On January 1, 2025, civil litigation in Florida entered a new era. Following a series of sweeping amendments to the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, defense counsel must now operate within a faster, stricter, and more structured litigation landscape. The changes - refined by the Florida Supreme Court in two December 2024 orders - build on the proportionality and discovery reforms introduced in May 2024 and apply broadly to pending and new cases alike. For defense attorneys, these changes are not theoretical: they are already in effect and already altering how cases must be managed from day one.
Central to this overhaul is a shift toward rigorous early case management. Within 120 days of filing, every case must now be assigned to a specific litigation track: streamlined, general, or complex. Most cases will fall under the general track, which must be resolved within 18 months. This deadline compresses the traditional discovery timeline and frontloads much of the work that used to be done gradually. Discovery disclosures must now be made within 60 days of service of the complaint, including all known witnesses, documents, damage calculations, and relevant insurance policies.
With courts required to enforce strict case management deadlines, defense attorneys now face a compliance environment that mirrors federal court practice. Nine separate deadlines must be built into the case management order under Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.200(d), including cutoffs for fact discovery, expert discovery, summary judgment motions, and mediation. Sanctions for missed deadlines or incomplete disclosures are not theoretical: they are prescribed by rule. A missed case management conference, for instance, could cost a party its pleadings or the ability to introduce key witnesses.
Another game-changer for the defense bar is the new conferral rule under Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.202. Every motion must now include a certification of good faith efforts to confer or a statement that conferral is not required. This rule, modeled after federal rules, aims to cut down on unnecessary motion practice and requires genuine pre-filing dialogue. While many dispositive motions - such as those for default, dismissal, or summary judgment - are exempt from the conferral requirement, they still must carry the appropriate certification under Rule 1.202(c).
The discovery process itself has also been overhauled. Parties can no longer withhold full responses based on objections to part of a request. Instead, objections must be specific and reasoned, and late objections to interrogatories may be waived entirely. Responsive material must be produced unless clearly exempt, and all parties must supplement or correct disclosures in a timely manner or risk sanctions.
Finally, summary judgment timing has been clarified. Motions filed on or after January 1, 2025, trigger a new 40-day window for responses, with hearings to be set no sooner than 10 days after the response deadline. Motions to continue trial are now significantly more difficult to obtain. Pleadings need not be closed to set trial, and courts must now assign a trial date within 45 days of the projected trial period outlined in the case management order.
In short, Florida’s new rules reward preparation and penalize delay. For defense counsel, this environment presents both challenge and opportunity. Cases must now be evaluated and strategized from the outset with a full view toward early disclosure, early issue development, and firm deadlines. The court is now a more active manager of the case timeline, and defense teams who adapt quickly—developing discovery plans early, coordinating conferral communications, and ensuring disclosure compliance—will be best positioned to navigate this new terrain effectively.