Title: In Re: Amendments to Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.130

State: florida

Issuer: Florida Supreme Court

Document:

Supreme Court of Florida 
 
 
_____________ 
 
No. SC13-1493 
_____________ 
 
 
IN RE:  AMENDMENTS TO FLORIDA RULE OF APPELLATE 
PROCEDURE 9.130. 
 
[November 13, 2014] 
 
PER CURIAM. 
 
We have for consideration the out-of-cycle report of proposed amendments 
to Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.130 (Proceedings to Review Non-Final 
Orders and Specified Final Orders), filed by The Florida Bar’s Appellate Court 
Rules Committee (Committee).  See Fla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.140(f).  We have 
jurisdiction.  See art. V, § 2(a), Fla. Const.  As discussed below, we adopt the 
amendment to rule 9.130(a)(3)(C)(x) as proposed by the Committee; but we 
modify the proposed amendment to rule 9.130(a)(3)(C)(xi) to authorize appeals of 
nonfinal orders that determine, as a matter of law, that a party is not entitled to 
sovereign immunity. 
BACKGROUND 
 
 
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The Committee proposes amendments to rule 9.130 in response to a request 
by the Court in Keck v. Eminisor, 104 So. 3d 359 (Fla. 2012).  In Keck, the Court 
requested that the Committee “submit a proposed narrow amendment to rule 9.130 
addressing the rule change mandated by [that] decision,” id. at 366, allowing for 
interlocutory review “where an individual defendant who claims immunity under 
[section] 768.28(9)(a)[, Florida Statutes,] is denied that immunity and the issue 
turns on a matter of law.”  Id. at 369.  In the concurring opinion, a majority of the 
Court further recommended that the Committee “undertake a comprehensive 
review of whether the categories of non-final orders in rule 9.130(a)(3) should be 
expanded to include the denial of any claim of immunity where the question 
presented is solely a question of law.”  Id. at 370 (Pariente, J., concurring with an 
opinion in which Lewis, Labarga, and Perry, JJ., concur). 
 
The Committee submitted the proposals without publishing them for 
comment.  The Board of Governors of The Florida Bar unanimously approved the 
proposals.  After the proposals were filed, the Court published them for comment.  
The Court received no comments. 
AMENDMENTS 
 
Rule 9.130(a)(3) (Applicability) specifies the types of nonfinal orders that 
can be appealed to the district courts.  We add a new subdivision (a)(3)(C)(x), as 
proposed by the Committee, to authorize appeals from nonfinal orders which 
 
 
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determine “that, as a matter of law, a party is not entitled to immunity under 
section 768.28(9), Florida Statutes.”  Additionally, the Committee proposes adding 
new subdivision (a)(3)(C)(xi) to authorize appeals from nonfinal orders which 
determine that, as a matter of law, a party is not entitled to any immunity from suit 
not otherwise addressed in this rule.  However, because we have concerns that 
claims pertaining to immunity as a whole may be too broad, we modify the 
Committee’s proposal to authorize appeals from nonfinal orders which determine, 
as a matter of law, that a party is not entitled to sovereign immunity. 
CONCLUSION 
 
Accordingly, we amend Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.130 as 
reflected 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, 2015, at 12:01 a.m. 
 
It is so ordered. 
LABARGA, C.J., and PARIENTE, LEWIS, QUINCE, CANADY, POLSTON, 
and PERRY, JJ., concur. 
 
THE FILING OF A MOTION FOR REHEARING SHALL NOT ALTER THE 
EFFECTIVE DATE OF THESE AMENDMENTS.  
 
Original Proceedings – Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Wendy S. Loquasto, Chair, Appellate Court Rules Committee, Fox & Loquasto 
P.A., Tallahassee, Florida, Eduardo I. Sanchez, Past Chair, Appellate Court Rules 
Committee, Miami, Florida, John F. Harkness, Jr., Executive Director, and Heather 
Savage Telfer, Bar Staff Liaison, The Florida Bar, Tallahassee, Florida, 
 
for Petitioner 
 
 
 
 
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APPENDIX 
RULE 9.130.  
PROCEEDINGS TO REVIEW NON-FINAL 
ORDERS AND SPECIFIED FINAL ORDERS 
(a) 
Applicability. 
(1) – (2) [No Change] 
(3) 
Appeals to the district courts of appeal of non-final orders are 
limited to those that 
(A) – (B) [No Change] 
(C) 
determine 
(i) – (vii) [No Change] 
(viii) that a governmental entity has taken action that has 
inordinately burdened real property within the meaning of section 70.001(6)(a), 
Florida Statutes; or 
(ix) 
the issue of forum non conveniens.; 
(x) 
that, as a matter of law, a party is not entitled to 
immunity under section 768.28(9), Florida Statutes; or 
(xi) 
that, as a matter of law, a party is not entitled to 
sovereign immunity. 
(D) 
[No Change] 
(4) – (6) [No Change] 
(b) -  (h) [No Change] 
Committee Notes 
1977 - 2008 Amendments.  [No Change]