Appellate Practice Section
Tallahassee Outreach Lunch
Florida Supreme Court Practice
March 19, 2010
Thomas D. Hall
Clerk of Court
Florida Supreme Court

Rules of Procedure
 Appellate

Judicial Administration
IOP’s
 Website –
www.floridasupremecourt.org
 “Operation & Jurisdiction of Fla. S.
Ct.” 29 Nova L. Rev. 433 (2005)

 Questions
as we go.
 What this is Not!!
 How
to write a better brief
 How to do a better oral argument
Make It
Shorter!
Stats

Discretionary Review Cases

2004
Filed
 Accepted



1010
82
%
8%
2005
Filed
 Accepted


%
1055
118
11%
Stats (continued)

Discretionary Review Cases (continued)

2006
Filed
 Accepted



1073
152
%
14%
2007
Filed
 Accepted


%
987
139
14%
Stats (continued)

Discretionary Review Cases (continued)

2008
Filed
 Accepted



942
81
%
8%
2009
Filed
 Accepted


%
810
100
12%
Stats
Cases Filed
 Mandatory Review


Statutory or Constitutional Invalidity
 Criminal

2426
177
124
Discretionary Review

Statutory Validity
 Civil
 Criminal
6
2
8
Stats (continued)

Discretionary Review (continued)

Constitutional Construction
Civil
 Criminal


Civil
 Criminal

11
5
Class of Constitutional Officers

Civil
 Criminal
5
3
2
Direct Conflict of Decisions

16
255
465
720
Stats (continued)

Discretionary Review (continued)

Certified Great Public Importance
Civil
 Criminal


Civil
 Criminal

20
7
Certified Direct Conflict

Civil
22
9
13
Certified Questions from U.S.S.C.
or U.S.C.A.

27
6
6
Stats (continued)

Original Proceedings

Petition-Belated Discretionary Review
Civil
 Criminal


15
3
12
Analysis of Case Dispositions

Opinions
Civil
 Criminal


47
30
17
Per Curiam Opinions
Civil
 Criminal

71
98
169
Stats (continued)

Discretionary Review Cases Granted
Review

Certified Direct Conflict
 With
Oral Argument
Civil
 Criminal

 Without

12
5
7
Oral Argument
Criminal
32
20
20
Stats (continued)

Discretionary Review Cases Granted
Review (continued)

Certified Great Public Importance
 With
Oral Argument
Civil
 Criminal

 Without
12
9
3
Oral Argument
Civil
 Criminal

22
3
7
10
Stats (continued)

Discretionary Review Cases Granted
Review (continued)

Direct Conflict of Decisions
 With
Oral Argument
Civil
 Criminal

 Without
13
6
7
Oral Argument
Civil
 Criminal

36
7
16
23
Stats (continued)

Total Discretionary Review Cases
Granted Review
 With
Oral Argument
Civil
 Criminal

 Without
37
20
17
Oral Argument
Civil
 Criminal

90
10
43
53
GETTING STARTED

Invoking Jurisdiction



Appeal
Discretionary
Writ
NOTICE OF APPEAL



Same rules as if regular appeal to DCA
Effective July 1, 2008, a $295 filing fee
required for notice of cross-appeal,
joinder or motion to intervene.
Note – not required for cross notice to
involve discretionary jurisdiction.
MOTIONS

Emergency Motions
Style motion heading with “emergency”
 Give date certain when needed and why in
first paragraph of pleading
 Provide advance notice to clerk if late in day,
otherwise the Court might be gone
 Give position of other parties
 Serve all parties by same method as court

MOTIONS

Specific Motions

Extensions of time
- File before due date
- State reasons
- Opposing counsel’s position must be stated
- Give a date certain
- If not ruled on by date requested - file
BRIEFS

Jurisdictional Briefs
 Ten
pages only – no enlargement of
brief ever granted
 Nothing in appendix but decision being
appealed
SUPPLEMENTAL AUTHORITY
Matters Discovered After Last Brief
Filed
 List Issues to Which it Applies
 NO ARGUMENT
 File Original and Seven Copies
 Serve Opposing Counsel

