Summary Judgment Deadlines Mean What they Say

In Beaches MRI, a/a/o Eileen Thibodeaux v. Safeco Insurance Company of Illinois, No. 4D2023-0800 (Fla. 4th DCA June 5, 2024), Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed a summary judgment because the motion and its supporting evidence were served days, not weeks, before the hearing. The lesson is simple: summary judgment deadlines mean what they say, and “no harm, no foul” is not an exception.

Facts

Beaches MRI, a medical provider suing as assignee of Safeco’s insured, Eileen Thibodeaux, brought a county court action against Safeco Insurance Company of Illinois in Broward County. Safeco moved for summary judgment. Its motion was filed and served on February 15, 2023, just seven days before the February 22, 2023 hearing. Its affidavits and supporting evidence were filed on February 21, 2023, one day before the hearing.

At the hearing, Safeco’s counsel told the court the firm had tried to file the motion earlier and asked the court to waive the timing requirement. The trial court accepted counsel’s representation, went forward, and granted summary judgment for Safeco. Nothing in the record supported the claimed earlier filing other than counsel’s statement. Beaches MRI appealed.

Issues

The appeal presented two questions about summary judgment deadlines under the 2021 version of Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.510:

1. Can a trial court hear and grant a summary judgment motion when the motion and supporting evidence were not served at least 40 days before the hearing?
2. Does the non-moving party’s apparent lack of prejudice excuse the movant’s failure to comply?

Holding

No on both counts. The Fourth District held that the summary judgment deadlines in Rule 1.510 must be followed in all but extraordinary circumstances, and Safeco showed none. Prejudice, or the lack of it, is irrelevant to whether the rule’s timing requirements were met. The court reversed, without prejudice to Safeco refiling its motion in compliance with Rule 1.510.

Rationale

Reviewing de novo, the court started with the rule’s text. At the time, Rule 1.510(b) provided that “[t]he movant must serve the motion for summary judgment at least 40 days before the time fixed for the hearing.” Safeco missed that mark by more than a month, and its evidence arrived the day before the hearing.

Florida courts have long required strict adherence to procedural time limits, relaxing them only in extraordinary circumstances. Coastal Caribbean Corp. v. Rawlings, 361 So. 2d 719 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978); Cook v. Navy Point, Inc., 88 So. 2d 532 (Fla. 1956). Safeco’s only showing was its lawyer’s unsworn statement about an earlier filing attempt, and argument of counsel is not evidence. Kunsman v. Wall, 125 So. 3d 868 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013).

Safeco’s no-prejudice argument fared no better. Relying on State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Advanced X-Ray Analysis, Inc., 368 So. 3d 1049 (Fla. 3d DCA 2023), the court explained that the rules of civil procedure are not advisory. Their time limits exist to prevent gamesmanship, unfair surprise, and prejudice, so a party that ignores summary judgment deadlines cannot defend the violation by pointing out that its opponent managed to get ready anyway. Because the defect was procedural rather than a ruling on the merits, the reversal left Safeco free to refile.

Update: Summary Judgment Deadlines After the 2025 Amendments

Rule 1.510 has changed since Beaches MRI was decided. Effective January 1, 2025, the Florida Supreme Court amended the rule’s timing provisions:

• The motion must be filed and served in accordance with any court-ordered deadlines, typically those in the case management order.
• The response is due no later than 40 days after service of the motion, measured from service rather than from the hearing date.
• Any hearing must be set at least 10 days after the response deadline, unless the parties stipulate or the court orders otherwise.

The 40-days-before-hearing rule applied in Beaches MRI is gone, but the principle is not. Today’s summary judgment deadlines are just as mandatory, and the court’s reasoning (strict compliance, with no “no prejudice” escape hatch) applies with full force.

Practice Points on Summary Judgment Deadlines

A few takeaways for anyone facing summary judgment deadlines in a Florida court:

• Calendar from service. Under the current rule, the response clock starts when the motion is served. Docket the 40-day response deadline and the earliest permissible hearing date the day the motion arrives.
• Check the case management order. The movant’s deadline now comes from the court’s order, and a motion served after that date is vulnerable on timing alone.
• Object on the record. If a motion or evidence arrives late, object at the hearing and ask the court to strike the late filing or continue the hearing. Preserve the issue for appeal.
• Don’t rely on “no prejudice.” Beaches MRI rejects the argument that a late filing is harmless because the other side was ready.
• Prove the excuse. If something truly extraordinary prevented timely service, support it with evidence, such as an affidavit or e-filing portal records, not just argument of counsel.

Read the Opinion

The case may be found here: Opinion, Fla. 4th DCA, Case No. 4D2023-0800 (PDF). The full appellate docket is available on the Fourth District Court of Appeal’s official case system: Case Docket, Fla. 4th DCA No. 4D2023-0800. For questions about summary judgment deadlines in a pending case, contact Cox Law, PLLC.

This article is for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.