Use this “At A Glance Guide” to learn the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure applicable to amended answer in Florida Circuit Courts. For more detailed information, please see the SmartRules Response to Request for Production guides for the court where your action is pending.

“For each item or category the response shall state that inspection and related activities will be permitted as requested unless the request is objected to, in which event the reasons for the objection is made to part of an item or category, the part shall be specified.” Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.350(b).
Compliance with Request

The producing party either must produce the documents or items specified as they are kept in the regular course of business, or must identify them to correspond to the categories in the request. Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.350(b).

A party objecting to a request for production must provide the reasons for the objection. If an objection is made only to part of a demand, the objectionable section must be specified. Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.350(b).

If a party withholds otherwise discoverable information on the basis of privilege, that party must make this claim expressly and must describe the nature of the withheld materials such that, without revealing the disputed information, other parties may assess the applicability of the privilege. Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.280(b)(5).

The party serving the request for production may move for an order compelling production under Rule 1.380. Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.350(b).

A party who has responded to a request for production with a response that was complete at the time it was provided is under no duty to supplement the response to include after-acquired documents. Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.280(e).

If a party fails to respond to a request for production, the propounding party may move for an order compelling production under Rule 1.380. Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.350(b). If the court issues an order compelling production and the responding party still fails to reply, that party may be held in contempt of court and may face sanctions up to and including the dismissal of pleadings. Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.380(b)(2).

The authorities cited in this At A Glance Guide are current as of the publication date. For authorities updated in real time, please see the SmartRules Guide for the litigation document you are drafting.

Each demand must designate the documents, tangible things, land, or other property to be inspected either by specifically describing each individual item or by reasonably particularizing each category of item. Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.350(b).

The request shall specify a reasonable time and place and manner of making the inspection or performing the acts. The time shall be at least thirty (30) days after service of the request to produce, except that a defendant may serve a response within forty-five (45) days after the service of the process and the initial pleading on that defendant. The court may allow for a longer or shorter time. Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.350(b).

A party may propound a supplemental demand to inspect any later acquired or discovered documents, tangible things, land, or other property that are in the possession, custody, or control of the party on whom the demand is made subject to the time limits on discovery proceedings in the case. A party who has responded to a request to produce with a response that was complete at the time is under no duty to supplement the response to include after-acquired documents. Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.280(e).

Production of documents by non-parties is accomplished through the subpoena process under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.351. See Seventeenth Circuit Court SmartRules Capsule SUBPOENA.

The authorities cited in this At A Glance Guide are current as of the publication date. For authorities updated in real time, please see the SmartRules Guide for the litigation document you are drafting.

Use this “At A Glance Guide” to learn the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure applicable to case managment statements in Florida Circuit Courts. For more detailed information, please see the SmartRules Case Management Statement guides for the court where your action is pending.

There is no formal requirement for a Case Management Statement, although many judges require them for specific cases. Check with your judge’s clerk at the time the case management conference is scheduled to determine whether a statement should be prepared and, if so, what issues should be addressed.

At a case management conference, the court may:

1. Deal with scheduling of service of motions, pleadings, and other papers;

2. Set a time for trial (assuming a notice of trial has been filed)

3. In complex litigation cases, coordinate progress of the action;

4. Limit, schedule, or expedite discovery;

5. Schedule disclosure of expert witnesses;

6. Pursue settlement possibilities;

7. Require stipulations;

8. Consider referral to magistrate; and

9. Schedule further conferences or pre-trial conferences.   Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.200 (a).

A party that fails to appear at a case management conference is subject to having the court dismiss the action, strike the pleadings, limit witnesses, or take other appropriate action. Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.200 (c).

The authorities cited in this At A Glance Guide are current as of the publication date. For authorities updated in real time, please see the SmartRules Guide for the litigation document you are drafting.

Use this At A Glance Guide to learn the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure related to bringing a motion to dismiss in Florida Circuit Courts. For more detailed information, please see the SmartRules Motion to Dismiss Guide for the court where your action is pending.

Motions to dismiss pleadings are based on an allegation of failure to state a cause of action and are governed by Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.140. A motion to dismiss must be filed before the answer is filed. Motions to dismiss are substantively and procedurally distinct from voluntary and involuntary dismissals under Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.420.

Unless a different time is prescribed in a statute, every defense listed in Rule 1.140(b) must be raised within twenty (20) days of service of the summons or it is deemed waived. Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.140(a)(amended eff 1/1/08); Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.140(h).

