Florida initial disclosures under Rule 1.280(a): what to disclose, when, and what happens if you don't
By Lou Navarro · · 8 min read
In a Florida civil action commenced since January 1, 2025, the case starts with disclosure. Unless the action is exempt, each side tells the other who its witnesses are, what its documents are, how it computes its damages and what insurance may pay a judgment, before anyone serves a discovery request.
The duty lives in Rule 1.280(a) of the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, which the Florida Supreme Court rewrote in 2024 as part of its civil case management reforms. This article walks through what the rule requires, when, which actions it leaves out, and what follows from a disclosure that is late, thin or never corrected. It reads the rule as it stands in the October 1, 2026 edition of the rules. For how the disclosure duty fits with the case management schedule under Rule 1.200, see our article on Rules 1.280 and 1.200.
Which cases the disclosure duty reaches
The first question on any file is when the action was commenced. The Court made the amendments effective on New Year’s Day 2025 and drew one line for the disclosure duty alone:
“The amendments are effective January 1, 2025, at 12:01 a.m., and apply to all cases pending at that time, except that the requirements of rule 1.280(a) (Initial Discovery Disclosures) shall not apply to any action commenced before the effective date.”
So an action commenced in 2025 or later carries the duty; an older action does not, even though the rest of the amended rules apply to it. The second question is whether the action is one the rules exempt:
“Unless ordered by the court, actions and claims listed in rule 1.200(a) are exempt from initial discovery disclosure.”
Rule 1.200(a) lists eighteen kinds of actions and claims, among them small claims actions (with a narrow exception), the probate and guardianship proceedings it names, administrative review, eminent domain, habeas petitions, actions on foreign judgments, and cases in a special division that enters its own case management orders. Read the list itself before relying on it; the court can order disclosure in an exempt action anyway.
What Rule 1.280(a) requires you to disclose
“Except as exempted by subdivision (a)(2) or as ordered by the court, a party must, without awaiting a discovery request, provide to the other parties the following initial discovery disclosures unless privileged or protected from disclosure”
There are four categories. The first is people. The rule asks for more than a name:
“the name and, if known, the address, telephone number, and e-mail address of each individual likely to have discoverable information—along with the subjects of that information—that the disclosing party may use to support its claims or defenses, unless the use would be solely for impeachment”
The second is documents, electronically stored information and tangible things the party has and may use to support its claims or defenses. A copy will do, or a description by category and location; for material the party does not hold, a description by category and location. Impeachment-only material is carved out here too.
The third is damages: a computation for each category claimed, with the documents or other evidentiary material each computation rests on, including material on the nature and extent of injuries. Noneconomic damages get a narrower treatment:
“provided that a party is not required to provide computations as to noneconomic damages, but the party must identify categories of damages claimed and provide supporting documents”
The fourth is insurance: a copy of any policy or agreement under which an insurance business may be liable to pay all or part of a possible judgment, or to indemnify or reimburse payments made to satisfy one. Privileged and protected material stays out of all four categories; the rule says so in its opening sentence.
The deadline: 60 days
“A party must make the initial discovery disclosures required by this rule within 60 days after the service of the complaint or joinder, unless a different time is set by court order.”
The clock runs from service of the complaint or joinder, not from the answer, and the rule names one way to move it: a court order. If the court sets a different time, keep that order with the disclosures. The rule also says what a party must work from, and rules out in advance the usual reasons for waiting:
“A party must make its initial discovery disclosures based on the information then reasonably available to it.”
“A party is not excused from making its initial discovery disclosures because it has not fully investigated the case or because it challenges the sufficiency of another party’s initial discovery disclosures or because another party has not made its initial discovery disclosures.”
“A party who formally objects to providing certain information is not excused from making all other initial discovery disclosures required by this rule in a timely manner.”
Make the disclosures on what you know, on time, and correct them as you learn more.
Your discovery waits for your disclosures
Initial disclosures also open your own discovery. As amended in June 2025, the rule ties the start of a party’s discovery to service of its disclosures:
“A party may not seek discovery from any source before that party’s initial disclosures are served on the other party, except when authorized by stipulation or by court order.”
The June 2025 amendment replaced earlier language that spoke of disclosure obligations being satisfied. The Court explained that the change was meant to avoid delay, and it pointed disputes about the quality of disclosures elsewhere:
“Incomplete and inadequate initial discovery disclosures are addressed in Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.380(d)”
A party that has served its disclosures may seek discovery; a party that thinks the other side’s disclosures fall short takes that up under Rule 1.380(d).
