Florida Supreme Court eFiling Underway

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Electronic filing in the Florida Supreme Court will be required by all attorneys by the second quarter of this year. In Administrative Order AOSC13-7 [.pdf], the Court announced that effective Wednesday, February 27, 2013, e-filing through the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal will be optional for all attorneys, and starting Monday, April 1, 2013, e-Filing is mandatory for all Florida Supreme Court pleadings filed by attorneys. Documents may be submitted as a .pdf, or in Microsoft Word 97 or higher or Word Perfect formats. ¶ 5.

Cases will be considered filed on the date uploaded to the Portal. Each document should be a separate .pdf, with larger .pdfs broken down to accommodate the size limitations of the system. ¶ 7. If somehow you make a mistake in filing, attorneys are permitted to file the corrected document along with a motion requesting that the Court accept the amended filing. ¶ 12.

An attorney’s failure to follow these proceedings may result in the filing be stricken, and even the case being dismissed. ¶ 13. However, pro se litigants and non-Florida lawyers are not required or permitted to use the Portal, and must continue to file in paper format. ¶ 16. However, they are no longer required to file additional copies of the paper documents. ¶ 16.

Service by and On Pro Se Litigants

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The Florida state appellate courts handle thousands of pro se appeals annually.  How do the new e-service rules affect service by and on litigants who are not represented by an attorney?

Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.516(c) [.pdf] has an answer to that question, and it’s pretty straight forward. If the pro se litigant chooses to send and receive by e-mail, the pro se litigant need only serve an e-mail designation notice. That is, the party should serve a notice on the opposing attorney (or if the opponent is not represented, the litigant) stating which primary and up to two secondary e-mail addresses at which they want to receive service, and follow up by filing that notice with the court. From then on, the pro se litigant will receive documents in the case by e-mail, and will also be requires to send them by e-mail if the other side is represented by an attorney or is pro se but has sent a designation. If the pro se litigant would rather stick to fax, mail, or hand delivery, just don’t serve an e-mail designation. Any pro se litigant who has not served a designation must serve and be served as set out in Fla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.516(b)(2).

Bonus: Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.080 states that in civil trial matters, all service should be made in accordance with Fla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.516. So the answer to how do you serve a pro se litigant is the same in the civil trial context and in appeals.

Caution: This post only applies to service of court documents. What about filing? That will have to be the subject of a different blog post. Whatever you read here, be sure to check the rules and do your own investigation. This blog is not legal advice, and the rules are constantly changing.

Mandatory Appellate e-Filing Delayed

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To allow more time for the deployment of technology to handle it, the Florida Supreme Court has delayed implementation of mandatory e-filing in the Florida appellate courts. The order [.pdf] sets the new deadlines as follows:

  • February 27, 2013, for the Supreme Court.
  • July 22, 2013, for the Second DCA.
  • September 27, 2013, for the Third DCA.
  • October 31, 2013, for the Fourth DCA.
  • November 27, 2013, for the Fifth DCA.
  • December 27, 2013, for the First DCA.

I find it interesting, but not surprising, that the First and Fifth — both of which have already implemented the eDCA filing system — are the last to be brought into the new eFiling system.  They already have an eFiling system that works for them, and I don’t blame them for having difficulties in changing it.