Appellate Court Rules.

AuthorBrewer, Courtney
PositionAnnual Reports of Committees of the Florida Bar: 2018-2019

Appellate attorneys may not be known for high drama or controversy, but 2018-2019 has been a wild ride for the Appellate Court Rules Committee (ACRC). With major changes to the rules being adopted by the Florida Supreme Court and many more alterations heading toward finalization for our 2020 regular-cycle report, our amazing and dedicated team has spent countless hours in the never-ending quest to make the appellate process easier, modern, and more efficient.

As for the changes that came to fruition this year, the Florida Supreme Court released several opinions that amended, in some significant ways, the appellate rules and appellate procedure as of January 1. The biggest change was the death of the five-day rule in the Rules of Judicial Administration. That opinion can be found at In re Amendments to Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, 257 So. 3d 66 (Fla. 2018). Anticipating the adaptations that would be necessary as a result of the loss of extra time, the ACRC proposed, and the Supreme Court adopted, expanded deadlines in appellate proceedings for responsive pleadings due after service of another brief, petition, or motion. For example, answer briefs are now due 30 days after service of the initial brief and reply briefs are due 30 days after service of the answer brief. Responses to motions in the appellate courts are now due 15 days after service of the motion. Amendments were made to time periods in the following rules: 9.100, 9.110, 9.120, 9.125, 9.130, 9.40, 9.141, 9.142, 9.146, 9.180, 9.200, 9.210, 9.300, 9.320, 9.330, 9.331, 9.350, 9.360, and 9.410.

Another Supreme Court opinion addressed ACRC's 2017 regular-cycle report and can be found at In re: Amendments to Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure--2017 Regular-Cycle Report, 256 So. 3d 1218 (Fla. 2018). The major focus of the opinion concerned ACRC's proposal that the rules require county-to-circuit appeals be heard by three-judge panels. The court did not adopt that proposal, but the chief justice has established a workgroup that is taking a hard look at the feasibility and options for this idea.

Included among the changes the court did adopt from the 2017 regular-cycle report are the following:

* 9.130--Appealable non-final orders include two new categories: 1) orders that determine, as a matter of law, that a settlement agreement is unenforceable, set aside, or never existed, and 2) orders that grant or deny a motion to disqualify counsel;

* 9.146 and 9.210--Only one brief per...

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