What is a Writ of Certiorari in Florida State Courts?

The term writ of certiorari is used in many different contexts, depending on the courts involved. The Latin word certiorari (often abbreviated as “Cert.”) means “to be made certain,” and in Old English courts such writs actually began with the Latin words “Certiorari volumus…” (“We wish to be made certain…”). In Florida state courts, the writ of certiorari most often refers to a proceeding in which a party asks an intermediate appellate court, here known as a District Court of Appeal, to review a decision of a trial court. But importantly, it can’t be just any trial court decision, because otherwise litigants would file a writ every time they disagreed with the trial court. For the District Court of Appeal to have jurisdiction to hear a Writ of Certiorari, the order must be otherwise unappealable, and the party seeking certiorari relief must demonstrate that harm caused by the order is irreparable and cannot be remedied on plenary appeal, and that the ruling was “a departure from the essential requirements of law.” Let’s drill down on what each of these requirements mean.

Not an Otherwise Appealable Nonfinal Order

There are some kinds of nonfinal orders that Florida has decided are automatically appealable — essentially, Florida has made a policy decision that certain kinds of cases do not need to make the showing that is normally required by certioari, because there is clearly a lack of remedy by the time the case is over. Before you consider filing a writ of certiorari, be sure to check out the list of directly appealable nonfinal orders found in Rule 9.140. But if the order you want reviewed is not on the list of appealable non final orders, you should determine if a writ of certiorari is available to you.

Harm Not Remedied by Plenary Appeal

Assuming the ruling is not covered by Rule 9.140, the threshold issue the appellate court will consider is whether the harm caused by the order is of a character that it needs to be resolved now, rather than at the end of the case. The term “plenary appeal” refers to an appeal of a final order, which comes at the end of the case. Most rulings, no matter how wrong, can be fixed at the end of the case, or more importantly, don’t need to be fixed — usually because it did not affect the ultimate outcome of the case. This prong of the test is also sometimes referred to as “irreparable harm.” And not all types of harm are considered irreparable. For example, a ruling costing a party a lot of money is not sufficient to cause irreparable harm. W. Florida Reg’l Med. Ctr., Inc. v. See, 18 So. 3d 676, 682 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009), approved, 79 So. 3d 1 (Fla. 2012). Even disclosure of information in which the party has a “valid privacy interest in avoiding unnecessary disclosure of matters of a personal nature” does not generally meet this standard. Id.

What does constitute irreparable harm? The most common example is described as “’cat out of the bag’ material that could be used to injure another person or party outside the context of the litigation, and material protected by privilege, trade secrets, work product, or involving a confidential informant may cause such injury if disclosed.” Allstate Ins. Co. v. Langston, 655 So. 2d 91, 94 (Fla. 1995). A litigant must carefully consider, by reviewing existing cases, whether the harm of the order would be considered irreparable by the appellate court.

Departure From the Essential Requirements of Law

Once you prove the harm is irreparable, you still cannot get relief on a writ of certiorari unless you also demonstrate to the court that the trial court’s ruling is a “departure from the essential requirements of law.’ This phrase means, for example, that the law is very clear, and the violation of that clearly established principle of law results in a miscarriage of justice. It has to be more than just the appellate judges simply disagreed with the circuit court’s determination and interpretation of the applicable law. See Custer Med. Ctr. v. United Auto. Ins. Co., 62 So. 3d 1086, 1094 (Fla. 2010).

Successful Writs of Certioari Are and Should Be Rare

The Florida Supreme Court does not want litigants to run to the appellate courts for every little disagreement with the trial judge. That is why it says that “common law certiorari is an extraordinary remedy and should not be used to circumvent the interlocutory appeal rule which authorizes appeal from only a few types of non-final orders.” Citizens Prop. Ins. Corp. v. San Perdido Ass’n, Inc., 104 So. 3d 344, 349 (Fla. 2012) (citation omitted).

There Are Other Writ of Certiorari Standards In Florida

This post talks about the most common type of writ of certiorari, but there may be other times the term writ of certiorari is used in Florida Courts to apply to different situations. Those other situations also have different standards of review. If you have a question about whether you should file a writ of certiorari, or if the other side of your litigation has filed a writ of certiorari and you need help, feel free to contact us at 813-778-5161 or fill out our intake form here to initiate scheduling a consultation.

Woody Pollack & Dineen Wasylik wearing bike helmets in front of the Boston skyline

Podcasts & PCAs

Woody Pollack & Dineen Wasylik wearing bike helmets in front of the Boston skyline

Woody & Dineen on a bicycle tour of Boston in May, 2019.
It was only 10 miles.
Photo courtesy of Woody Pollack and used with permission.

