Florida Supreme Court 2020 Yearly Caseload Statistics

The Florida Supreme Court released its caseload statistics for 2020.

Like all appeals courts, the Florida Supreme Court decides cases in two ways -- by order or by opinion. Orders and opinions are both written documents. Both require the judges of the court to meet to analyze and discuss the lawyers’ briefs and arguments, take a vote, and come to an agreement about the best decision. This is a process that sometimes requires many meetings until a majority of the court can resolve their differences and reach agreement.

The vast majority of cases are decided by orders, as Caseload Statistics from prior years show. Cases decided by opinion are elaborate written decisions issued by the Court that get the most public attention, even though they are only a fraction of the total cases decided each year.

Number of cases filed and decided 01/01/2020 to 12/31/2020

• Number of Cases Added = 1903
• Cases Decided by Opinion = 109
• Cases Decided by Order = 1,905
• Total Cases Decided = 2,014

The Florida Supreme Court hears death penalty cases, district court decisions declaring a state statute or provision of the state constitution invalid, bond validations, rules of court procedure, and statewide agency actions relating to public utilities. The court also has exclusive authority to regulate the admission and discipline of lawyers in Florida as well as the authority to discipline and remove judges. In addition, at its discretion, the court may review certain other categories of cases if discretionary review is sought by a party.

The breakdown of cases based on case type is available for review.