New civil rules proposals provide "seismic" changes by keith grossman, esq.
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n December 2021, a Judicial Management Council workgroup issued a 184-page report proposing sweeping changes intended to make the Florida civil trial system more efficient.
Westheimer says the proposals in the report are “a major seismic shift to how we practice civil litigation.” He continues, “A vast amount of rules are proposed to be changed.”
The Chair of the Workgroup on Improved Resolution of Civil Cases, Second District Court of Appeal Chief Judge Robert Morris, presented the report to the Florida Bar Board of Governors at a meeting on Dec. 3.
Brown-Burton agrees. “It will certainly be a paradigm shift.” She says, “When we (the Board of Governors) first heard it, there were certainly concerns raised.” She characterizes the recommendations as “sobering”.
Judge Morris pointed to the 2 million cases in the state civil system that need to be resolved and said, “Just about every state and every jurisdiction has made an effort to manage this - the federal system did it decades ago. We need to do something about this and it’s our time to try and work on it. Attorneys Lorna E. Brown-Burton and F. Scott Westheimer are members of the Board of Governors, and both are candidates for President-Elect of the Florida Bar. They also both practice civil litigation. They clarified that The Florida Bar and Board of Governors have not
20 RES GESTAE
Westheimer says the report may be overwhelming to review but should be reviewed by all attorneys that practice civil litigation. “It would drastically change the way you practice law.”
Lorna E. Brown-Burton, Esq. taken a position yet on the report from the workgroup. Their comments are solely their opinions and not that of the Bar or the Board of Governors. LeeBar.org
One of the cornerstones of the Workgroup’s report is the implementation of a differentiated case management system that would require judges to divide cases into “streamlined”, “complex” or “general” categories. Lawyers would be required to confer at the beginning of a case and craft a case management order that would set a trial date and deadlines
