Supreme Court of Florida

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No. SC19-2104

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IN RE: AMENDMENTS TO FLORIDA RULE OF JUDICIAL 

ADMINISTRATION 2.140.

January 28, 2021

PER CURIAM.

The Court has for consideration comments filed in this case addressing the 

amendments to Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.140 (Amending Rules of 

Court) the Court adopted, on its own motion,1 to allow The Florida Bar’s rules 

committees to propose and the Court to adopt procedural rule changes in a more 

efficient, timely manner. See In re Amendments to Florida Rule of Judicial 

Administration 2.140, 289 So. 3d 1264 (Fla. 2020). The Court now further amends 

rule 2.140 as suggested in the comment filed by The Florida Bar’s Rules of 

Judicial Administration (RJA Committee).

2

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

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

As relevant here, in the February 6, 2020, opinion in this case, the Court 

amended rule 2.140 to do away with the set schedule for Bar rules committee 

reports and to allow the committees to file rules proposals with the Court whenever 

a committee determines rules changes are needed. Id. The amendments became 

effective June 1, 2020. Id. Because the amendments were not published for 

comment prior to their adoption, interested persons were given an opportunity to 

file comments on them with the Court. Id. at 1265. The Court specifically sought 

comments and any suggested additional amendments to rule 2.140 from the RJA

Committee. Id. Two comments were filed supporting the Court’s streamlining of 

the rulemaking process. One of the supportive comments urges further 

amendments to rule 2.140(a)(2), under which the Clerk of this Court refers rule 

changes suggested by the public to the appropriate Bar rules committee. The other 

supportive comment was filed by the RJA Committee and suggests several 

additional amendments to rule 2.140. The RJA Committee’s suggested 

amendments were unanimously approved by the Executive Committee of the 

Board of Governors of The Florida Bar (Board).

After considering the comments and suggested rule amendments, the Court 

declines to further amend subdivision (a)(2) of rule 2.140, but adopts the additional 

amendments to several subdivisions of the rule suggested by the RJA Committee.
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Amendments

First, as suggested by the RJA Committee, we remove the requirement from 

subdivision (b)(2) of rule 2.140 that a rules committee submit its proposals to the 

Board before the proposals are ready for the Board’s vote under subdivision (b)(3) 

of the rule. As explained in the RJA Committee’s comment, because a rules 

committee must publish its proposals for comment, under subdivision (b)(2),

before finally approving them, the Board or any Board member will have an 

opportunity to comment on the published proposals. We also adopt the RJA 

Committee’s suggested amendment to subdivision (b)(3), which clarifies that the 

Board considers and votes on a committee’s proposals after the comments are 

reviewed and before the committee files its report with the Court. According to the 

RJA Committee’s report, these changes will minimize duplication of review by the 

Board and the confusion that has been caused when a committee’s proposals are

submitted to the Board for comment only under subdivision (b)(2).

As previously amended, subdivision (b)(7) of rule 2.140 provides January 1 

of the year following adoption as a standard effective date for rule changes and 

recognizes that the Court may make a rule change effective on such other date as

may be requested by the committee or set by the Court. As suggested by the RJA 

Committee, we further amend subdivision (b)(7) to provide July 1 of the year of 

adoption as an additional standard effective date for rule changes.
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Finally, we adopt the various grammatical and technical changes to rule 

2.140 suggested by the RJA Committee.

Conclusion

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 immediately upon the release of this opinion.

It is so ordered.

CANADY, C.J., and POLSTON, LABARGA, LAWSON, MUÑIZ, COURIEL, 

and GROSSHANS, 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

George N. Meros, Jr. and Tiffany A. Roddenberry of Holland & Knight LLP, 

Tallahassee, Florida, and William W. Large, on behalf of the Florida Justice 

Reform Institute, Tallahassee, Florida; and Michael Jeffrey Korn, Chair, 

Jacksonville, Florida, Josephine Gagliardi, Past Chair, Florida Rules of Judicial 

Administration Committee, Fort Myers, Florida, Joshua E. Doyle, Executive 

Director, and Krys Godwin, Staff Liaison, The Florida Bar, Tallahassee, Florida,

Responding with comments
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APPENDIX

RULE 2.140. AMENDING RULES OF COURT

(a) [No Change]

(b) Rules Proposals.

