When must a Florida civil party serve initial discovery disclosures?

Obtain the commencement record and establish that this action falls within the current automatic disclosure regime.

Identify the applicable complaint-service event or actual joinder of the disclosing party. Filing the complaint or serving a discovery request is a different event.

Check the Rule 1.200(a) exemptions and every order prescribing different disclosure requirements or time.

1. Obtain the commencement record and establish that this action falls within the current automatic disclosure regime.
2. Rule 1.090(a) incorporates Rule 2.514(a). Exclude the established event. For seven days or longer, begin with the next day that is not Saturday, Sunday or a legal holiday. Count intermediate calendar days. For fewer than seven days, omit intermediate Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays. Do not treat a seven-day period as seven business days.
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.

Fictitious example

Fictitious facts. A covered action commenced after January 1, 2025. The party’s applicable complaint-service event is established, with no exemption or different disclosure order. The actual triggering event occurs August 2, 2027. No mail-only addition, further clerk holiday or different actual order applies.

Fictitious facts. Establish the stated procedure and actual event separately. No mail-only addition, further clerk holiday, tolling motion, chief-justice extension or different actual court order is assumed.

Actions commenced before January 1, 2025 are not automatically covered

SC2023-0962, corrected January 23, 2025, expressly excludes actions commenced before January 1, 2025 from the Rule 1.280(a) initial-disclosure requirements. A current compilation date or later complaint service does not erase that commencement boundary. Read any actual court order separately.

Exempt proceedings require their own classification

Rule 1.280(a)(2) incorporates the actions and claims listed in Rule 1.200(a), unless the court orders otherwise. Those include specified summary proceedings, small claims, probate and guardianship proceedings, administrative review and the other listed categories. Check the full list rather than assuming every Florida lawsuit is covered.

The court may set a different time

Rule 1.280(a)(3) preserves a different court-ordered disclosure time. Read the actual order and its triggering event before using the default sixty days. A party’s request does not establish that an order has changed the date.

The disclosures have specified contents and protections

Rule 1.280(a)(1) addresses individuals with relevant discoverable information, identified documents and other material, damages information and insurance agreements, subject to privilege and protection. Noneconomic damages require the identified categories and supporting documents rather than a computation. Preserve the actual information and required descriptions, not merely a cover letter.

Reasonably available information and supplementation matter

Rule 1.280(a)(4) uses reasonably available information. An unfinished investigation, another party’s deficient disclosures or the absence of another party’s disclosures does not excuse compliance. An objection to part does not excuse disclosure of the remainder. Rule 1.280(g) separately requires timely correction or supplementation when its conditions arise, or as ordered.

Seeking discovery requires the current sequencing rule

Current Rule 1.280(f)(1), amended effective June 19, 2025, requires this party’s initial disclosures to be served on the other party before seeking discovery from any source, except as authorized by stipulation or court order. It does not require waiting for every other party to complete satisfactory disclosures. Incomplete disclosures remain subject to Rule 1.380(d).

Nondisclosure can restrict later use of evidence

Rule 1.380(d) ordinarily prevents use of undisclosed information or an unidentified witness to supply evidence on a motion, at a hearing or at trial, unless the failure was substantially justified or harmless. Additional or alternative sanctions require the stated court procedure. The sixty-day computation does not establish compliance or a sanction determination.

The January 1, 2027 signing amendment has a separate effective date

The current Rule 1.280(k) already imposes no duty to act on unsigned discovery material until it is signed. SC2025-1053, issued October 1, 2026, takes effect January 1, 2027 at 12:01 a.m. It adds mandatory striking unless the signature is promptly supplied after the omission is brought to the attorney’s or party’s attention. The sixty-day disclosure period is unchanged. Preserve properly signed disclosures and check the operative signing procedure.

Signing and filing are separate from this service date

Rule 1.280(k) requires the prescribed signature, contact information and certification. Rule 1.280(h) controls filing discovery information. An electronic filing receipt does not by itself prove that complete signed disclosures were served on every required recipient.

• 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.

• Obtain the commencement record and establish that this action falls within the current automatic disclosure regime.
• Identify the applicable complaint-service event or actual joinder of the disclosing party. Filing the complaint or serving a discovery request is a different event.
• Check the Rule 1.200(a) exemptions and every order prescribing different disclosure requirements or time.
• SC2023-0962, corrected January 23, 2025, expressly excludes actions commenced before January 1, 2025 from the Rule 1.280(a) initial-disclosure requirements. A current compilation date or later complaint service does not erase that commencement boundary. Read any actual court order separately.
• Rule 1.280(a)(2) incorporates the actions and claims listed in Rule 1.200(a), unless the court orders otherwise. Those include specified summary proceedings, small claims, probate and guardianship proceedings, administrative review and the other listed categories. Check the full list rather than assuming every Florida lawsuit is covered.
• Rule 1.280(a)(3) preserves a different court-ordered disclosure time. Read the actual order and its triggering event before using the default sixty days. A party’s request does not establish that an order has changed the date.
• Rule 1.280(a)(1) addresses individuals with relevant discoverable information, identified documents and other material, damages information and insurance agreements, subject to privilege and protection. Noneconomic damages require the identified categories and supporting documents rather than a computation. Preserve the actual information and required descriptions, not merely a cover letter.
• Rule 1.280(a)(4) uses reasonably available information. An unfinished investigation, another party’s deficient disclosures or the absence of another party’s disclosures does not excuse compliance. An objection to part does not excuse disclosure of the remainder. Rule 1.280(g) separately requires timely correction or supplementation when its conditions arise, or as ordered.
• Current Rule 1.280(f)(1), amended effective June 19, 2025, requires this party’s initial disclosures to be served on the other party before seeking discovery from any source, except as authorized by stipulation or court order. It does not require waiting for every other party to complete satisfactory disclosures. Incomplete disclosures remain subject to Rule 1.380(d).
• Rule 1.380(d) ordinarily prevents use of undisclosed information or an unidentified witness to supply evidence on a motion, at a hearing or at trial, unless the failure was substantially justified or harmless. Additional or alternative sanctions require the stated court procedure. The sixty-day computation does not establish compliance or a sanction determination.
• The current Rule 1.280(k) already imposes no duty to act on unsigned discovery material until it is signed. SC2025-1053, issued October 1, 2026, takes effect January 1, 2027 at 12:01 a.m. It adds mandatory striking unless the signature is promptly supplied after the omission is brought to the attorney’s or party’s attention. The sixty-day disclosure period is unchanged. Preserve properly signed disclosures and check the operative signing procedure.
• Rule 1.280(k) requires the prescribed signature, contact information and certification. Rule 1.280(h) controls filing discovery information. An electronic filing receipt does not by itself prove that complete signed disclosures were served on every required recipient.
• Serve the required signed disclosures on the other parties and preserve their contents and service evidence. Rule 1.280(k) requires the attorney or unrepresented party’s signature and contact information, with the prescribed certification after reasonable inquiry. Rule 1.280(h) does not ordinarily permit filing discovery information without good cause established by another rule or court order. Service of the disclosures and court filing are different acts. Rule 1.080(a) applies Rule 2.516 to pleadings after the initial pleading and other prescribed documents. Establish each required recipient and service method. Email service is complete when sent. Portal service is complete on filing for listed recipients, subject to promptly serving a recipient known not to have received the document. Permitted mail service is complete on mailing and delivery on delivery. Rule 2.514(b) adds five days after the otherwise computed expiration only when the act is measured after service and service was made only by mail. Email or portal service does not automatically add five days. Original process, actual receipt and court-order filing are distinct events. The service-based calculator examples exclude mail-only service.