After receiving dozens of comments and holding oral arguments, the Supreme Court has modified its December amendment of Florida’s summary judgment rule, largely picking up the text of the federal summary judgment rule.

The April 29 ruling reiterated the court’s desire to move the state toward the federal rule, and justices wrote that, “We are persuaded that the best way for Florida to adopt the federal summary judgment standard is to adopt the text of the federal summary judgment rule itself.

“Accordingly, with some exceptions for timing-related issues, the amendments we adopt today will largely replace the text of existing [Florida] Rule [of Civil Procedure] 1.510 with the text of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56. The effective date of these amendments remains May 1, 2021.”