In Re: Amendment to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.280

• Court: Supreme Court of Florida
• Decided: November 2, 2023
• Docket: SC2021-0929
• Status: Published

Opinion

Supreme Court of Florida THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2023

In Re: Amendment to Florida SC2021-0929 Rule of Civil Procedure 1.280

The Court has considered the comments concerning Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.280, which was amended in the opinion issued August 26, 2021. As no further amendments to the rule are warranted at this time, this case is hereby final.

MUÑIZ, C.J., and CANADY, COURIEL, GROSSHANS, FRANCIS, and SASSO, JJ., concur. LABARGA, J., dissents with an opinion.

LABARGA, J., dissenting.

In 2021, despite the robust discovery framework set forth in

the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, the majority concluded that

there was a need for additional protections against abusive

discovery tactics in the private sector. To that end, the majority

unilaterally adopted new Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.280(h),

which extended the “apex doctrine” to the private sector and

granted special discovery protections to top-level corporate decision

makers. See In re Amend. to Fla. Rule of Civ. Proc. 1.280, 324 So.

3d 459 (Fla. 2021). CASE NO.: SC2021-0929 Page Two

I dissented to the majority’s unilateral action because the

existing Florida Rules of Civil Procedure were adequate to address

the majority’s concerns about abusive discovery tactics—and the

rules remain adequate to do so. Id. at 464-65 (Labarga, J.,

dissenting). As such, I continue to deem the adoption of rule

1.280(h) unwarranted.

I respectfully dissent to today’s order because the majority,

having considered the comments filed in response to the adoption of

rule 1.280(h), has determined that the rule should remain as

originally adopted.

A True Copy Test:

SC2021-0929 11/2/2023

SO Served: JOSHUA E. DOYLE HEATHER S. TELFER JENNIFER MARIE VOSS CHRISTOPHER J. BAUM CASE NO.: SC2021-0929 Page Three

JUDSON LEE COHEN WILLIAM W. LARGE HON. ASHLEY MOODY FRANK CRUZ-ALVAREZ ROBERT L. CHRISTIE HENRY C. WHITAKER KANSAS R. GOODEN DANIEL B. ROGERS DANIEL W. BELL CHRISTOPHER G. BURNS JOHN W. HOGAN