When may a Florida party first move for summary judgment?

Identify commencement of the action and preserve the actual filing record.

Check whether an adverse party has actually served a summary judgment motion.

Read the case-management order, later directions and the motion-filing date that selects the applicable edition.

1. Identify commencement of the action and preserve the actual filing record.
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.

Rule 1.510(b) has alternative commencement and adverse-party motion-service branches. The twenty-day expiration belongs to commencement, while actual court deadlines govern filing and service. One isolated input cannot establish the earliest permitted filing date.

The motion filing date selects the 2025 procedure

SC2024-0662, issued December 5, 2024, makes amended Rule 1.510 govern motions filed on or after January 1, 2025. Motions filed before that date remain outside this amendment. The current response period runs from service, while the hearing minimum runs from the response deadline. Do not substitute historical hearing-based periods.

The adverse-motion alternative is separate from twenty-day commencement expiration

Rule 1.510(b) uses after expiration of twenty days from commencement or after service of an adverse party’s motion. It does not impose twenty days after that adverse motion is served. Preserve the actual alternative rather than adding the same period to both.

Court deadlines govern both filing and service

Rule 1.510(b) requires filing and service consistent with court-ordered deadlines. Rule 1.200 or 1.201 controls the applicable case-management procedure. Earliest eligibility cannot override an actual last filing or service date.

The supporting factual position accompanies motion filing

Rule 1.510(c)(5) requires service of the movant’s supporting factual position when the motion is filed. Paragraph (c)(1) addresses specific record materials, while (c)(4) supplies affidavit or declaration requirements. A filed motion alone does not establish compliant supporting evidence.

Motion form and conferral require separate compliance

Rule 1.100(b) requires the prescribed written grounds and requested relief except the stated hearing or trial procedure. Rule 1.202 separately addresses conferral and its certificate. Summary judgment, injunctive relief and Rule 1.530 motions are expressly exempt from conferral. The rule also excludes an unrepresented movant or nonmovant. Those exemptions do not dispense with valid motion form, filing or service.

• This page does not establish grounds for relief, an actual court hearing, a bond amount, fee entitlement or appeal preservation.
• Check the operative procedural edition, actual filing and service records, motions, court directions and additional closures.

• Identify commencement of the action and preserve the actual filing record.
• Check whether an adverse party has actually served a summary judgment motion.
• Read the case-management order, later directions and the motion-filing date that selects the applicable edition.
• SC2024-0662, issued December 5, 2024, makes amended Rule 1.510 govern motions filed on or after January 1, 2025. Motions filed before that date remain outside this amendment. The current response period runs from service, while the hearing minimum runs from the response deadline. Do not substitute historical hearing-based periods.
• Rule 1.510(b) uses after expiration of twenty days from commencement or after service of an adverse party’s motion. It does not impose twenty days after that adverse motion is served. Preserve the actual alternative rather than adding the same period to both.
• Rule 1.510(b) requires filing and service consistent with court-ordered deadlines. Rule 1.200 or 1.201 controls the applicable case-management procedure. Earliest eligibility cannot override an actual last filing or service date.
• Rule 1.510(c)(5) requires service of the movant’s supporting factual position when the motion is filed. Paragraph (c)(1) addresses specific record materials, while (c)(4) supplies affidavit or declaration requirements. A filed motion alone does not establish compliant supporting evidence.
• Rule 1.100(b) requires the prescribed written grounds and requested relief except the stated hearing or trial procedure. Rule 1.202 separately addresses conferral and its certificate. Summary judgment, injunctive relief and Rule 1.530 motions are expressly exempt from conferral. The rule also excludes an unrepresented movant or nonmovant. Those exemptions do not dispense with valid motion form, filing or service.
• File and serve the actual motion consistent with every governing court deadline. Rule 1.510(c)(5) requires serving the movant’s supporting factual position at the time of filing the motion. Preserve specific record materials, actual filing, service and the operative case-management order. Earliest eligibility does not establish the last permitted filing date.