Hollywood, FL asked in Civil Litigation for Florida

Q: When a motion to dismiss is submitted how many days does the Plaintiff have to respond? Thank you.

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1 Lawyer Answer
Charles M.  Baron
Charles M. Baron
Answered
  • Hollywood, FL
  • Licensed in Florida

A: That depends on whether you are in State or Federal Court. In State (Circuit or County), motions to dismiss are set for hearing, and the plaintiff has the option of filing a response at any time and arguing at the hearing, or instead just argue at the hearing. In Federal, the Local Rules for the Southern District of Fla. require a written response within 14 days.

The fact that you are asking this question indicates that you are not fully prepared to represent yourself (if that is what you're doing). To represent yourself and not get bounced out simply due to procedural inadequacies, you must read the applicable rules of civil procedure for your court in their entirety and understand them as well. Without doing that, you not only risk getting bounced out, you also risk getting hit with a money judgment against you, at least for the other side's court costs and possibly also for their attorney's fees. You might consider consulting an attorney to, at a minimum, go over all of the procedural hoops you must go through to get to the finish line.

Bruce Alexander Minnick and Terrence H Thorgaard agree with this answer

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