I am proud to be the featured guest on this week’s Issues on Appeal podcast, where I discussed my approach to analyzing a per curiam affirmance for current and new clients. The idea for this episode of the podcast came initially from one of our Appeals 101 blog posts, Florida Appeals 101: What is a PCA? That blog post turned into an in-house procedure for analyzing these cases — including giving people we did not represent on direct appeal a “second look” at the appellate court’s decision. And that turned into a chat with friend (and podcast founder) Duane Daiker, which eventually turned into this recorded discussion with Duane. Check it out!

One neat thing about this podcast episode is that Duane added a non-appellate conversation with my dear friend from the IP world, Woody Pollack, and the lessons he learned from not finishing an Ironman triathlon (even though he has previously finished a race). I think Woody’s story is a great match for this discussion of analyzing a PCA: There’s some disappointment involved, but also important lessons about how to deal with disappointment and move forward. Plus, we’re both nerds.

Finally, if you missed my earlier appearance on Issues on Appeal, where I talk about using social media for marketing without getting into legal trouble, check out episode 7. I am particularly honored to be the first repeat guest on the podcast!

Hurricane Dorian approaching Florida

How Does a Hurricane Affect Court Deadlines? (Dorian Edition)

Hurricane Dorian approaching Florida

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) image of Hurricane Dorian taken Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019, at 17:00 UTC.

Even though we currently have sunny skies, many courts in Florida are closed today due to the threat of Hurricane Dorian (Specifically, the Second and Third Districts are closed today, and the Fourth and Fifth Districts are closed today and tomorrow, with the First and Florida Supreme Court still open as of this writing. How does that affect court deadlines? The short answer: In Florida state courts, you won’t know until the storm is over, so don’t count on a deadline moving. And in Federal Court, the courthouse being closed does not mean you can’t file, so your best bet is to meet any deadline today. Here’s the rules-geek long answer:

Deadlines in Florida State Courts

An emergency closure does not count as a “Court Holiday” under Florida Rules of Judicial Administration Rule 2.514(a)(6)(B) — the Courts are not calling it a “holiday,” and doing so probably has personnel implications that Court administration doesn’t want to deal with. However, the Florida Supreme Court generally issues administrative orders extending deadlines in the affected counties. Right now, the Florida Supreme Court’s emergency page states:

After a storm, orders will be issued by the Chief Justice retroactively extending deadlines in storm-damaged areas. Attorneys and others who missed legal deadlines or hearing dates in areas hard-hit by a hurricane will be protected by these orders, which will be issued once the courts in these areas reopen. They will be posted on our Administrative Orders page when issued.

(This from the Florida Supreme Court Emergency Page as of noon on September 3, 2019). As of this writing, there are no such orders in place, since the threat is not yet over. Check the Court’s administrative orders emergency page for updates. But also, we have not actually been hit so far, so I would be concerned that the Court is not going to ultimately extend deadlines for all. Even with Courts closed, meet all deadlines today, or timely seek extensions. The Florida appellate courts, in particular, are generous with timely-requested enlargements, so don’t hesitate to ask the Court for them.

But what about deadlines that are not normally allowed to be extended? Rule 1.090 states that, even for good cause, a Court:

may not extend the time for making a motion for new trial, for rehearing, or
to alter or amend a judgment; making a motion for relief from a judgment under
rule 1.540(b); taking an appeal or filing a petition for certiorari; or making a
motion for a directed verdict.

We did this analysis for Hurricane Matthew, so check out our prior post on that one.

Deadlines in Federal Courts

The Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure state that when calculating deadlines computed as days:

if the period would end on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the period continues to run until the same time on the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday.

Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 26(a)(2)(C). The Federal rules have an additional helpful provision expressly addressing “Inaccessibility” of the Clerk’s Office:

(3) Inaccessibility of the Clerk’s Office. Unless the court orders otherwise, if the clerk’s
office is inaccessible:
(A) on the last day for filing under Rule 26(a)(1), then the time for filing is extended
to the first accessible day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday; or

Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 26(a)(3). But remember, a closure of the physical building does not make the clerk’s office inaccessible. For example, the Middle District of Florida website currently states:

UPDATE: 7:45 p.m. | Monday, September 2, 2019

On Tuesday, September 3, 2019, the Jacksonville, Ocala, and Orlando divisions are closed, and the Fort Myers and Tampa divisions are open.

On Wednesday, September 4, 2019, the Jacksonville division is closed, and the Fort Myers, Ocala, Orlando, and Tampa divisions are open.

CM/ECF remains available. The website will be updated if additional closures are required.

And the Eleventh Circuit does not even mention the hurricane on its website as of this writing, but since all filings are supposed to be made through ECF or through Atlanta, any “inaccessibility” argument won’t get very far.

Requesting Extensions After the Fact

Remember that if you miss a deadline in most courts, you have a higher burden to prove entitlement to the extension. Both state and federal courts are going to require a showing of good cause and excusable neglect. So meet your filing deadlines today, or at the very least get extension request on file before the deadline passes.