Complaints that are dismissed under Rule 1.140 are typically dismissed “without prejudice,” with leave for the non-moving party to amend the complaint.

The body of the motion must contain the required elements of the grounds for relief sought in the motion. This will vary according to substantive law and must be stated with particularity. Motions to dismiss are based on legal arguments and the court looks only at “the four corners” of the complaint to determine its sufficiency. As such, there is no evidence presented.

A motion to dismiss for failure to state a cause of action will be granted only if the movant establishes that the pleader has failed to properly plead all of the necessary elements of the particular claim. This hinges on the substantive law for the different elements of different causes of action. Motions to dismiss may be targeted at one or more than one count in a cause of action. The court looks at “the four corners of the complaint” in determining whether it is properly pled. Although not explicitly stated in the rule, the commentary to Rule 1.140 indicates that evidence, such as affidavits or testimony, is not permitted. Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.140.

The authorities cited in this At A Glance Guide are current as of the publication date. For authorities updated in real time, please see the SmartRules Guide for the litigation document you are drafting.

Use this At A Glance Guide to learn the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure related to responding to interrogatories in Florida Circuit Courts. For more detailed information, please see the SmartRules Response to Interrogatory Guide for the court where your action is pending.

Response to Interrogatory Rules:

The scope of inquiry allowable in interrogatories is “any matter, not privileged, that is relevant to the subject matter of the pending action, whether it relates to the claim or defense of the party seeking discovery or the claim or defense of any other party, including the existence, description, nature, custody, condition, and location of any books, documents, or other tangible things and the identity and location of persons having knowledge of any discoverable matter.” Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.280(b); Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.340(b).

An interrogatory may ask for an opinion or contention that relates to fact or the application of law to fact, or that asks for information not within the personal knowledge of the party. Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.340(b).

A party may propound to another party thirty (30) interrogatories, including those from the official forms or custom drafted ones. The total number of interrogatories to be propounded without leave of court must not exceed thirty (30), including all subparts. Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.340(a).

“Each interrogatory shall be answered separately and fully in writing under oath unless it is objected to, in which event the grounds for objection shall be stated and signed by the attorney making it.” Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.340(a).

If an interrogatory seeks information that is not within the personal knowledge of the responding party, that party must provide any information that it has “and the source on which the information is based.” Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.340(b).

A party who responded to an interrogatory with a response that was complete when made is under no duty to supplement the response to include after-acquired information. Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.280(e).

Interrogatories may contain specially defined terms, as long as these definitions are reasonable and not subject to misinterpretation.

Answers made by a party are not binding on a co-party. Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.340(d).

When an answer to an interrogatory may be derived from records and the burden of deriving the information would be the same for either party, the party who received the interrogatory has the option to identify and produce or make available the records from which the answer may be derived. Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.340(c).

The authorities cited in this At A Glance Guide are current as of the publication date. For authorities updated in real time, please see the SmartRules Guide for the litigation document you are drafting.

Use this At A Glance Guide to learn the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure related to propounding interrogatories in Florida Circuit Courts. For more detailed information, please see the SmartRules Interrogatory Guide for the court where your action is pending.

Interrogatory Rules:

The scope of inquiry allowable in interrogatories is “any matter, not privileged, that is relevant to the subject matter of the pending action, whether it relates to the claim or defense of the party seeking discovery or the claim or defense of any other party, including the existence, description, nature, custody, condition, and location of any books, documents, or other tangible things and the identity and location of persons having knowledge of any discoverable matter.” Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.280(b); Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.340(b).

An interrogatory may ask for an opinion or contention that relates to fact or the application of law to fact, or that asks for information not within the personal knowledge of the party. Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.340(b).

A party who responded to an interrogatory with a response that was complete when made is under no duty to supplement the response to include later-acquired information. Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.280(e).

Interrogatories may contain specially defined terms, as long as these definitions are reasonable and not subject to misinterpretation.

A party may propound to another party thirty (30) interrogatories, including those from the official forms or custom drafted ones. The total number of interrogatories to be propounded without leave of court must not exceed thirty (30), including all subparts. Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.340(a).

Answers made by a party are not binding on a co-party. Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.340(d).

When an answer to an interrogatory may be derived from records and the burden of deriving the information would be the same for either party, the party who received the interrogatory has the option to identify and produce or make available the records from which the answer may be derived. Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.340(c).

The authorities cited in this At A Glance Guide are current as of the publication date. For authorities updated in real time, please see the SmartRules Guide for the litigation document you are drafting.