Divisional Instructions
EXPARTE CALENDAR EFFECTIVE MARCH 6, 2012 EXPARTE CALENDAR WILL BE HELD ON TUESDAY AND THURSDAY AT 8:45 A.M. See A. O. 5.201-5/09
. Hearings are not scheduled with the Judge's office. However, a courtesy voice mail message cancelling a Exparte hearing will result in the paperwork being discarded. Exparte matters are allotted five minutes. Counsel shall bring to the hearing a proposed blank order granting/denying the motion, sufficient copies and sufficient stamped, self-addressed envelopes – one for each party. The hearings are done on a first come, first serve basis. The Judge does not keep a calendar for Exparte hearings, therefore, the judicial assistant cannot confirm if a hearing has "made the calendar". No testimony will be taken at Exparte Hearings. If you are going to cancel or reset a hearing already noticed, please contact opposing counsel or pro se litigant and the case manager at 355-3954 to advise her of the cancellation.
The court files are not automatically brought to the courtroom for Exparte. If it is believed that the file or any portion thereof will be needed for the hearing, please contact the case manager Jill Mitchell @ 561-355-3954 or clerk's office probate @ 355-4854 or guardianship @ 355-6707 at least 24 hours in advance of the UMC.
Pursuant to A.O. 5.201(3)-5/09 , all non-evidentiary/procedural motions scheduled for the UMC must contain a "good-faith" certification in either the motion or notice of hearing verifying that a good faith effort has been made to contact the opposing attorney or the opposing pro se party to discuss and make an effort to resolve by agreement the issues framed for hearing prior to filing the notice of hearing on any petition or motion. Failure to adhere to this requirement may result in the motion being stricken from the UMC and/or the imposition of sanctions.
APPEARANCE BY TELEPHONE is permitted. Contact www.tele-court.com or call 1-800-924-5680 to arrange the telephone hearing. You must arrange the telephone call with tele-court at least 24 hours in advance.
When seeking permission to appear by telephone make sure your request is in conformity with Fla.R.Jud.Admin. 2.530(c).
If you are the moving party (it is your motion) you must submit a proposed order for the Judge to enter at the hearing along with your Order Setting Hearing, courtesy copy of the motion and two complete sets of envelopes.
FAXING OF DOCUMENTS is by permission only for one time use for the purpose of notification of settlement of trial and/or special set hearings. It will only be limited to one sentence on attorney letterhead stating that the issue/ trial has been settled, the requested hearing time is no longer needed and settlement documents will be coming forthwith or set for hearing in the near future. NO SETTLEMENT DOCUMENTS OR PROPOSED ORDERS THAT ARE TO BE FILED WITH THE CLERK ARE TO BE FAXED. Contact the Judicial Assistant upon settlement of a matter and she will advise further.
EMAILING THE JUDGE OR JUDICIAL ASSISTANT is not permitted unless the Judge gives permission in advance. It is limited to the issue before the Judge and not for continued use.
RESPONSES TO REQUESTS FOR PRODUCTION shall be in conformance with Rule 1.350(b), Fla. R.Civ.P.. When producing documents, the producing party shall either produce them as they are kept in the normal course of business or shall identify them to correspond with the categories in the request. In addition, all documents produced shall be bate-stamped and designated by an identifying label (e.g. Pet./Resp., Plaintiff/Defendant etc.)
SPECIALLY SET HEARINGS: 15 minutes to 1 hour. Hearings that can be heard in 1 hour or less can be set by the Judicial Assistant. All motions must be filed and docketed with the clerk before a hearing can be set. When setting, several dates are given and the person setting the hearing must make sure opposing counsel or pro se litigant is available. The person setting the hearing must then call the Judicial Assistant back with the date they have selected. ALL SPECIALLY SET HEARINGS ARE SET BY COURT ORDER AND CANNOT BE CANCELLED EXCEPT BY FURTHER ORDER OF THE COURT unless the case or matter set for hearing has been settled. All other reasons for canceling or continuance must be presented to the Judge at the Ex-parte Uniform Motion Calendar. The Judicial Assistant cannot cancel or continue a specially set hearing. The Court will not consider "Agreed Orders" or "Stipulations" to continue the hearing. A sample Order Setting a Special Set Hearing is posted on this site. Please submit copies one for each party, original for the clerk and one for the Judge along with a courtesy copy of the motion and self-addressed stamp envelopes. Counsel or pro se litigant shall bring to the hearing a proposed order granting/denying the motion or petition with sufficient copies and sufficient stamped, self-addressed envelopes. See the Standing Orders posted below on Special Set Hearings regarding page limitations, deadlines and other pertinent information. See instructions for pre-marking all exhibits and form for Trial or hearing exhibits below.
SPECIALLY SET HEARINGS OVER SIXTY MINUTES are set by court order. The party requesting the hearing must file a Notice to Place Motion on Non-jury Trial Docket and send a courtesy copy of the notice, motion or petition to be set to the Judge’s chambers with sufficient stamped, self-addressed envelopes. If no envelopes are provided the Order will not be issued. Make sure the request includes the amount of time you will need for the hearing and the number of witnesses each side expects to call to testify. A blank order shall also be submitted. See instructions for pre-marking all exhibits and form for Trial or hearing exhibits posted below.
MEMORANDA OF LAW (the original and one copy) should be filed directly with the Judge’s office at least seven (7) business days prior to the hearing indicating the date and time of the hearing. The Clerk will not file memoranda in the court file without the permission of the Judge. The Motion and Memorandum are LIMITED TO TEN (10) PAGES total. Reply memorandums are LIMITED TO FIVE (5) PAGES and shall be submitted to the Judge's office at least three (3) business days prior to the hearing. Please indicate in a cover letter when the hearing is set, and DO NOT submit any motions or materials prior to the hearing date being set by court order. Memos submitted at the hearing or received after the hearing will not be considered nor filed.
