Oct
18
18
October 18, 2022
by
Michael Brownlee
Effective January 1, 2019!
On October 25, 2018, the Florida Supreme Court issued an order adopting proposed amendments to the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure. The aspect of the order that will have the biggest impact on the appellate process in Florida is the change to the briefing deadlines for many Florida appeals and original proceedings.
The general theme of the amendments is that most deadlines triggered by service of an order or document have been extended.
Deadlines triggered by the filing of a document, on the other hand, have not been changed by the amendments.
Here are some highlights of the new changes:
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The order amends subsection (k) of Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.100 (governs original proceedings such as certiorari proceedings and other writ proceedings) to provide that instead of 20 days for a petitioner to reply to a respondent’s answer, the reply is due within 30 days.
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Rule 9.110(g) used to provide that a notice of cross appeal must be served within 10 days of the filing date of the notice of appeal. Now the notice of cross appeal must be served within 15 days of the notice of appeal filing date.
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Rule 9.120(d) used to provide that a respondent’s brief on jurisdiction in the Florida Supreme Court must be served within 20 days of service of the petitioner’s brief on jurisdiction. Now respondents have 30 days to serve their jurisdictional responses in the Florida Supreme Court.
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Here is the biggy: For many moons, appellees in Florida have had 20 days from the service date of the initial brief to serve an answer brief. No longer. The order amended Rule 9.210(f) to provide that appellees now have 30 days to serve an answer brief. Likewise, appellants now have 30 days to serve a reply brief (rather than the 20 days provided by the old rule).
These are just a few of the changes.
Anyone who has an appellate matter in Florida should review the order in detail.
The good news is that the deadlines were extended, rather than restricted. That means if you don’t get this memo, you’ll just be serving your appellate documents early.
Better than the alternative!
Contact The Brownlee Law Firm
The Brownlee Law Firm only handles appeals and as a board-certified appellate attorney, Michael Brownlee has the experience and expertise to effectively handle your appeal case, particularly those in habeas proceedings.
Contact The Brownlee Law Firm today for your FREE consultation.