An attorney signs, and certifies
“Every initial discovery disclosure under subdivision (a) of this rule and every discovery request, response, or objection made by a party represented by an attorney must be signed by at least 1 attorney of record”
The signature carries a certification, made to the best of the signer’s knowledge, information and belief formed after a reasonable inquiry, that the disclosure is
“with respect to a disclosure, it is complete and correct as of the time it is made”
No party has to act on an unsigned disclosure until it is signed. If a certification violates the rule without substantial justification, the court must impose an appropriate sanction on the signer, the party, or both.
The duty to supplement
A disclosure is not a one-time filing. Rule 1.280(g) keeps it current:
“A party who has made a disclosure under this rule or who has responded to an interrogatory, a request for production, or a request for admission must supplement or correct its disclosure or response”
“in a timely manner if the party learns that in some material respect the disclosure or response is incomplete or incorrect, and if the additional or corrective information has not otherwise been made known to the other parties during the discovery process or in writing”
The court may also order supplementation. Someone on the file has to own it: when a new witness turns up in a deposition, or a damages number changes, the disclosure is corrected then, not on the eve of trial.
What happens when a disclosure is missing
The Court built an enforcement mechanism into the same reform:
“We amend rule 1.380 to provide an enforcement mechanism for the initial discovery disclosure and supplemental discovery obligations that the Court added in rule 1.280.”
That mechanism is Rule 1.380(d), and its first sentence is the one to remember:
“If a party fails to provide information or identify a witness as required by rule 1.280(a) or (g), the party is not allowed to use that information or witness to supply evidence on a motion, at a hearing, or at a trial, unless the failure was substantially justified or is harmless.”
In addition to that sanction or instead of it, the court, on motion and after an opportunity to be heard, may order payment of the reasonable expenses the failure caused, including attorneys’ fees, may inform the jury of the failure, and may impose other appropriate sanctions. A witness left out of the disclosures in the second month of a case can be a witness you are not allowed to call when the case is tried.
A disclosure checklist for every Florida file
- You know when the action was commenced, and whether it is one of the actions Rule 1.200(a) lists.
- The 60-day date, counted from service of the complaint or joinder, is on the calendar, or the court's order setting a different time is in the file.
- The disclosures name each witness and subject, describe or attach the documents, compute each category of economic damages, and include any insurance agreement.
- An attorney of record signed them, after a reasonable inquiry.
- No discovery went out before your own disclosures were served, unless a stipulation or an order allowed it.
- Someone owns supplementation, and corrects a disclosure or response as soon as the case changes it.
Your circuit’s administrative orders and any order in your case control the details. Where this list and an order differ, follow the order. For the rest of a pretrial file, see the six areas of trial readiness.
Frequently asked questions
- When are initial disclosures due in Florida?
- Under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.280(a)(3), a party must make its initial discovery disclosures within 60 days after the service of the complaint or joinder, unless the court sets a different time by order.
- Do Florida's initial disclosure rules apply to cases filed before 2025?
- No. The Florida Supreme Court made the 2025 amendments effective January 1, 2025, and said the initial disclosure requirements of Rule 1.280(a) do not apply to any action commenced before that date.
- Which Florida cases are exempt from initial disclosures?
- Unless the court orders otherwise, the actions and claims listed in Rule 1.200(a) are exempt. The list includes, among others, small claims actions (with a narrow exception), eminent domain actions, administrative review, habeas petitions, actions to confirm or enforce foreign judgments, and cases in a special division of the court that enters its own case management orders.
- Can I serve discovery before serving my initial disclosures?
- Not without a stipulation or a court order. Rule 1.280(f)(1) says a party may not seek discovery from any source before its own initial disclosures are served on the other party.
Keep the dates where the team can see them
In Trial Commander, the disclosure date and every date that follows it can be entered on the matter’s deadline list, each with its own reminders. Florida matters get the Florida content described on our Florida page, and civil litigation is included in every seat (civil litigation in Trial Commander).
Want a quick look at a file first? The free Trial Readiness Self-Check asks 20 questions, including whether initial disclosures have been served where your court requires them. Nothing you enter is saved or sent.
Sources
Lou Navarro is a practicing Florida, Texas and D.C. trial lawyer and built Trial Commander. This article is general information for lawyers and their staff about Florida state-court practice. It is not legal advice. Check the current rules, your circuit’s administrative orders and the orders in your case before relying on it.