The Florida Senate

¹45.075  Expedited trials.--Upon the joint stipulation of the parties to any civil case, the court may conduct an expedited trial as provided in this section. Where two or more plaintiffs or defendants have a unity of interest, such as a husband and wife, they shall be considered one party for the purpose of this section. Unless otherwise ordered by the court or agreed to by the parties with approval of the court, an expedited trial shall be conducted as follows:

(1)  All discovery shall be completed within 60 days after the court enters an order adopting the joint expedited trial stipulation.

(2)  All interrogatories and requests for production must be served within 10 days after the court enters the order adopting the joint expedited trial stipulation, and all responses must be served within 20 days after receipt.

(3)  The court shall determine the number of depositions required.

(4)  The case may be tried to a jury.

(5)  The case may be tried within 30 days after the 60-day discovery cutoff, if such schedule would not impose an undue burden on the court calendar.

(6)  The trial must be limited to 1 day.

(7)  The jury selection must be limited to 1 hour.

(8)  The plaintiff will have no more than 3 hours to present its case, including the opening, all testimony and evidence, and the closing.

(9)  The defendant will have no more than 3 hours to present its case, including the opening, all testimony and evidence, and the closing.

(10)  The jury may be given "plain language" jury instructions at the beginning of the trial as well as a "plain language" jury verdict form. The parties must agree to the jury instructions and verdict form.

(11)  The parties may introduce a verified written report of any expert and an affidavit of the expert's curriculum vitae instead of calling the expert to testify at trial.

(12)  At trial the parties may use excerpts from depositions, including video depositions, regardless of where the deponent lives or whether the deponent is available to testify.

(13)  Except as otherwise provided in this section, the Florida Evidence Code and the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure apply.

(14)  The court may refuse to grant continuances of the trial absent extraordinary circumstances.

History.--s. 6, ch. 99-225.

¹Note.--Section 34, ch. 99-225, provides that "[i]t is the intent of this act and the Legislature to accord the utmost comity and respect to the constitutional prerogatives of Florida's judiciary, and nothing in this act should be construed as any effort to impinge upon those prerogatives. To that end, should any court of competent jurisdiction enter a final judgment concluding or declaring that any provision of this act improperly encroaches upon the authority of the Florida Supreme Court to determine the rules of practice and procedure in Florida courts, the Legislature hereby declares its intent that any such provision be construed as a request for rule change pursuant to s. 2, Art. 5 of the State Constitution and not as a mandatory legislative directive."