Florida Senate - 2009                                    SB 1424
       
       
       
       By Senator Gaetz
       
       
       
       
       4-00962-09                                            20091424__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to summary judgment; encouraging the
    3         Supreme Court to adopt rules authorizing a party to
    4         appeal an order denying a motion for summary judgment;
    5         providing an effective date.
    6  
    7         WHEREAS, a motion for summary judgment is a request by a
    8  litigant to the court to enter judgment without a trial because
    9  there are no issues of material fact, and
   10         WHEREAS, summary judgment is a procedure that allows a
   11  litigant to resolve a claim if one party is entitled to prevail
   12  as a matter of law, and
   13         WHEREAS, the purpose of summary judgment is to protect
   14  litigants from having to bear trial costs when triable issues do
   15  not exist, and
   16         WHEREAS, summary judgment promotes efficiency in the
   17  allocation and use of limited judicial resources and thereby
   18  promotes public confidence in the state court system, and
   19         WHEREAS, Section 4 of Article V of the State Constitution
   20  vests with the Florida Supreme Court the power to provide by
   21  Rules of Court for the review of interlocutory orders such as
   22  the denial of a motion for summary judgment, and
   23         WHEREAS, under the Rules of Procedure, a defendant
   24  typically is not entitled to the immediate appeal of a denial of
   25  a motion for summary judgment, and
   26         WHEREAS, the Florida Supreme Court has declared that the
   27  Constitution does not authorize the Legislature to provide for
   28  interlocutory review and that a statute purporting to grant
   29  interlocutory appeals is solely a declaration of policy, and
   30         WHEREAS, the inability to appeal immediately the denial of
   31  a motion for summary judgment frustrates the beneficial
   32  objectives of summary judgment to the detriment of the public,
   33  and
   34         WHEREAS, summary judgment is a critical tool to facilitate
   35  expeditious and economical resolution of legal matters, and
   36         WHEREAS, a party should have the ability to appeal
   37  immediately a denial of a motion for summary judgment, NOW,
   38  THEREFORE,
   39  
   40  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   41         
   42         Section 1. The Legislature encourages the Florida Supreme
   43  Court, in consultation and cooperation with the Court Rules
   44  Committees of The Florida Bar, trial and appellate judges, and
   45  other practitioners, to adopt rules authorizing a party to
   46  appeal an order of a trial court in a civil action which denies
   47  a motion for summary judgment. The Legislature further
   48  encourages the Supreme Court to provide in the rules for:
   49         (1) The trial court to issue a written order explaining the
   50  basis of the denial of a motion for summary judgment;
   51         (2) The matter to be transmitted to the appellate court
   52  solely on the basis of the summary judgment motion;
   53         (3) The appellant to be allowed to submit a simplified
   54  brief to the appellate court in support of the granting of
   55  discretionary review; and
   56         (4) The case to continue in the trial court until
   57  discretionary review is granted, at which time the appellate
   58  court would temporarily assume jurisdiction until the appeal is
   59  resolved.
   60         Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.