The Federal Summary Judgment Standard Comes To Florida State Courts On May 1, 2021

Last year, the Florida Supreme Court signaled its intention to adopt the summary judgment standard articulated in the Celotex trilogy, by directing the parties in Wilsonart, LLC v. Lopez, SC19-1336, 2019 WL 5188546 (Fla. Oct. 15, 2019) to brief the issue in that case. After having the benefit of the briefings submitted by the parties and numerous amici in Wilsonart, today, in a decision amending the Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.510, the court adopted the summary judgment standard articulated by the United States Supreme Court in Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317 (1986); Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242 (1986); Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574 (1986).