Three Case Categories with Strict Deadlines

Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.200 was rewritten to require assignment of all civil actions into one of three (3) categories within 120 days of case being filed:  complex, general or streamlined.   Most cases will be streamlined, which has the following characteristics:

• Mutual knowledge of facts
• Limited discovery
• Well established legal issues
• Few pretrial motions
• Minimal documentary evidence
• Anticipated trial length no more than 3 days

Case management orders will be issued by judges within 120 days after commencement

of a case, or within thirty (30) days after service is complete.    Circuits and counties vary on who prepares these orders.  While most judges prepare the orders, others require that the parties, if represented by counsel, prepare the orders with proposed dates.  Rule amendments were made to ensure that trial settings and motions are managed in a manner consistent with overall case management strategy.  See, generally, FRCP 1.440 and 1.460.

Pursuant to the new Rules of Civil Procedure, specifically FRCP 1.280, plaintiffs are required to provide initial disclosures to the defendants within 60 days of service completion.  The initial disclosure must include documents that plaintiffs intend to rely on to support their claim.  The incorporation of proportionality language and requirements for initial discovery disclosures and supplementation align Florida’s discovery rules more closely with federal standards, in theory promoting efficiency and fairness in the discovery process.

Under FRCP 1.200, all new cases will have a case management order which will set forth the deadlines and trial dates.  Courts will not routinely grant extensions to the case management deadlines.   There is an expectation that all foreclosures will be on the streamline path and will be concluded within 12 months.   A case is no longer required to be at issue before the court can set a trial.

Additionally, under new FRCP 1.202, attorneys are required to meet and confer on all motions (except motions for summary judgment) filed, unless all parties are pro se.  This could cause slight delays in filing motions if opposing counsel is slow to or fails to respond.

Under FRCP 1.510, motions for summary judgement cannot be set for hearing until fifty (50) days after filing the motion, changed from forty (40) days.  Responses to motions for summary judgment must be filed within forty (40) days of the date of filing of a motion for summary judgment.

Though the rule changes took effect on January 1, 2025, all cases filed prior to January1, 2025 are being set for trial, based upon the new rules, which is resulting in an influx of upcoming trials.  It is recommended that motions for summary judgments be filed as soon as possible to avoid an unnecessary trial.  In the alternative, records custodian affidavits can be prepared to reduce the need for witnesses at trial.

What Could Go Wrong?

These changes represent a significant effort to enhance the efficiency and management of civil cases in Florida courts.  The changes aim to streamline the summary judgment process and encourage case resolutions with pre-trial conferrals.  They establish a comprehensive framework for active case management, incorporating federal standards for discovery and requiring early and consistent adherence to deadlines.  Judges are given little leeway to vary these deadline as well.

There changes are not without critics.  One Florida Supreme Court Justice expressed concerns that the proportionality requirement may impede timely and cost-efficient resolution of cases due to practical differences between state and federal court operations.

Many feel that shortened timelines overall will place undue pressure on smaller firms or pro se litigants, and the changes favor well-resourced parties.  The conferral requirements can delay resolution where parties refuse to cooperate, or when parties disagree about whether conferral rules were met.  Rigid deadlines placed on judges who now have little flexibility in managing timelines may lead to unfair outcomes when parties face legitimate challenges in meeting deadlines.  Mandatory discovery disclosures will lead to higher litigation costs.

As with all changes in law, time will tell whether the changes will be effective, though given the years taken by the Florida Supreme Court to implement the amendments and new rules, this has been a thoughtful process.

See, generally, In re Amendments to Fla. Rules of Civ. Proc., 2024 Fla. LEXIS 1914.

Michelle Garcia Gilbert manages a boutique law firm in Tampa, Florida that handles real estate transactions and litigation, probate, guardianship and estate planning, and business transaction legal services.  She matriculated at the University of South Florida for her undergraduate degree in Journalism, and at the University of Notre Dame for her law degree.