The Florida Supreme Court’s discretionary jurisdiction is the most commonly sought type of review, so it will be addressed first. This type of review proceeding pretty much always seeks review (a higher appeal) of an unfavorable decision of a District Court of Appeal. The party who seeks to invoke the jurisdiction of the Florida Supreme Court is called the petitioner and the person responding to the petition is the respondent. The procedures for seeking discretionary review in the Florida Supreme Court are set out in Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.120. Special attention should be given to the time requirements, especially the time for seeking review. If a party seeks review too late, the right to do so may be forever waived.
To start a proceeding to seek discretionary review, a party must generally file a document called a “notice to invoke jurisdiction,” which is similar to a notice of appeal. The notice to invoke jurisdiction must be filed:
(a) in the District Court of Appeal where the case is pending, and
(b) within 30 days of the date the order or decision sought to be reviewed was rendered by the District Court of Appeal.
Along with the notice to invoke jurisdiction, the party seeking review must also pay the filing fee required by law. In addition, the notice must contain the name of the lower tribunal (the court being appealed from), the name and designation of the parties on each side, and the case number of the lower tribunal. It must also contain the date that the order for which review is being sought was rendered, and the basis for invoking the jurisdiction of the Florida Supreme Court. The basis would be one of the grounds discussed above. An example form of a notice to invoke discretionary jurisdiction can be located in the form sections of Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.900(d).
The 30-day time limit for invoking the Florida Supreme Court’s jurisdiction is jurisdictional. That means that the “notice to invoke discretionary jurisdiction” must be filed no later than 30 days from the rendition of the order and filed in the court that issued the opinion. Failure to do so will bar the appeal to the Florida Supreme Court.
