IN RE: AMENDMENTS TO FLORIDA RULE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE 1.351. (2023)

The Florida Bar's Civil Procedure Rules Committee proposes amending Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.351 (Production of Documents and Things Without Deposition) to extend the period of time to object to a subpoena to 45 days when a notice of non-party production is served simultaneously with a complaint.¹

The proposed amendments were approved by the Board of Governors of The Florida Bar. We published the Committee's proposal for comment and received a joint comment from attorneys Gregory P. Borgognoni and Robert Fast proposing revisions to the Committee's proposal. The Committee filed a response to the comment, declining to revise its proposal as suggested in the comment. Having considered the proposed amendments, the comment filed, and the Committee's response, we amend Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.351 as proposed by the Committee.

Subdivision (b) (Procedure) is amended to require that in cases where a notice of non-party production is served with the original process, the subpoena may not issue earlier than 45 days after service on the last-served party. Furthermore, the first and last sentences of subdivision (b) are amended to allow for an additional five-day mailing time and to clarify that a subpoena for the production of documents may not be issued until 10 days after the notice if service is by delivery or e-mail or 15 days if notice is by U.S. mail service.

Accordingly, the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure are amended as set forth in the appendix to this opinion. New language is indicated by underscoring; deletions are indicated by struck-through type. The amendments shall become effective January 1, 2024, at 12:01 a.m.

It is so ordered.

APPENDIX

FOOTNOTES

1.   We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 2(a), Fla. Const.; Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.140(b)(1).

PER CURIAM.

MUÑIZ, C.J., and CANADY, LABARGA, COURIEL, GROSSHANS, FRANCIS, and SASSO, JJ., concur.