Supreme Court of Florida

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No. SC14-1852

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IN RE: AMENDMENTS TO THE FLORIDA RULES OF CIVIL 

PROCEDURE; FLORIDA FAMILY LAW RULES OF PROCEDURE; NEW 

FLORIDA RULES FOR COURT-APPOINTED ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE 

RESOLUTION NEUTRALS.

[October 8, 2015]

PER CURIAM.

This matter is before the Court for consideration of proposed amendments to 

the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure 

and proposed new Florida Rules for Court-Appointed Alternative Dispute 

Resolution Neutrals Regarding Dispute Resolution Processes for Which No Other 

Supreme Court Rules or Standards of Professional Conduct Exist. We have 

jurisdiction. See art. V, § 2(a), Fla. Const.

The Supreme Court Committee on Alternative Dispute Resolution Rules and 

Policy (ADR Committee) has filed a petition proposing new Family Law Rules of 

Procedure, new Rules of Civil Procedure, and new Rules for Court-Appointed 

Alternative Dispute Resolution Neutrals Regarding Alternative Dispute Resolution 
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Processes for Which No Other Supreme Court Rules or Standards of Professional 

Conduct Exist. Similar proposals were submitted by the ADR Committee in case 

number SC11-1454; however, the Court declined to adopt those proposals and 

referred them back to the ADR Committee for further study and consideration. 

See In re Amends. to Fla. R. Civ. P., Fla. Fam. L. R. P., New Fla. R. for Qualified 

and Court-Appointed Parenting Coordinators, New Fla. R. for Other CourtAppointed Alternative Dispute Resolution Neutrals, 104 So. 3d 1043, 1045 (Fla. 

2012). 

According to the petition, the ADR Committee received input from the 

Florida Bar Rules Committees. The petition also states that the proposals were 

posted on the Dispute Resolution Center website from May 20, 2011, to June 8, 

2011, and the Committee received one comment. After submission to the Court, 

the proposals were published for comment in The Florida Bar News. Comments 

were received from several interested parties and groups, including the Family 

Law Rules Committee, the Civil Procedure Rules Committee, the Executive 

Council of the ADR Section of the Florida Bar, the Honorable Thomas McGrady, 

Chief Judge of the Sixth Judicial Circuit, the Honorable Robert E. Roundtree, Jr., 

Chief Judge of the Eighth Judicial Circuit, Attorney Robert J. Merlin, and Gregory 

Firestone, Ph.D. The ADR Committee filed a response to the comments, and oral 

argument was heard on the Committee’s proposals on June 3, 2015. 
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We commend the ADR Committee’s careful consideration and considerable 

effort in presenting these matters to the Court and its continued work in supporting 

and encouraging the use of alternative dispute resolution in Florida courts. 

However, upon consideration of the ADR Committee’s petition, the comments 

filed and the Committee’s response thereto, and the presentations of the parties at 

oral argument, we decline to adopt the Committee’s proposals at this time. Given 

the substantial criticism, alleged deficiencies in the proposals, and other issues 

raised at oral argument in this matter and in the comments received, we conclude 

that the time is not yet ripe for rules addressing ADR processes other than those 

already identified and governed by current court rules.

It is so ordered. 

LABARGA, C.J., and PARIENTE, QUINCE, CANADY, POLSTON, and 

PERRY, JJ., concur.

LEWIS, J., concurs in result.

NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING MOTION, AND 

IF FILED, DETERMINED. 

Original Proceeding – Florida Rules of Civil Procedure 

Judge Rodney Smith, Chair, Committee on Alternative Dispute Resolution Rules 

and Policy, Miami, Florida; Judge William David Palmer, Past Chair, Committee 

on Alternative Dispute Resolution Rules and Policy, Daytona Beach, Florida; and 

Susan Carolyn Marvin, Senior Staff Attorney, Dispute Resolution Center, 

Tallahassee, Florida,

for Petitioner
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Robert Joseph Merlin of Robert J. Merlin, P.A., Coral Gables, Florida; Chief Judge 

James T. McGrady, III, Sixth Judicial Circuit, Clearwater, Florida; Michael L.

Emge, Senior Staff Attorney, Sixth Judicial Circuit, Saint Petersburg, Florida; 

Gregory Firestone, Ph.D., Director of Conflict Resolution Collaborative, 

University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida; Charles Cole Jeffries, Jr., Chair, 

Family Law Rules Committee, Tampa, Florida; Elizabeth Ann Blackburn, Past 

Chair, Family Law Rules Committee, Daytona Beach, Florida; John F. Harkness, 

Jr., Executive Director, Ellen H. Sloyer, Senior Rules Liaison, and Gregory A. 

Zhelesnik, Bar Staff Liaison, The Florida Bar, Tallahassee, Florida; Judge 

Jacqueline Hogan Scola, Chair, Civil Procedure Rules Committee, Miami, Florida; 

Kevin Bayly Cook, Past Chair, Civil Procedure Rules Committee, Roger Towers, 

P.A., Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida; Chief Judge Robert E. Roundtree, Jr. and 

Bridget Longridge Baker, Family Court Manager, Eighth Judicial Circuit, 

Gainesville, Florida; Michael H. Lax, Chair, Alternative Dispute Resolution 

Section of The Florida Bar, Michael H. Lax, P.A., Miami, Florida; David Robert 

Hoyle, Vice-Chair, Alternative Dispute Resolution Section of The Florida Bar, D. 

Robert Hoyle, P.A., Bradenton, Florida; and Gregory Pierce Brown of Hill Ward 

Henderson, Tampa, Florida, 

Responding with Comments