In Wilsonart, the Florida Supreme Court signaled its intent to adopt the federal summary judgment standard—a standard which will vastly improve the fairness and efficiency of Florida’s civil justice system.
In the underlying case, the plaintiff, a decedent’s estate, sued defendant Wilsonart alleging that the defendant’s truck driver caused the crash which killed the decedent. Wilsonart, however, successfully moved for summary judgment on the basis of clear video evidence taken by the truck’s dashboard camera which showed that Wilsonart’s driver was not at fault. In opposition, the estate produced eyewitness testimony that contradicted the video. On appeal, the Fifth District Court of Appeal said it was compelled by Florida’s current standard to reverse the grant of summary judgment to Wilsonart given the existence of the nonmovant’s “conflicting evidence.” The Florida Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.
At the Florida Supreme Court, the Florida Justice Reform Institute together with the Florida Trucking Association (“FTA”) wrote an amicus brief in which they argued that the Court should adopt the federal summary judgment standard which does not authorize a trial court to ignore clear, objective evidence in evaluating summary judgment. The Florida Supreme Court agreed with the Institute and the FTA, holding that Florida should adopt the federal summary judgment standard. The Court, however, elected to make that change through a prospective rule amendment taking effect on May 1, 2021. See In re Amends. to Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.510, No. SC20-1490 (Fla. Dec. 31, 2020).
FJRI represented by William W. Large and Edward G. Guedes and Eric S. Kay of Weiss Serota Helfman Cole & Bierman, P.L.