PBCBA BAR BULLETINS pbcba_bulletin_February 2019 | Page 8

APPELLATE PRACTICE C o r n e r
Circuit Court Appeals of Nonfinal Orders
CHRISTINE GARDNER
Florida legislators engaged in efforts this
past year to raise the civil jurisdictional
limit for county court cases from $15,000
to $50,000. Were such a dramatic increase
in the jurisdictional limit to take effect, it
would not only increase the number of civil
cases originating in county courts, but also
the number of cases being appealed from
county courts. While this initiative to raise
the jurisdictional limit failed to progress
into law, it shines a light on common errors
in an often overlooked area of Florida’s
appellate
procedures—the
appellate
function of Florida’s circuit courts, and in
particular, the appeal of nonfinal orders to
the circuit courts.
Circuit court appellate jurisdiction is not the
same as district court appellate jurisdiction.
Circuit courts, in addition to their trial court
capacity, review appeals in three categories
of cases: (A) “final orders of lower tribunals
as provided by general law”; (B) “nonfinal
orders of lower tribunals as provided by
general law”; and (C) “administrative action
if provided by general law.” Fla. R. App.
P. 9.030(c)(1). Based on the deference to
general law for each of these categories,
rule 9.030(c)(1) should not be construed as
an independent source of jurisdictional
power. Thus, to demonstrate circuit court
jurisdiction, an appellant must also cite to
an applicable provision in a general law (i.e.,
a law of general application, as opposed to
common law or a special law). See Eckert v.
Bd. of Com’rs of N. Broward Hosp. Dist., 720
So. 2d 1151, 1154 n.3 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998).
This is especially true with regard to
nonfinal orders. A common error in circuit
appeals is to appeal a nonfinal order that is
listed in Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure
9.130(a)(3) without citing a general law
granting the circuit court appellate
jurisdiction. “The Circuit Courts do not have
any general jurisdiction under the appellate
rules to review nonfinal orders.” Shell v.
Foulkes, 19 So. 3d 438, 440 (Fla. 4th DCA
2009). Rule 9.130(a)(3), therefore, does not
apply to circuit appeals as it does to district
appeals—for circuit appeals, there must be a
specific provision in general law providing
for its application. Fla. R. App. P. 9.130(a)
(1). Without such a provision, even those
types of nonfinal orders listed as appealable
in rule 9.130(a)(3) are not appealable to the
circuit court. Circuit court jurisdiction over
appeals of nonfinal orders thus may be,
in many instances, much narrower than
district court jurisdiction to hear appeals of
the same nonfinal orders.
overlooked provision of the Fifteenth
Circuit’s Administrative Order 8.101 provides
that, instead of filing an agreed motion for
extension of time, parties should simply
file an agreed notice of extension of time.
Admin. Order 8.101(Form B). Agreed notices
are accepted for up to a total of 120 days for
an initial or answer brief, and 60 days for a
response to a petition for extraordinary writ
Parties seeking to appeal nonfinal orders or reply brief. Id. Administrative Order 8.101
in the absence of a general law, however, actually sets forth, in Form B, a form for
are not without options. The certiorari drafting such notices.
jurisdiction of circuit courts “may [still]
be sought to review nonfinal orders of Accordingly, although the civil jurisdictional
lower tribunals other than as prescribed limit for county court cases remains the
by rule 9.130.” Fla. R. App. P. 9.030(c) same for the moment, appellants of nonfinal
(2). Additionally, rule 9.030(c)(3) grants orders should be certain to cite to specific
circuit courts original jurisdiction to issue provisions in general law to support their
extraordinary writs, such as “mandamus, jurisdictional arguments, and read closely
prohibition, quo warranto, common law all local rules and administrative orders
certiorari, and habeas corpus, and all writs governing circuit appeals.
necessary to the complete exercise of the
courts’ jurisdiction.” These two provisions
do not contain a general law requirement.
Even if a circuit court appellant believes
that they are appealing a final order, it
is important that the appellant carefully
evaluate whether they have actually
obtained a final order. This is a common
error. The requirements for what constitutes
a final order are the same in circuit appeals
as in district appeals. Namely, an order
merely granting a motion to dismiss or a
motion for summary judgment is generally
insufficient. There must be actual language
entering judgment or dismissing the
complaint. See Paulino v. BJ’s Wholesale
Club, Inc., 106 So. 3d 985, 987 (Fla. 4th DCA
2013). Appellants should therefore take
the time to consider, before filing a notice
of appeal to the circuit court, whether they
have obtained a final order.
Regardless of whether the order being
appealed to the circuit court is nonfinal
or final, appellants and appellees alike
should take care to review the circuit
court’s administrative orders and/or local
rules regarding extensions of time. The
Fifteenth Circuit, similarly to the Fourth
District Court of Appeal, has instituted a
modified system for extensions of time to
the appellate briefing schedule. An often-
PBCBA BAR BULLETIN
8
1 Effort to Increase County Court Civil Jurisdiction
Comes Up Short, The Florida Bar News (April 1, 2018,
https://www.floridabar.org/news/tfb-news/?durl=%2F-
DIVCOM%2FJN%2Fjnnews01.nsf%2FArticles%2F4F3EF83A-
5F95933E85258251004E45A6).