FLORIDA SUPREME COURT AMENDS FRAMEWORK FOR CASE MANAGEMENT OF CIVIL CASES
In re: Amendments to Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, 49 Fla. L. Weekly S137 (Fla. May 23, 2024):
To codify some of the active case management rules and Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, the Florida Supreme Court amended Rules of Civil Procedure 1.200 (Case Management; Pretrial Procedure), 1.201 (Complex Litigation), 1.280 (General Provisions Governing Discovery), 1.440 (Setting Action for Trial), and 1.460 (Motions to Continue).
The rewritten version of Rule 1.200 provides that in streamlined and general cases, the court must issue a case management order that specifies the projected or actual trial period based on the case track assignment. The deadlines in the case management order must be differentiated based on whether the case is streamlined or general, and consistent with the time standards set forth in Rule 2.250(a)(1)(B).
Rewritten Rule 1.200 also includes a detailed procedure for modifying the deadlines set forth in the case management orders. It says that these deadlines must be strictly enforced unless changed by court order but allows the parties to submit an agreed order to extend the deadline if the extension does not affect the ability to comply with remaining dates in the case management order.
Rule 1.200 also includes new provisions regarding case management conferences and pretrial conferences. A court may set a case management conference at any time on its own notice or on proper motion by a party. But if noticed by a party, the notice itself must identify the specific issues to be addressed during the case management conference and must provide a list of all pending motions.
Complex cases proceed under Rule 1.201, which the court amended to provide that trial courts may hold a hearing to determine whether a case should be designated complex. For Rule 1.280, the court incorporates the scope of discovery subdivision. Rule 1.280 was further amended to require certain initial discovery disclosures within 60 days after the service of the complaint unless a different time is set by court order. Rule 1.280 also now imposes a duty to supplement discovery.
The amendment to Rule 1.440 eliminates the “at issue” requirement before a case may be set for trial, and instead provides that the failure of the pleadings to be closed will not preclude the court from setting a case for trial. The Court amended Rule 1.440 to require trial courts to enter an order fixing the trial period 45 days before any projected trial period in a case management order.
Finally, the court rewrote Rule 1.460 to provide that motions to continue the trial are disfavored and should rarely be granted, and then only upon good cause shown.
The rule also sets forth requirements for what must be included in a motion for a continuance and explains that if a continuance is granted based on the dilatory conduct of an attorney or named party, the court may impose sanctions.
The amendments will become effective on January 1, 2025 at 12:01 a.m. Anyone may file comments with the Court within 75 days from the date of the opinion.