Amendments to jury instructions in civil cases.

The Supreme Court Committee on Standard Jury Instructions in Civil Cases submits these amendments to the following Florida Standard Jury Instructions in Civil Cases: Instructions 201.2 and 202.4. In response to amendments to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.431, this proposal addresses jurors' communications with the trial court and courtroom personnel. On February 15, the committee published a separate proposal to amend Instruction 201.2 to address jurors' use of electronic devices. The proposal on electronic devices was in response to recent amendments to Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.451. The committee anticipates submitting both proposals to amend Instruction 201.2to to the Florida Supreme Court after reviewing all comments. Interested parties have until April 14, to submit comments electronically or by mail to the Civil Committee at sjicivil@flcourts.org, or to the chair of the Civil Committee, Joseph Lang, Jr., Carlton Fields Jorden Burt, P. A., Corporate Center Three at International Plaza, 4221 West Boy Scout Boulevard, Tampa 33607, jlang@cfjblaw.com, and a copy to the Florida Bar liaison for the committee, Heather Telfer, The Florida Bar, 651 E. Jefferson Street, Tallahassee 32399-6523, htelfer@flabar.org.

201.2 INTRODUCTION OF PARTICIPANTS AND THEIR ROLES

Who are the people here and what do they do?

Judge/Court: I am the Judge. You may hear people occasionally refer to me as "The Court." That is the formal name for my role. My job is to maintain order and decide how to apply the rules of the law to the trial. I will also explain various rules to you that you will need to know in order to do your job as the jury. It is my job to remain neutral on the issues of this lawsuit.

Parties: A party who files a lawsuit is called the Plaintiff. A party that is sued is called the Defendant.

Attorneys: The attorneys have the job of representing their clients. That means they speak for their client here at the trial. They have taken oaths as attorneys to do their best and to follow the rules for their profession.

Plaintiff's Counsel: The attorney on this side of the courtroom, (introduce by name), represents (client name) and is the person who filed the lawsuit here at the courthouse. [His] [Her] job is to present [his] [her] client's side of things to you. [He] [She] and [his] [her] client will be referred to most of the time as "the plaintiff." (Attorney name), will you please introduce who is sitting at the table with you?

[Plaintiff without Counsel: (Introduce claimant by name), on this side of the...

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