EMERGENCY HEARINGS: You must file an appropriate motion with the Clerk's Office. The matter will immediately be brought up to the Judge for review and the Judicial Assistant will contact your office only if the motion is granted. A blank order must be submitted with the Motion and sufficient self addressed stamped envelopes for all attorneys or parties. If your office is simply trying to set an expedited hearing, please contact the Judicial Assistant and she may be able to accommodate your request without the necessity of filing a motion for emergency hearing. Please refer to Administrative Order 3.206-1/09.
The attorneys or litigants shall not abuse the filing of Emergency Motions. The matter will not be considered an emergency if merely mailed in the normal course. When filing an Emergency Motion make sure the opposing side is also in receipt of the motion with any attachments. A hearing will not be set unless the other attorney or pro se litigant has received the Motion in the same manner as it is delivered to the Judge. If it is not a true "emergency" sanctions may be imposed. [Use of the words "Urgent" or Expedited" may not be heard if it disguises an Emergency]
MOTIONS TO COMPEL DISCOVERY: In some instances a hearing is not necessary, the attorney must submit the motion and order for signature to the Judge. See Administrative Order 5.202-5/09 .
NOTICE TO SET CAUSE FOR TRIAL. All original notices to set cause for trial should be submitted to the Clerk's Office with a courtesy copy submitted to the Judge’s chambers along with sufficient stamped, self-addressed envelopes. If envelopes are not provided the Trial Order will not be issued. The Notice shall include the specific matters to be tried and an estimate of time needed for the trial. The number of witnesses for each side should be included in the notice.
ALL CONTINUANCES OF TRIAL require a hearing on Ex-parte Uniform Motion Calendar prior to the trial, even if "agreed" to by counsel or pro se litigant. The Court will not consider "Stipulation" or "Agreed Orders" to Continue Trial. Client consent must accompany the motion.
MOTIONS FOR NEW TRIAL, MOTIONS FOR RECUSAL, REHEARING, CLARIFICATION OR MOTIONS TO VACATE: The Attorney or pro se litigant shall file the original pleading with the Clerk and a courtesy copy shall be sent to the Judge's chambers. The Judge shall either deny or grant the motion or shall set the motion for a hearing. Local Rule No. 6. The attorney or pro se litigant shall send a proposed blank order granting/denying the motion, sufficient copies and sufficient stamped, self-addressed envelopes for each party. If the Motion for Rehearing is granted, the order will include a hearing date. See Local Rule 6.
PREPARATION OF TRIAL EXHIBITS AND SPECIAL SET HEARING EXHIBITS: All exhibits shall be premarked using the "Trial Exhibit Labels" posted on this website. The label is sized to fit Avery Labels 6874. All exhibit labels should have as much information filled in as much as possible. eg. case number, Petitioner, Respondent and date. The label should be afixed to the back of each exhibit or to the back of the last page if exhibit contains several pages. Tape should be used to adhere them to the back if not using the adhesive labels (no staples).
PREPARATION OF JUDGMENTS AND ORDERS: Orders and Judgments shall be in compliance with the Local Rule 3. The title of the order must include the title of the motion for which is being addressed. It is also required that some portion of text of the Order be included on signature page. PLEASE NOTE to include the page, case number and style of case in the upper left-hand corner for orders more than one page. Please include in West Palm Beach, Palm Beach County, FL. in the DONE AND ORDERED sentence. The Order will be sent back to the moving attorney or pro se litigant if the signature page of the order only includes the Judge’s signature line and is not in compliance with Administrative Order 5.204-5/09 or if the parties/attorneys complete names and addresses are not at the bottom of every order as required by Administrative Order 2.306. All orders shall be submitted within five (5) days after the hearing. Proposed Judgments shall be submitted on the first day of the final hearing with disk/cd or thumb drive (word format).
PROPOSED ORDERS shall be submitted with a form cover sheet (see posted), indicating the date of the hearing, along with sufficient copies and sufficient stamped, self-addressed envelopes for mailing to all parties. Pursuant to Administrative Order 2.306-9/08, all parties names and addresses must be included on all orders and/or judgments. All orders shall be submitted within five (5) days after the hearing. Failure to do so without permission of the Court may result in sanctions. If submitting an "Agreed Order", the title of the Order should state that it is "Agreed". If it is not agreed to, the cover letter or form cover sheet shall state why it is not agreed to by the other party.
HELPFUL HINTS FOR PRACTICE IN DIVISION IB
FOLLOW THE RULES OF PROCEDURE AND EVIDENCE
If you are submitting a proposed Order of Substitution of Counsel, please:
make sure the client's written consent has been filed and a copy submitted to the Judge's chambers. (Fla.R.Jud.Admin. 2.505(e)(2)(f))
If you wish to Withdraw as Counsel, please:
remember that all motions to withdraw as counsel must be set for a hearing, with notice to the client (Fla.RJud.Admin. 2.505(f)(i))
even if the other party or counsel agree, it still needs to be set for UMC. The Court needs to be made aware if there are any trials or specially set hearings pending and/or scheduled or if there is outstanding discovery with time limitations
make sure a blank order, with copies, and sufficient self addressed stamped envelopes are made available at the hearing (See above instructions regarding proposed orders)
have in the body of the order the name or contact representative, address (physical address) and telephone numbers for the client
also have in the body of the order a blank line for scheduling a status check in 30 days (not all are set for status check for the client to obtain counsel or return to the court and inform the court they intend to proceed pro se). All parties or thier counsel shall appear at that Status Check hearing.
