to the county which he believes is proper, by filing a Motion to Transfer Venue, or he may seek to have
the case dismissed without prejudice. If/When the case is to be transferred, per an Order of the Court, the
party who initially filed, or the party ordered per Court Order, in the wrong county, will have to pay a new
filing fee to the county in which the case is being transferred.
Proper Parties
The Plaintiff must name the proper party as a Defendant. If the Defendant is an individual, the Plaintiff
should determine the person’s full legal name and any aliases prior to filing the lawsuit. If the
Defendant is a business, the Plaintiff must determine if the business is a corporation, a partnership or a sole
proprietorship. The Clerk’s Office does not research or supply this information to you. The corporate status
of any corporation legitimately doing business in the State of Florida can be determined by contacting the
Florida Secretary of State, Division of Corporations, in Tallahassee. To determine the status of a
business, as well as determining who the “Registered Agent” is, please visit www.sunbiz.org.
If the
business entity to be sued is a corporation, the corporation should be named as a Defendant, NOT its
officers. If the business entity is either a partnership or a sole proprietorship, the entity and the individuals
should be named as Defendants, e.g. John Smith, d/b/a Crazy John’s Car Repair.
Notice and Service of Process
After the Statement of Claim and Plaintiff’s Statement are filed, the Plaintiff must ensure that the Defendant
receives a copy of the Statement of Claim. The procedure for informing the Defendant of the pending
action is called Service of Process.
Service of Process may be perfected by delivery of the Statement of Claim and Plaintiff’s Statement to the
Defendant by a representative of the appropriate Sheriff’s Office or a Process Server. The Plaintiff may
also complete service of process upon a Florida Resident by certified mail. However, the Defendant or
someone authorized to receive mail at the Defendant’s residence or place of business must sign the receipt
for the mail. For corporate entities, the addressee should be the Registered Agent of the corporation, who
will be the person identified by the corporate status check with the Secretary of State as discussed in the
preceding paragraph. Either of the methods described above require the payment of an additional expense
by the Plaintiff.
Mediation and Pre-trial Conference
A Notice to Appear will be issued, attached to, and served
with, the Statement of Claim and Plaintiff's
Statement. If the defendant(s) are served, the case will be reffered to mediation first in an effort to aid the
parties in settling the case. The the Plaintiff does not appear at mediation, the case is subject to being
dismissed. If the Defendant does not appear and the Plaintiff is present, a Defeault Judgment may be
entered. If both parties are present and the mediation is not successful, the mediator will send the parties
back to the judge and to hold a pre-trial conference. During this pre-trial conference, the judge will then
narrow the factual issues to be resolved at trial and settle any legal issues which are subject to
determination. If the case is not settled at this conference, the court will set a date, time and place for the
trial. The Plaintiff and Defendant are not to bring witnesses to the mediation or pre-trial conference.