If you coordinate compulsory medical examinations (CMEs) for Florida defense cases, you have already heard of Rule 1.360. But sometimes, especially when the docket is busy and a case is moving fast, it’s easy to get lost in the details. We’re here to break them down. 

At CaseLynx, we coordinate CMEs alongside Florida defense teams every day. Here is where the rule often gets missed in practice.

1. The request isn't specific enough

A CME request must include the time, place, manner, conditions, and scope of the examination, along with the name and qualifications of the examining physician. Florida courts have been explicit about this (in Maddox v. Bullard, a court order for a psychological examination was reversed on appeal specifically because it failed to set forth these elements; even though the exam happened, the order was still thrown out).

Three things worth confirming before the request goes out: that every required element is present; that the physician's qualifications actually align with the injury type being examined; and that the exam is set in the county where the case is being tried. Out-of-county exams require court approval or agreement of counsel. 

2. The request goes out too late

Circuit guidelines recommend submitting CME requests no later than 70 days before the pretrial date. That window exists for a reason: it accounts for the 30-day objection period, time for a hearing if one is needed, and the ability to reset the exam if something falls through. Late requests compress every deadline that follows, leaving no margin for error. 

3. The 30-day objection window and 20-day scheduling deadline aren't being tracked 

Once the CME request is served, plaintiff has 30 days to file an objection (assuming service of process occurred at least 15 days prior); on the scheduling side, both parties have 20 days from the request to agree on a mutually convenient exam date. If no agreement is reached, the court picks the date (note: specific timelines can vary by circuit and judges' standing orders).

Both windows run concurrently from the same starting point. If plaintiff objects and fails to immediately set it for hearing, that objection is deemed abandoned under circuit guidelines.

4. The report deadline gets treated as flexible

The examining physician must issue a detailed written report to all counsel no later than 14 business days after the examination. If the examiner fails or refuses to produce the report, the court may exclude their testimony at trial entirely.

This is an operational pressure point that sits squarely in CME coordination. The physician's availability to examine the plaintiff and their ability to produce a compliant, timely report are two different things. Both matter.

5. Deposition dates aren't provided at scheduling

At the time the exam is scheduled, the requesting party must provide opposing counsel with at least three dates when the examiner is available for deposition.

When this gets skipped, deposition scheduling becomes a separate negotiation that drags out post-report — often when the case is already under timeline pressure. By the time the report is out and counsel is ready to depose, the physician's availability will have changed. That's totally fine. 

Getting three confirmed dates from the physician upfront still costs nothing and eliminates an entirely predictable bottleneck.

6. Defense assumes they can get a second exam if needed

Generally, a party is limited to one examination per specialty. A second examination requires a showing of good cause and courts don't routinely grant them.

7. A plaintiff no-show isn't handled decisively

When a plaintiff fails to appear for a court-ordered CME, the consequences under Rule 1.380 are significant. Courts have a range of options available, including treating disputed facts as established against the non-compliant party (meaning the court accepts the defense's version of events without contest), prohibiting the plaintiff from supporting or opposing designated claims (losing the ability to argue certain parts of their case), striking pleadings (throwing out filed documents that form the basis of their case), or in the most serious cases, entering a default judgment (ruling in the defendant's favor outright). Attorney's fees caused by the failure are also on the table. 

The through line

None of these are obscure procedural traps. They're operational details with real consequences — excluded testimony, lost objections, wasted physician fees, and compressed timelines.

The procedural obligations belong to counsel, but CaseLynx handles the coordination layer underneath — physician selection, scheduling, location logistics, report timelines, and deposition date confirmations — so that the operational side never becomes the reason a deadline gets missed.

If your team is managing CME coordination in-house and any of this feels like a gap, we're worth a conversation.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.