(1) [No Change]

(2) Before filing a report of proposed rule changes with the 

supreme court, the reporting committee shall submit the proposed rule changes to 

the board of governors with the committee’s final numerical voting record on each 

proposal. Contemporaneously with reporting proposed rule changes to the board of 

governors, the committee report shall be furnished to the Speaker of the Florida 

House of Representatives, the President of the Florida Senate, and the chairs of the 

House and Senate committees as designated by the Speaker and the President, and 

published on the website of The Florida Bar and in The Florida Bar News. Any 

person desiring to comment upon proposed rule changes shall submit written 

comments to the appropriate committee chair(s) as provided in the notice. The 

committee shall consider any comments submitted and thereafter report to the 

board of governors any revisions to the proposed rule changes. Contemporaneously 

with reporting any revisions to the board of governors, the committee’s revised 

proposed ruleAny changes made shall be furnished to the Speaker of the Florida 

House of Representatives, the President of the Florida Senate, and the chairs of the 

House and Senate committees as designated by the Speaker and the President, and 

published on the website of The Florida Bar and in The Florida BarThe Florida 

Bar News. Any person desiring to comment thereafter shall submit written 

comments to the supreme court in accordance with subdivision (b)(6).

(3) After review of comments received and prior to the filing of a 

report by a committee, Tthe board of governors shall consider the proposals and 

shall vote on each proposal to recommend acceptance, rejection, or amendment.

(4) [No Change]

(5) If oral argument is deemed necessary, the supreme court shall 

establish a date for oral argument on the proposals. Notice of the oral argument on 

the proposals and a copy of the proposals shall be furnished to the affected 

committee chair(s) and vice chair(s), the executive director and staff liaison of The 

Florida Bar, all members of the Judicial Management Council, the clerk and chief 
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judge of each district court of appeal, the clerk and chief judge of each judicial 

circuit, the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, the President of the 

Florida Senate, the chairs of the House and Senate committees as designated by the 

Speaker and the President, and any person who has asked in writing filed with the 

clerk of the supreme court for a copy of the notice. The clerk may provide the 

notice electronically. The recommendations or a resume of them shall be published 

on the websites of the supreme court and The Florida Bar and in The Florida 

BarThe Florida Bar News before the oral argument or consideration of the 

proposals without oral argument. Notice of the oral argument, if scheduled, shall 

also be published on the website of the supreme court.

(6) [No Change]

(7) Rules changes adopted by the court shall be made effective

either July 1 of the year of their adoption or January 1 of the year following their 

adoption or on such other date as may be requested by the committee or set by the 

court. The supreme court may permit motions for rehearing to be filed on behalf of 

any person who filed a comment, The Florida Bar, any bar association, and the 

affected committee.

(c) - (d) [No Change]

(e) Expedited Proposals and Proposals in Response to Legislative 

Changes by Rules Committees. If, in the opinion of a committee, a proposal 

warrants expedited consideration or a rule amendment is necessary due to changes 

in legislation, and the board of governors concurs, proposals may be made to the 

supreme court using the committee’s fast-track procedures. The report and 

proposed rule changes may be filed without prior publication for comment and 

must conform to the Guidelines for Rules Submissions approved by administrative 

order and posted on the websites of the supreme court and The Florida Bar. The 

rules committees’ fast-track procedures shall be used to address legislative changes 

to ensure that ordinarily any resulting proposed rule amendments can be adopted 

by the court before the effective date of the legislation. If the court agrees that a 

proposal warrants expedited consideration or a rule change is necessary due to a 

legislative change, the court may publish the rule amendment for comment after 

adopting it or may set a time for oral argument or for consideration of the proposal 

without oral argument. Notice of the oral argument on the proposals, if scheduled 

before or after adoption, and a copy of the proposals shall be furnished to the 

affected committee chair(s) and vice chair(s), the executive director and the staff 

liaison of The Florida Bar, all members of the Judicial Management Council, the 
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clerk and chief judge of each district court of appeal, the clerk and chief judge of 

each judicial circuit, the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, the 

President of the Florida Senate, the chairs of the House and Senate committees as 

designated by the Speaker and the President, and any person who has asked in 

writing filed with the clerk of the supreme court for a copy of the notice. The clerk 

may provide the notice electronically. Prior to or after their adoption, the 

recommendations or a resume of them shall be published on the websites of the 

supreme court and The Florida Bar, and in The Florida Bar News. Any person may 

file comments concerning the changes, in accordance with the procedures set forth 

in subdivision (b)(6). Notice of the oral argument, if scheduled, shall also be 

published on the website of the supreme court.

(f) – (h) [No Change]

Committee Notes

[No Change]