Legal Services

All Notices of Appeal of Agency Final Orders or requests for administrative hearings should be sent to Agency Clerk Julie Jones at the following address:

Notices of appeal of agency final orders or requests for administrative hearings may also be filed electronically. The electronic filing of documents that must be served on the Agency Clerk can be effected by sending an electronic mail to the DFS Agency Clerk at email address: Julie.Jones@MyFloridaCFO.com. Notices and initial pleadings filed in this manner will substitute for paper or fax-filed documents and are sufficient for all record purposes. The filing date for a document filed in this manner is the date the DFS Agency Clerk receives the complete document. As with any other document filed at the Department, any document received after 5:00 p.m. EST will be deemed filed as of 8:00 a.m. the next business day. In any situation where duplicate filings are made both in paper and electronically, the version of the document received by the agency first will be used to determine the date of filing. Filings submitted electronically should not be filed in paper format. If a filing is made electronically and a subsequent paper version is received, the agency will not process the paper version. The electronic filing will constitute the official filing. If a paper filing is received in the agency and a subsequent electronic version of the filing is received, the electronic version will be rejected as unnecessarily filed and the paper version will constitute the official filing. The party who elects to file a document in this manner is responsible for any delay, disruption, or interruption of the electronic signals and accepts the risk that the document may not be properly filed as a result. The DFS Agency Clerk will confirm to the filing attorney the filing date and time, and the filing attorney is responsible for serving copies of the filed document on all other parties.

All notices of appeal of agency final orders or requests for administrative hearings that must be served on the Agency Clerk may be filed by facsimile transmission in lieu of filing the original. Such notices and requests filed in this manner will substitute for paper documents and are sufficient for all record purposes. The DFS Agency Clerk fax filing number is (850) 488-0697. A party who files a document by facsimile transmission represents that the original, signed document will be retained by that party for the duration of the proceeding and any subsequent appeal or subsequent proceedings in that case, and will be produced upon the request of other parties. A party who files a document by facsimile transmission is responsible for any delay, disruption, or interruption of the electronic signals and accepts the risk that the document may not be properly filed with the DFS Agency Clerk as a result. The filing date for a document filed by facsimile transmission is the date the DFS Agency Clerk receives the complete document. As with any other document filed at the Department, any document received by facsimile transmission after 5:00 p.m. EST will be deemed filed as of 8:00 a.m. the next business day.

Services of pleadings, discovery requests and such other documents that follow upon the filing of a notice of appeal or request for an administrative hearing are governed by applicable rules of civil procedure, appellate procedure, and administrative rules promulgated by the Division of Administrative Hearings.

The Agency Clerk is not permitted to provide legal advice, or respond to general questions of the law. Those representing themselves on appeal should review the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure and may find it helpful to consult the Pro Se (Unrepresented) Appellate Handbook published by The Florida Bar at http://www.flabarappellate.org