Bill of Discovery

The pure bill of discovery originated in equity as a mechanism for obtaining “the disclosure of facts within the defendant’s knowledge, or deeds or writings or other things in his custody, in aid of the prosecution or defense of an action pending or about to be commenced. . . .” First Nat’l Bank of Miami v. DadeBroward Co., 171 So. 510, 510-11 (Fla. 1937).

“[A]lthough a ‘pure bill of discovery remains part of our legal system, its use and usefulness diminished greatly when Florida relaxed its pleading requirements to authorize liberal discovery.’” Venezia Lakes Homeowners Ass’n v. Precious Homes at Twin Lakes Prop. Owners Ass’n, 34 So. 3d 755, 758 (Fla. 3d DCA 2010) (quoting Kirlin v. Green, 955 So. 2d 28, 29 (Fla. 3d DCA 2007)).

Under the current state of the law, the filing of a bill of discovery is justified only in “narrow and limited circumstances.” Venezia Lakes, 34 So. 3d at 756. Specifically, a bill of discovery may be used “[i]n the absence of an adequate legal remedy. . . ‘to identify potential defendants and theories of liability and to obtain information necessary for meeting a condition precedent to filing suit.’” Id. at 758 (quoting Mendez v. Cochran, 700 So. 2d 46, 47 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997)).

The facts in Adventist Health System/Sunbelt, Inc. v. Hegwood, 569 So. 2d 1295 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990) (en banc), illustrate one of the rare situations in which the filing of a bill of discovery is justified.

Vorbeck v. Betancourt, 38 Fla. L. Weekly D57a (Fla. 3d DCA Dec. 26, 2012)