When does a Florida court assign a civil case-management track?

Preserve the actual complaint or petition filing and classify commencement under Rule 1.050.

Check every Rule 1.200(a) exemption and any special-division or small-claims order.

Read the actual track assignment, initial case-management order and applicable chief-judge administrative order.

1. Preserve the actual complaint or petition filing and classify commencement under Rule 1.050.
2. The 120-day language addresses the court’s covered assignment duty. Rule 1.090(a) incorporates Rule 2.514 for applicable computation, including its eligible first day and calendar-day distinctions. This guide does not infer an actual track assignment, missed party deadline or scheduling consequence from arithmetic.
3. Check the observed statutory holidays, actual clerk calendar and chief-justice directions.
4. Complete the required act with the proper court or recipient.

Apply the observed New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. birthday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Veterans’ Day, Thanksgiving Day, Friday after Thanksgiving and Christmas Day holidays. Section 110.117 observes Saturday holidays on the preceding Friday and Sunday holidays on the following Monday. Rule 2.514 also includes clerk-observed holidays and days designated by the chief justice or chief judge. An ineligible final day moves in the counting direction. The bundled Florida calendar covers 2026 through 2028. Verify additional closures and chief-justice extensions separately.

The 120-day provision is the court’s track-assignment duty. The actual track depends on applicability, required judicial attention and a court or administrative order. A party’s change motion is a distinct prompt-good-cause procedure. This preset cannot establish an actual assignment or party filing date.

The listed exemptions and complex procedure matter

Rule 1.200(a) excludes its eighteen listed classes of actions and claims. These include specified summary proceedings, small claims with a stated civil-rules exception, probate and guardianship proceedings, administrative review, eminent domain, special divisions with case-management orders and expedited claims. Establish the full list and actual court classification. Complex cases follow Rule 1.201 for their case-management orders.

Commencement is an actual procedural event

Rule 1.050 ordinarily commences a civil action when the complaint or petition is filed, subject to its prescribed ancillary-proceeding events. Defendant service is a different event. Rule 1.200(a) separately exempts proceedings ancillary to another court proceeding. Preserve the actual commencement record before describing the court’s timetable.

Historical pending actions have a transition order

SC2023-0962, corrected January 23, 2025, preserves case-management orders already in effect January 1, 2025, with later extensions governed by amended Rules 1.200 or 1.201. For earlier actions without an order on that date, the transition specified issuance by April 4, 2025. Do not replace that historical direction or an existing order with a newly assumed 120 days.

Judicial attention determines the track

Rule 1.200(b) distinguishes streamlined cases by the listed factual, discovery, legal, motion and documentary characteristics and an anticipated trial of no more than three days. General cases are the remaining cases, while complex cases require the actual Rule 1.201 designation. Monetary value alone does not establish assignment.

A track change has a separate good-cause procedure

Under Rule 1.200(c), a party files a track-change motion promptly after good cause appears. The court may also change assignment on its own motion. An entered change, not a party’s preferred label, determines the governing track.

• This page does not establish valid service, pleading sufficiency, waived defenses or permission to extend a period.
• Check the governing historical edition, actual motions, orders, clerk holidays and filing receipts.

• Preserve the actual complaint or petition filing and classify commencement under Rule 1.050.
• Check every Rule 1.200(a) exemption and any special-division or small-claims order.
• Read the actual track assignment, initial case-management order and applicable chief-judge administrative order.
• Rule 1.200(a) excludes its eighteen listed classes of actions and claims. These include specified summary proceedings, small claims with a stated civil-rules exception, probate and guardianship proceedings, administrative review, eminent domain, special divisions with case-management orders and expedited claims. Establish the full list and actual court classification. Complex cases follow Rule 1.201 for their case-management orders.
• Rule 1.050 ordinarily commences a civil action when the complaint or petition is filed, subject to its prescribed ancillary-proceeding events. Defendant service is a different event. Rule 1.200(a) separately exempts proceedings ancillary to another court proceeding. Preserve the actual commencement record before describing the court’s timetable.
• SC2023-0962, corrected January 23, 2025, preserves case-management orders already in effect January 1, 2025, with later extensions governed by amended Rules 1.200 or 1.201. For earlier actions without an order on that date, the transition specified issuance by April 4, 2025. Do not replace that historical direction or an existing order with a newly assumed 120 days.
• Rule 1.200(b) distinguishes streamlined cases by the listed factual, discovery, legal, motion and documentary characteristics and an anticipated trial of no more than three days. General cases are the remaining cases, while complex cases require the actual Rule 1.201 designation. Monetary value alone does not establish assignment.
• Under Rule 1.200(c), a party files a track-change motion promptly after good cause appears. The court may also change assignment on its own motion. An entered change, not a party’s preferred label, determines the governing track.
• Preserve the actual court or administrative assignment order, commencement record and any motion or order changing the track. If a party seeks a change, Rule 1.200(c)(1) requires a motion promptly after good cause appears. Complete the applicable motion procedure rather than treating the court’s assignment interval as the party’s filing allowance. Rule 1.080(b) incorporates Rule 2.525 filing. Attorneys ordinarily file through the portal or designated electronic facility. An eligible unrepresented party may elect electronic filing; prescribed paper exceptions remain. Preserve the successful filing timestamp under Rule 2.525(e). Rule 2.514(a)(4) ordinarily sets 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern Time for electronic filing or service by any means, and scheduled clerk closing for nonelectronic filing. Complete filing and required service as separate acts. A computed date does not establish successful submission, valid original process or sufficient pleading.