This platform is designed to provide brief, periodic news from the legal world that will hopefully be relevant to your work or personal life.
For this inaugural post, the topic is one that will affect everyone involved in civil litigation in Florida’s state courts on and after January 1, 2025. Civil litigation includes lawsuits concerning business, property, or contract disputes, as well as consumer protection, landlord-tenant disputes, and most other non-criminal cases. Read on for an overview of amended rules governing the management of those cases and what the changes might mean for you if you’re involved in a lawsuit.
Overview
The Florida Supreme Court recently amended the procedural rules that apply to most civil lawsuits in Florida’s state courts. The decision was issued on May 23, 2024, and you may read it here. The focus is on “case management.” These procedural rules govern the mechanics of a lawsuit as it works its way through court (deadlines and other time frames, limits on what the parties can do, ask for, etc.). These amendments take effect on January 1, 2025, and are “intended to promote the fair and timely resolution of civil cases.” The “timely” issue seems to have been the main force behind these amendments.
For a long time, attorneys and litigants (parties to lawsuits) have complained that (1) lawsuits drag on too long because the opposing attorneys and litigants use delay tactics, play “hide the ball,” and don’t face any real consequences for not following the rules; and (2) all of that makes litigation more expensive than it should be, thus favoring the parties that have more money and can manipulate the system to their advantage. These new rule amendments seem aimed at addressing those concerns. Below are a few examples of the amendments and some thoughts about what they’ll mean for those of us involved in civil lawsuits.
Examples
One of the amended rules creates a new system of case management – that is, how a judge keep a case moving and requires the parties to keep up. In most cases, judges will be required to set a target trial date right off the bat. That’s a change from the current system, in which a case isn’t set for trial unless/until requested by the parties – one of the reasons a case could go on for many years. The new case-management rule will require that most cases be assigned to one of three tracks, with deadlines that judges must strictly enforce. That’s a change from the current system, in which it’s largely left to the parties to move their case forward diligently, with the judge only stepping in when requested by the parties.
Another amended rule will require parties to make initial disclosures shortly after the case is filed. For examples, parties will have to disclose the witnesses and other people who have knowledge relevant to the case, the documents the parties have that are relevant to the case, and the types and amounts of damages (recovery of money) the parties are seeking. That’s a change from the current system, in which a party doesn’t get those things from another party without first making specific written requests.
Another amended rule states that a motion to continue trial (a request to push the trial date off to a later date) is disfavored and should rarely be granted. That’s a change from the current system, in which motions for continuance are commonly filed and commonly granted, keeping a case going much longer.
Take-Aways
What do these changes mean for litigants and their attorneys? I suggest a few things. These may seem like obvious things that the average person would expect in our legal system. But those involved in the system know it has become inefficient, and it seems clear the Florida Supreme Court wants to change that.
1. Be prepared.
In some respects, the current rules allow a party to file a lawsuit without much preparation, and to take their time and prepare their case after filing it. These amended rules will require more preparation before a case is filed.
2. Count the cost.
More preparation will mean higher cost up front. If you want to pursue a lawsuit, you should be ready to do significant work with your attorney before your case is filed. Hopefully the overall cost of a case will be lower under the amended rules, with a more efficient system, but more of the cost will be shifted to the front end.
3. Keep up.
Be ready to devote real time and attention to your case, from start to finish. Once it is filed, it will move quicker than in the past, and it will be harder to slow it down or fit it into your preferred time frame.
