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Florida Supreme Court Amends Electronic Filing and Service Rules

By now, all lawyers, paralegals, and legal assistants who file papers in the Florida state courts should know that electronic filing and service of court documents is required. The Florida Supreme Court recently made a few "tweaks" to the applicable rules.
In 2012, the Florida Supreme Court adopted new rules requiring that most court documents be electronically filed and served. See In re Amends. to Fla. Rules of Jud. Admin., Fla. Rules of Civ. Pro., Fla. Rules of Crim. Pro., Fla. Probate Rules, Fla. Rules of Traffic Court, Fla. Small Claims Rules, Fla. Rules of Juv. Pro., Fla. Rules of App. Pro., & Fla. Family Law Rules of Pro.—E-mail Service Rule, 102 So. 3d 505 (Fla. 2012) (adopting e-mail service rule); In re Amends. to Fla. Rules of Civ. Pro., Fla. Rules of Jud. Admin., Fla. Rules of Crim. Pro., Fla. Probate Rules, Fla. Small Claims Rules, Fla. Rules of Juv. Pro., Fla. Rules of App. Pro., & Fla. Family Law Rules of Pro.—Electronic Filing, 102 So. 3d 451 (Fla. 2012) (adopting rules to provide for mandatory electronic filing of documents). On November 14, 2013, the Florida Supreme Court amended some of those rules. See, In re: Amendments to the Florida Rules of Judicial Administration, -- So.3d – (Fla. Nov. 14, 2013). The more significant amendments include the following:

• Rule 2.516 was amended to allow for electronic service (e-service) through the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal. The Portal will automatically serve documents when they are electronically filed. The amendments explain that a filer has fully complied with the rule’s e-mail service requirement if a document is served through the Portal. The filer need not also serve the electronically filed document by e-mail. However, the filer of an electronic document must verify that the Portal uses the names and e-mail addresses provided by the parties. An attorney is responsible for the accuracy of and changes to that attorney’s own e-mail addresses maintained by the Portal. If a document is served electronically through the Portal, service is complete on the date the served document is electronically filed and such e-service is treated as service by mail for computation of time purposes.
• Rule 2.516(f) was amended to require that a certificate of service must include the mailing addresses of those being served.
• New subdivision (a)(4) was added to rule 2.515 to provide that the signature of an attorney is considered to be a certificate by the attorney that the document contains no confidential or sensitive information, or that any such information has been properly protected in accordance with Rules of Judicial Administration 2.420 (Public Access to Judicial Branch Records) and 2.425 (Minimization of the Filing of Sensitive Information).
• Amendments to rules 2.515 and 2.525 clarify that the act of electronically filing a document through the Florida State E-Filing Portal using the filing attorney’s credentials (username and password) authenticates the document and links the “signing” attorney or attorneys to the document. In this regard, the amendments clarify that (1) the act of filing or serving a document binds the “signing” attorney to the document; (2) the use of the signing attorney’s credentials links the signing attorney to the filing of a document; and (3) other attorneys who sign the document are bound by the contents of the document and the certifications contained in the rule.
• Subdivision (c)(2)(B) was added to rule 2.515 to provide that by serving a document, or by filing a document by electronic transmission using the attorney’s assigned electronic filing credentials, that attorney certifies compliance with all Florida rules of procedure regarding service of the document.

The amendments are effective immediately as of the November 14, 2013 release date of the opinion. However, because the amendments were not published for comment prior to their adoption, interested persons may file comments with the Florida Supreme Court by January 13, 2014.

For more information, contact attorneys David Caldevilla or Michael Bray at (813) 229-2775, or by email at dcaldevilla@dgfirm.com and mbray@dgfirm.com.