Page 107 - Akerman | 2016 Guide to Doing Business in Florida

CHAPTER 11. DISPUTE RESOLUTION

Dispute Resolution in Florida
Christopher S. Carver, Esq. | (305) 982-5572 | christopher.carver@akerman.com
James M. Miller, Esq. | (305) 982-5624 | james.miller@akerman.com
Gerald B. Cope, Esq. | (305) 982-5622 | gerald.cope@akerman.com

11.1 Federal Court System

The trial courts of the federal court system are the U.S. District Courts. There are 94 federal Districts in
the United States. Florida has three federal districts: the Northern District, the Middle District and the
Southern District. The judges of the United States District Courts and United States appellate courts are
appointed by the President of the United States, with the advice and consent of the Senate and hold
office during good behavior. Appeals from Florida’s District Courts are to the United States Court of
Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction. The types of cases they may hear are mandated by
both Article III of the U.S. Constitution and federal statute. Federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction over
cases arising in bankruptcy, patent and copyright, antitrust, postal matters, internal revenue, admiralty,
federal crimes, federal torts, and customs. To the extent federal courts have jurisdiction over other
matters, it is concurrent with that of the state courts. However, federal courts are not courts of “general
jurisdiction,” which are courts that can hear almost any case. As an example, state trial courts are courts
of general jurisdiction and have jurisdiction (within certain limits) of any matter arising under a state’s laws
and also matters outside the exclusive jurisdiction of federal courts.
There are generally two ways to gain access to the federal district courts where concurrent jurisdiction
exists. First is diversity jurisdiction, which involves disputes between “citizens of different states” with an
“amount in controversy” exceeding $75,000. To be brought in federal court under diversity jurisdiction,
there must be complete diversity, i.e., none of the plaintiffs may be a citizen of the same state as any of
the defendants and the dispute must involve an amount (somehow quantified) greater than $75,000.
The second primary basis is federal question jurisdiction, which is where a dispute presents an issue
arising under the Constitution, statutes, or treaties of the United States. If a plaintiff’s case does not fit
within one of the statutory bases for federal jurisdiction, there is no recourse to the federal courts.

The workings of the federal district courts for civil matters (separate from bankruptcy and criminal
matters) are governed by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, promulgated by the U.S. Supreme Court
and approved by the U.S. Congress. These are a uniform body of procedural rules applicable to every
federal district court in the U.S. Each federal district court also establishes its own rules applicable only
to the procedure in that district court, but those rules are in addition to the Federal Rules and may not
contravene them.

The procedural rules often set forth very specific guidelines for the handling of an action, and close
attention must be paid to them. A litigant in a suit in federal district court must be aware of that court’s
local rules as well as the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

Almost all appeals from Florida’s federal courts are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the
Eleventh Circuit, which also handles appeals from Georgia and Alabama’s federal courts. An exception
to this is patent decisions, which are handled by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and not by
the Eleventh Circuit. The vast majority of appeals are taken from final trial court judgments. Federal
appellate courts have very limited jurisdiction with respect to non-final orders, which jurisdiction includes

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