Important Cases





Sims v. State, 998 So. 2d 494 (Fla. 2008)
Baker v. State, 878 So. 2d 1236 (Fla.
2004)
Tyson v. Florida Bar, 826 So. 2d 265 (Fla.
2002)
Logan v. State, 846 So. 2d 472 (Fla. 2003)
Johnson v. State, 974 So. 2d 363 (Fla.
2008)
Rule 2.420. Public Access to Judicial
Branch Records
Filers must identify the following information
if contained within anything filed with the
Court:

(i) Chapter 39 records relating to
dependency matters, termination of
parental rights, guardians ad litem, child
abuse, neglect, and abandonment. §
39.0132(3), Fla. Stat.


(ii) Adoption records. § 63.162, Fla.
Stat.
(iii) Social Security, bank account, charge,
debit and credit card numbers in court
records. § 119.0714(1)(i)–(j), (2)(a)-(e),
Fla. Stat. (Unless redaction is requested
pursuant to 119.0714(2), this information
is exempt only as of January 1, 2011.)



(iv) HIV test results and patient identity
within the HIV test results. §
381.004(3)(e), Fla. Stat.
(v) Sexually transmissible diseases - test
results and identity within the test results.
§ 384.29, Fla. Stat.
(vi) Birth and death certificates, including
court-issued delayed birth certificates and
fetal death certificates. §§ 382.008(6),
.025(1)(a), Fla. Stat.


(vii) Identifying information in petition by
minor for waiver of parental notice when
seeking to terminate pregnancy. §
390.01116, Fla. Stat.
(viii) Identifying information in clinical
mental health records under the Baker
Act. § 394.4615(7), Fla. Stat.


(ix) Records of substance abuse service
providers which pertain to the identity,
diagnosis, and prognosis of and service
provision to individual clients of substance
abuse service providers. § 397.501(7),
Fla. Stat.
(x) Identifying information in clinical
records of detained criminal defendants
found incompetent to proceed or
acquitted by reason of insanity. §
916.107(8), Fla. Stat.




(xi) Estate inventories. § 733.604(1), Fla.
Stat.
(xii) Victim’s address in domestic violence
action on petitioner’s request. §
741.30(3), Fla. Stat.
(xiii) Information identifying victims of
sexual offenses, including child sexual
abuse. §§ 119.071(2)(h), .0714(1)(h),
Fla. Stat.
(xiv) Gestational surrogacy records. §
742.16(9), Fla. Stat.



(xv) Guardianship reports and orders
appointing court monitors in guardianship
cases. §§ 744.1076, .3701, Fla. Stat.
(xvi) Grand jury records. Ch. 905, Fla.
Stat.
(xvii) Information acquired by courts and
law enforcement regarding family services
for children. § 984.06(3)-(4), Fla. Stat.


(xviii) Juvenile delinquency records. §
985.04(1), .045(2), Fla. Stat.
(xix) Information disclosing the identity of
persons subject to tuberculosis
proceedings and Records of the
Department of Health in suspected
tuberculosis cases. §§ 392.545, .65, Fla.
Stat.
ADA Accessibility – Proposed Rule of
Judicial Administration (no number yet)
 Accessibility. All documents that are transmitted to
a court in any electronic form shall be formatted in
a manner that complies with all state and federal
laws requiring that electronic judicial records be
accessible to persons with disabilities, including
without limitation the Americans with Disabilities Act
and Section 508 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of
1973 as incorporated into Florida law by section
282.603(1), Florida Statutes (2009), and any
related federal or state regulations or administrative
rules.
Committee Note

2009 Amendment. Normally, any document filed in
“Word” format, with the correct internal document
formatting will satisfy the requirements of this rule.
Such formatting includes appropriate coding for
certain material, including but not limited to non-text,
graphics, charts, and other specialized material, and
pdf documents, so that readily available software can
make such material accessible to persons with
disabilities. The Florida Supreme Court website or
materials made available by the Florida Supreme
Court should be consulted for further technical
information regarding document formatting in
compliance with this rule.
Any Questions?
The End