Tuesday, January 12, 2021
On December 31, 2020, the Florida Supreme Court rendered an opinion in
In Re: Amendments to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.1510, No. SC20-1490, aligning Florida’s rules of civil procedure with the supermajority of U.S. states and formally adopting the federal standard for summary judgment motions. The decision came on the heels of another case,
Wilsonart, LLC, et al. v. Lopez, No. SC19-1336 (Fla. Dec. 31, 2020), in which the Florida Supreme Court reviewed a trial court’s decision to weigh compelling video evidence against a conflicting eyewitness statement and grant summary judgment in the defendant’s favor.
In
On December 31, 2020, the Florida Supreme Court rendered an opinion in
In Re: Amendments to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.1510, No. SC20-1490, aligning Florida’s rules of civil procedure with the supermajority of U.S. states and formally adopting the federal standard for summary judgment motions. The decision came on the heels of another case,
Wilsonart, LLC, et al. v. Lopez, No. SC19-1336 (Fla. Dec. 31, 2020), in which the Florida Supreme Court reviewed a trial court’s decision to weigh compelling video evidence against a conflicting eyewitness statement and grant summary judgment in the defendant’s favor.
In
Wilsonart, Florida’s Fifth District Court of Appeal reversed the trial court’s decision on appeal, relying on the state standard that the “slightest doubt” as to the potential existence of a genuine issue of material fact may enable the nonmoving party’s claims to survive. Because there had been, technically, conflicting evidence, the court of appeal
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Florida courts have required the moving party to “conclusively disprove” the nonmovant’s theory of the case in order to eliminate any issue of fact, whereas the federal doctrine permits the entry of summary judgment when there is an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party’s case.
Through
In Re: Amendments to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.510, No. SC20-1490 (Fla. Dec. 31, 2020), the Florida Supreme Court, on its own motion, amended Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.510 to adopt the summary judgment standard articulated by the United States Supreme Court. Rule 1.510(c) shall remain the same except that the following clause will be added as the last sentence of this subparagraph: “The summary judgment standard provided for in this rule shall be construed and applied in accordance with the federal summary judgment standard articulated in
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Out with the old, in with the new: the Florida Supreme Court closed out 2020 with a key decision that eliminates Florida’s previous summary judgment standard in favor of the federal standard articulated in the
Celotex trilogy. The opinion released on New Year’s Eve provides that the new summary judgment standard will take effect on May 1, 2021.
See In Re: Amendments to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.510, No. SC20-1490 (Fla. Dec. 31, 2020) (per curiam).
The rule amendment will change Florida’s jurisprudence in three primary ways, with the overarching purpose of securing “the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action”:
It’s Time to Adapt Your Litigation Strategy to
a More Flexible Summary Judgment Standard
On the final day of 2020, the Florida Supreme Court waived adieu to the past in two related decisions on the summary judgment standard. One decision declined to create a special exception for video evidence but concluded that Florida’s current standard is unreasonably restrictive, and the other decision amended the summary judgment rule to adopt the less rigid Federal standard.
Wilsonart, LLC, et. al., v. Miguel Lopez, etc., No. SC19-1336, 2020 WL 7778226 (Fla. Dec. 31, 2020);
In Re: Amendments to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.510, No. SC20-1490, 2020 WL 7778179 (December 31, 2020).