New Year , New Rules
An Overview of Florida ’ s Civil Procedure Changes
by Meghan O ’ Connell , Esq . Icard , Merrill , Cullis , Timm , Furen , & Ginsburg , P . A .
Effective January 1 , 2025 , the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure were amended with significant changes affecting trial scheduling , case management , the scope and deadlines for discovery , and summary judgment procedures ( Rules 1.200 , 1.280 , 1.460 , and 1.510 ).
Rule 1.200 has been revised to require trial courts to assign each case one of three case management tracks upon initiation of the action . Cases will be designated as “ streamlined ,” “ general ,” or “ complex ” no later than 120 days after the complaint is filed . Practically speaking , this means a case may be assigned a case management track before a potential defendant is served with process . Any party wishing to change the original track assignment must file a motion demonstrating good cause to support the motion and requested changes , or the court may change the track assignment upon its own motion .
In addition to the amendments to the existing rules , Rule 1.202 has been newly added , which requires the parties to confer before filing a non-dispositive motion . The Rule further requires that each motion include a certificate of conferral above the signature block , detailing the efforts made by the parties to confer and try to resolve the issues outlined in the motion . There are , of course , exceptions outlined in the Rule . Specifically , conferral is not required for 14 types of enumerated motions . The rule also clarifies that the requirements imposed by Rule 1.202 do not apply when the movant or nonmovant is a pro se litigant .
Rule 1.280 introduces new obligations upon state court litigants which mirror the requirements already present in federal cases under Fed . R . Civ . P . 26 ( b )( 1 ). Both parties are required to provide certain initial discovery disclosures within sixty days of service of the complaint ( potential witness contact information , copies of documents that a party may use to support claims or defenses , computation of certain damages , and any insurance information ). As it relates to the second category of disclosures , however , a party can comply with the initial disclosure requirements by providing a description by category and location of those documents supporting its claims or defenses . Additionally , parties now have an ongoing duty to supplement their production of documents and responses to discovery requests from the opposing party in a timely manner . In other words , all discovery requests are now considered “ continuing ” in nature .
In a further attempt to mirror the Federal Rules , Rule 1.280 now incorporates the “ proportionality ” standard used in federal courts . As a result , discovery is now limited to what is “ proportional to the needs of the case ” rather than being based on whether the discovery sought is “ reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence .” While these changes aim to reduce overly broad or burdensome discovery practices and limit the number of hearings on discovery disputes , they may increase judicial involvement related to determining what is “ proportional ” to the needs of a case .
The changes to Rule 1.460 now provide that motions to continue trial are disfavored and should rarely be granted and only upon good cause shown . Any party seeking a continuance of the current trial period must specify the proposed new trial date and confirm the availability of witnesses and experts for specific dates within the proposed new trial period .
Rule 1.510 , governing motions for summary judgment , has been amended in several ways . First , the requirement to serve motions for summary judgment at least forty days prior to any hearing on a motion for summary judgment has been eliminated . Second , a response to a motion for summary judgment is now due forty days from the date the motion is filed rather than being calculated from the hearing date . Finally , any hearing on a motion for summary judgment must be set at least ten days after the deadline for serving the response . In other
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