Record activity

Record activity is "any filing of record . . . without regard to a finding that the filing is intended to affirmatively move the case toward resolution on the merits." The concept of record activity comes from Rule 1.420(e), which provides that a case will be dismissed if there is no record activity within a 12 month window.

Rule 1.420(e) was amended in 2005, ultimately leading to a split between the First DCA and the Second and Third DCAs over the meaning of the amended rule. In Chemrock Corporation v. Tampa Electric Co., 23 So. 3d 759 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009), the First DCA argued that Rule 1.420(e) would be effectively rendered meaningless if any filing at all could satisfy the rule. Accordingly, the Chemrock court adopted the position that record activity had to constitute an "attempt to move the case toward conclusion on the merits." Meanwhile, in Pagan v. Facilicorp, Inc., 989 So. 2d 21 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008), and Edwards v. City of St. Petersburg, 961 So. 2d 1048 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007), and Padron v. Alonso, 970 So. 2d 399 (Fla. 3d DCA 2007), the Second and Third DCAs found that the plain meaning of Rule 1.420(e) required that record activity constitute any filing whatsoever.

The dispute was settled by the Florida Supreme Court in Chemrock v. Tampa Electric Co., Case No. SC09-2263 (Fla. June 30, 2011), which rejected the approach of the First DCA and determined that any filing of record was sufficient to constitute record activity.