Good news: The courts are now opening up again after the COVID-19 closures. Bad news: There remains a backlog of civil cases and the judges are scrambling to move them forward. Adding to the pressure, the chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court issued Administrative Order No. AOSC20-23 Amendment 12 (April 13, 2021), requiring that the chief judge in each circuit enter a new administrative order (AO) that establishes procedures to move civil cases faster.

In this AO, the court also reminded judges that they must strictly comply with Rules 2.545(a), (b), and (e) of the Florida Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration. The chief justice wrote that these rules “require judges to conclude litigation as soon as it is reasonably and justly possible to do so … [and] … to take charge of all cases at an early stage … [and] to apply a firm continuance policy allowing continuances only for good cause shown …“