Small Claims Court

Jurisdictional Limit and Pretrial Hearings
The jurisdictional limit in small claims matters remains $5,000, and litigants initiate an action by filing a concise statement of claim.16 A pretrial hearing must be held within 50 days of the filing of the lawsuit.17 The rules prescribe that certain matters must be considered during the pretrial conference, such as the simplification of issues, the necessity of amendments to pleadings, the possibility of admissions of fact and documents, the limitation of witnesses, the possibility of settlement, and other matters that the court may deem necessary.

Discovery
Represented parties are subject to discovery, and unrepresented parties are only subject to discovery upon leave of court. Additionally, the rules include a reference to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.380 to enable courts to issue and impose sanctions for failure to comply with discovery provisions.18 A court may dismiss a claim for failure to prosecute when there is no case activity for six months.19

Mediation
For the first time since the inception of the small claims process, mediation is now expressly referenced in the current version of the Florida Small Claims Rules. The current rule delineates that an attorney may appear on behalf of a party at mediation if the attorney has full authority to settle.20 Similarly, a nonlawyer representative may appear for a party at mediation if the representative has the party’s written authority to appear and has full authority to settle without further consultation. This year, the Florida Supreme Court changed this mediation provision to convey that mediation may occur at the pretrial hearing.21 The court also adopted a sanction provision providing that if whoever appears for a party at mediation does not have full settlement authority, the court may impose costs and attorneys fees incurred by the opposing party. These changes took effect October 1, 2008.

Trial
Trial must commence within 60 days of the pretrial conference.22 The rules provide for 10 days’ notice of the time of trial to be provided to the parties, and allow parties to stipulate to a longer timeframe for trial. As in other courts, a plaintiff is entitled to a default judgment if the defendant does not appear at trial.23 The court sets the trial date at the pretrial conference.24 Under the current framework, evidentiary rules remain relaxed, and parties may introduce testimony of witnesses at trial telephonically upon court approval rather than in person.25

History
In 1943, the Legislature first created small claims courts in populous counties with justices of the peace designated as judges of these courts.6 Thereafter, in 1951, the Legislature created more than 25 small claims courts with amount-in-controversy limits varying from $100 to $300. County judges, justices of the peace, or separate judges were given authority to preside over these courts.7 In 1961, the Legislature created a small claims court in each justice of the peace court in every county having a population between 350,000 and 385,000.8

Justice of the peace offices were eventually abolished, and small claims cases were heard in county courts. In 1967, the Florida Supreme Court adopted procedural rules governing small claims actions titled “Summary Claims Procedure Rules,” which applied to actions with amounts in controversy no more than $1,000.9 These rules were designed to “implement the simple, speedy and inexpensive trial of actions at law in courts of limited jurisdiction.”10 A revision of the Summary Claims Procedure Rules occurred in 1973, with the jurisdictional limit increasing to $1,500 and the incorporation of certain Florida Rules of Civil Procedure.11 After this revision, the jurisdictional limit for small claims cases continued to rise. Effective in 1985, the limit was raised to $2,500, from $1,500.12 In 1996, the Florida Supreme Court approved the recommendation to raise the jurisdictional limit to the current amount of $5,000.13

Source: REVIEW OF THE SMALL CLAIMS PROCESS IN FLORIDA