Background
The Florida Bar’s Appellate Court Rules Committee proposed amendments to Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure 9.370, governing amicus curiae filings, and 9.900, containing appellate forms. The Florida Supreme Court published the proposals for public comment and received no comments.
The amendments address the word count for amicus briefs and add certificates of service to appellate forms. They also make related wording and formatting revisions throughout the affected rules and forms.
The Court’s Holding
The court adopted the Committee’s proposed amendments. Amended rule 9.370(b) clarifies that an amicus brief’s required statement identifying the amicus and describing its interest in the case counts toward the brief’s word limit.
Amended rule 9.900 adds a certificate of service to the affected appellate forms. For the notice of constitutional question in subdivision (m), the revised form includes a certificate specifically documenting service on the Florida attorney general when a party challenges a state statute or a provision of the Florida Constitution under rule 9.425.
The amendments take effect January 1, 2027, at 12:01 a.m. The court specified that filing a motion for rehearing will not alter that effective date.
Key Takeaways
- An amicus curiae’s identity-and-interest statement now expressly counts toward the word limit under rule 9.370(b).
- The affected standard appellate forms in rule 9.900 now include certificate-of-service sections.
- The constitutional-question form specifically requires documentation of service on the Florida attorney general.
Why It Matters
Florida appellate practitioners must account for the amicus identity-and-interest statement when calculating a brief’s length and must use forms containing the new service certifications beginning January 1, 2027.
The changes standardize proof of service across appellate forms and make service on the attorney general more explicit in appeals presenting constitutional challenges to Florida statutes or constitutional provisions.