Supreme Court of Florida

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No. SC16-529

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IN RE: AMENDMENTS TO FLORIDA RULES OF JUDICIAL 

ADMINISTRATION 2.516 AND 2.525.

[April 14, 2016]

PER CURIAM.

Before the Court are time-sensitive, out-of-cycle amendments to Florida 

Rules of Judicial Administration 2.516 (Service of Pleadings and Documents) and 

Rule 2.525 (Electronic Filing) proposed by The Florida Bar’s Rules of Judicial 

Administration Committee (Committee).

1

 We have jurisdiction2and adopt the 

amendments as proposed using the Court’s “fast-track” procedures.

Background

According to the Committee’s report, these time-sensitive amendments are 

in response to the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal April 16, 2016, upgrade, which 

 

1. See Fla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.140(e). 

2. See art. V, § 2(a), Fla. Const.
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increases the size limitations for documents filed and served through the E-Filing 

Portal. The April 16, 2016, system upgrade increases the document submission 

size from 25MB to 50MB. The upgrade also increases the e-service e-mail 

attachment size from 5MB to 10MB. The proposed amendments to rules 2.516 

and 2.525 remove the specific document filing and service size limitations from the 

rules, and refer filers to “the appropriate size limitations specified in the Florida 

Supreme Court Standards for Electronic Access to the Court.” The Florida Bar 

Board of Governors unanimously approved the proposals. Due to the timesensitive nature of these proposed amendments, the amendments have not been

published for comments.

AMENDMENTS

The amendment to rule 2.516(b)(1)(E)(iv) removes “five megabytes (5MB) 

in size.” The amendments to rule 2.525 remove “25 megabytes (25MB) in size” 

from subdivisions (d)(5) and (f)(1)(C), and remove “documents up to 25 

megabytes (25MB) in size, or until e-filing has been fully implemented, accept 

facsimile transmissions of documents up to 10 pages in length” from subdivision 

(f)(1)(B). The deleted language in both rules is replaced with a reference to “the 

appropriate size limitations specified in the Florida Supreme Court Standards for 

Electronic Access to the Court.”
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Accordingly, the Florida Rules of Judicial Administration are amended 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 April 16, 2016, at 12:01 a.m. Because the amendments 

were not published for comment prior to their adoption, interested persons shall 

have sixty days from the date of this opinion in which to file comments with the 

Court.3

It is so ordered.

 

3. All comments must be filed with the Court on or before June 13, 2016, 

with a certificate of service verifying that a copy has been served on the 

Committee Chair, Amy Singer Borman, 15th Judicial Circuit, 205 North Dixie 

Highway, 5th Floor, West Palm Beach, Florida 33401,

aborman@pdcgov.org, and on the Bar Staff Liaison to the Committee, Krys 

Godwin, 651 E. Jefferson Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2300, krgodwin

@flabar.org, as well as a separate request for oral argument if the person filing the 

comment wishes to participate in oral argument, which may be scheduled in this 

case. The Committee Chair has until July 5, 2016, to file a response to any 

comments filed with the Court. If filed by an attorney in good standing with The 

Florida Bar, the comment must be electronically filed via the Florida Courts EFiling Portal in accordance with In re Electronic Filing in the Supreme Court of 

Florida via the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal, Fla. Admin. Order No. AOSC13-7 

(Feb. 18, 2013). If filed by a nonlawyer or a lawyer not licensed to practice in 

Florida, the comment must be electronically filed via e-mail in accordance with In 

re Mandatory Submission of Electronic Copies of Documents, Fla. Admin. Order 

No. AOSC04-84 (Sept. 13, 2004). Electronically filed documents must be 

submitted in Microsoft Word 97 or higher. Any person unable to submit a 

comment electronically must mail or hand-deliver the originally signed comment 

to the Florida Supreme Court, Office of the Clerk, 500 South Duval Street, 

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1927; no additional copies are required or will be 

accepted.
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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 Proceeding – Florida Rules of Judicial Administration

Amy Singer Borman, Chair, Rules of Judicial Administration Committee, West 

Palm Beach, Florida; John F. Harkness, Jr., Executive Director, and Krys Godwin, 

Bar Staff Liaison, The Florida Bar, Tallahassee, Florida,

for Petitioner
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APPENDIX

RULE 2.516. SERVICE OF PLEADINGS AND DOCUMENTS

(a) [No Change]

(b) Service; How Made. When service is required or permitted to be 

made upon a party represented by an attorney, service must be made upon the 

attorney unless service upon the party is ordered by the court.

