As originally proposed in the joint report, rule 2.516 was intended to be both mandatory and uniform, such that e-mail service would be mandatory in all types of cases in Florida. The rules committees also urged the Court to make e-mail service mandatory as soon as practicable.
The Criminal Procedure Rules Committee (CPR Committee) and the Florida Public Defender Association (FPDA) have raised concerns about the move to mandatory e-mail service in criminal cases. The CPR Committee and the FPDA asserted that, until the Court adopts an electronic filing rule, lawyers in the offices of the state attorneys, public defenders, and regional counsel will be required to serve paper documents to the court and electronic copies of the same documents on opposing counsel. The commenters also maintained that the public defenders, state attorneys, and regional counsel have limited budgets which may not be able to support the costs required to immediately upgrade technology and train personnel in order to meet the new requirements.
In the supplemental report submitted to the Court, the workgroup (which included representatives from the both the CPR Committee and FPDA) further clarified this concern. The workgroup recommended that attorneys who practice in the criminal, traffic, and juvenile court systems should be permitted, but not required, to follow e-mail service procedures. It suggested that mandatory e-mail service for practitioners in the criminal, traffic, and juvenile divisions should be delayed until electronic filing is mandatory for this group. See Joint Supplemental Report at 15 (Mar. 6, 2012) (on file with the Court in Case Nos. SC10-2101 and SC11-399).
We accept the workgroup’s recommendation to delay mandatory e-mail service in the criminal, traffic, and juvenile divisions of the trial court until electronic filing is also mandatory in these divisions. Accordingly, the rule amendments that we adopt in this case will become effective July 1, 2012, at 12:01 a.m.; however, they will be implemented as set forth in this opinion.
First, e-mail service will be mandatory for attorneys practicing in the civil, probate, small claims, and family law divisions of the trial courts, as well as in all appellate cases, when the rule amendments take effect on July 1, 2012.
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First Blush:
(1) I guess foreclosure mill staff no longer need to forge the squiggles of dead attorneys, and can now just use the /s/ format. How convenient.
“Any document served by e-mail may be signed by the ‘/s/’ format, so long as the filed original is signed in accordance with the applicable rules of court.”
Which I guess means the orignal still needs ink signature. Which means the served copy and orignal can differ ?
(2) Mailing delay, reduced from 5 days to 3 days, but expanded to include email service. I just received an order rendered on the 11th, but not served by the JA until the 12th, that took three days to get to me from North Florida. I think this is an unwise reduction.
(3) Only certifications of cervices by ‘Attornys’ are considered prima facia evidence of service, not by any other person.
(4) Family Law – 12.040(d) “A party who files a pleading or other document of record pro se with the assistance of an attorney shall certify that the party has received assistance from an attorney in the preparation of the pleading or other document.” WAS THIS THERE BEFORE ? Why and to what end does this new rule exist?
(5) Family law rule “The court may also require that any proposed recommended order, order, or judgment that is prepared by a party be furnished to all parties no less than 24 hours before submission to the court of the recommended order, order, or judgment.” This should apply in ALL cases, not just family law.