Chapter 11-1 Introduction

11-1 Introduction

Discovery is an art. Parties are entitled to discovery of all non-privileged¹ information that is either relevant to any issue in the case, or that is likely to lead to the discovery of relevant, admissible evidence.² This is known as the "scope" of discovery. Trial courts have wide discretion in determining the scope of discovery, the timeframes for propounding and responding to discovery requests, the amount of discovery to be permitted and the sufficiency of responses.³ Absent a clear abuse of that discretion or a departure from the essential requirements of law, the Florida appellate courts will defer to the discretion of the trial courts and will not disturb discovery-related rulings by certiorari review on appeal.⁴ Even so, whether to grant certiorari⁵ review and relief is itself discretionary with the appellate court, and an appellate court may decline to grant relief even where a trial court departs from the essential requirements of law.⁶

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Notes:

^[1] An exception to the general rule is that a party may obtain otherwise privileged materials prepared by another party, its counsel or other representative(s), in anticipation of litigation or for trial upon a showing that the party seeking the discovery has need of the materials in preparation of the case and is unable without undue hardship to obtain the substantial equivalent of the materials by other means. See Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.280(b)(4); see also Butler v. Harter, 152 So. 3d 705 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014) (generally, fact work product is discoverable upon showing of need; opinion work product is "nearly absolutely" privileged).

^[2] See Fla. R. Civ. Pro. 1.280(b); Allstate Ins. Co. v. Langston, 655 So. 2d 91, 94 (Fla. 1995) ("Discovery in civil cases must be relevant to the subject matter of the case and must be admissible or reasonably calculated to lead to admissible evidence.") (citations omitted); Amente v. Newman, 653 So. 2d 1030 (Fla. 1995) (concept of relevancy is broader in discovery context than in trial context such that party may be permitted to discover relevant evidence that would be inadmissible at trial if it may lead to discovery of relevant evidence).

^[3] See Tumelaire v. Naples Estates Homeowners Ass'n, Inc., 137 So. 3d 596 598 (Fla. 2nd DCA 2014) (trial court's discretion is so broad with respect to discovery that a ruling from the trial court with respect to discovery will be "set aside on certiorari review [only] if it constitutes an abuse of...