(1) Service by Electronic Mail (“e-mail”). All documents 

required or permitted to be served on another party must be served by e-mail, 

unless the parties otherwise stipulate or this rule otherwise provides. A filer of an 

electronic document has complied with this subdivision if the Florida Courts efiling Portal (“Portal”) or other authorized electronic filing system with a supreme 

court approved electronic service system (“e-Service system”) served the 

document by e-mail or provided a link by e-mail to the document on a website 

maintained by a clerk (“e-Service”). The filer of an electronic document must 

verify that the Portal or other e-Service system uses the names and e-mail 

addresses provided by the parties pursuant to subdivision (b)(1)(A).

(A) – (D)

(E) Format of E-mail for Service. Service of a document by 

e-mail is made by an e-mail sent to all addresses designated by the attorney or 

party with either (a) a copy of the document in PDF format attached or (b) a link to 

the document on a website maintained by a clerk.

(i) All documents served by e-mail must be sent by an 

e-mail message containing a subject line beginning with the words “SERVICE OF 

COURT DOCUMENT” in all capital letters, followed by the case number of the 

proceeding in which the documents are being served.

(ii) The body of the e-mail must identify the court in 

which the proceeding is pending, the case number, the name of the initial party on 

each side, the title of each document served with that e-mail, and the name and 

telephone number of the person required to serve the document.

(iii) Any document served by e-mail may be signed by 

any of the “/s/,”, “/s,”, or “s/” formats.
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(iv) Any e-mail which, together with its attached 

documents, exceeds five megabytes (5MB) in sizethe appropriate size limitations 

specified in the Florida Supreme Court Standards for Electronic Access to the 

Court, must be divided and sent as separate e-mails, no one of which may exceed 

5MB in sizethe appropriate size limitations specified in the Florida Supreme Court 

Standards for Electronic Access to the Court and each of which must be 

sequentially numbered in the subject line.

(2) [No Change]

(c) – (h) [No Change]

RULE 2.525. ELECTRONIC FILING

(a) – (c) [No Change]

(d) Exceptions. Paper documents and other submissions may be 

manually submitted to the clerk or court:

(1) when the clerk does not have the ability to accept and retain 

documents by electronic filing or has not had ECF Procedures approved by the 

supreme court;

(2) for filing by any self-represented party or any self-represented 

nonparty unless specific ECF Procedures provide a means to file documents 

electronically. However, any self-represented nonparty that is a governmental or 

public agency and any other agency, partnership, corporation, or business entity 

acting on behalf of any governmental or public agency may file documents by 

electronic transmission if such entity has the capability of filing document 

electronically;

(3) for filing by attorneys excused from e-mail service in 

accordance with rule 2.516(b); 

(4) when submitting evidentiary exhibits or filing non-documentary 

materials; 

(5) when the filing involves documents in excess of 25 megabytes 

(25MB) in sizethe appropriate size limitations specified in the Florida Supreme 
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Court Standards for Electronic Access to the Court. For such filings, documents 

may be transmitted using an electronic storage medium that the clerk has the 

ability to accept, which may include a CD-ROM, flash drive, or similar storage 

medium; 

(6) when filed in open court, as permitted by the court; 

(7) when paper filing is permitted by any approved statewide or 

local ECF procedures; and 

(8) if any court determines that justice so requires.

(e) [No Change]

(f) Administration.

(1) Any clerk who, after obtaining supreme court approval, accepts 

for filing documents that have been electronically transmitted must:

(A) provide electronic or telephonic access to its equipment, 

whether through an e-portal or otherwise, during regular business hours, and all 

other times as practically feasible; 

(B) accept electronic transmission of documents up to 25 

megabytes (25MB) in size, or until e-filing has been fully implemented, accept 

facsimile transmissions of documents up to 10 pages in lengththe appropriate size 

limitations specified in the Florida Supreme Court Standards for Electronic Access 

to the Court; and 

(C) accept filings in excess of 25 megabytes (25MB) in 

sizethe appropriate size limitations specified in the Florida Supreme Court 

Standards for Electronic Access to the Court by electronic storage device or 

system, which may include a CD-ROM, flash drive, or similar storage system.

(2) – (3) [No Change]

(g) [No Change]

Court Commentary

[No Change]