| IN RE: UNIFORM MOTION CALENDAR - EX PARTE MOTIONS TO COMPEL DISCOVERY, AND SPECIAL SET HEARINGS (EFFECTIVE BEGINNING 3/5/18) |
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE SEVENTHEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR BROWARD COUNTY FLORIDA LOCAL RULE NO. 10A |
UNIFORM MOTION CALENDAR
(2) any self-represented person.
3. All persons scheduling cases on motion calendar or special set hearings shall review the practices and procedures of the assigned judge at http://www.17th.flcourts.org. As a matter of courtesy to the court, the moving party shall bring to the uniform motion calendar hearing a hard copy of the motion(s), pleading(s), or underlying document(s) that is/are the subject of the hearing. Failure to comply with this requirement of Rule 10A may result in sanctions, including an award of attorney’s fees, or the suspension of online scheduling privileges.
4. To comply with the above good faith certification, every party scheduling a motion for a uniform motion calendar hearing shall execute the following certification in the body of the notice of hearing:
I hereby certify that5. Cancelling motion calendar hearings. The scheduling party shall utilize the Online Scheduling System to cancel any hearing. The filing of a notice of cancellation, without also cancelling using the Online Scheduling System, is insufficient to cancel a uniform motion calendar hearing. Only the scheduling party or the court may cancel a uniform motion calendar hearing. The cancelling party shall also generate an email advising all parties of the cancellation of the hearing. It is the responsibility of all parties to check their email regarding the cancellation of hearings. Cancelling pending uniform motion calendar hearings in this manner is a courtesy to other parties who may schedule their matter in the cancelled time slot.A) the movant has conferred or attempted to confer with all parties or self-represented parties who may be affected by the relief sought in the motion in a good faith effort to resolve the issues raised in the motion; and
B) the issues in the motion may be heard and resolved by the court within five (5) minutes.
6. Hearings requiring the presentation of evidence are NOT permitted on uniform motion calendar, unless permitted by the division judge. Additionally, multiple discovery matters, including lengthy or complex disputes regarding interrogatories or requests for production, that exceed the five (5) minute limitation on uniform motion calendar hearings, shall not be scheduled on uniform motion calendar, unless otherwise permitted by the assigned judge. However, motions to approve minor settlements in civil cases may be scheduled on uniform motion calendar. Any motion to withdraw from a case must evidence service on the client.
7. Ex parte matters, non-evidentiary motions, and uncontested proceedings for adoptions, paternity, or dissolution of marriage may be heard on uniform motion calendar, provided such matters can be heard and resolved by the court in five (5) minutes, as required by the certification in paragraph 4 above.
8. No more than a total of two (2) matters per case may be scheduled on any one uniform motion calendar day, unless otherwise approved by the division judge. Parties shall review each Judge’s practices and procedures for guidance. This information can be found at http://www.17th.flcourts.org.
9. Any party requesting relief shall bring to the uniform motion calendar hearing a prepared proposed order with sufficient copies for all parties. The party submitting the order(s) for entry by the court shall be responsible to serve such order(s) on all interested parties, as required by applicable rules of the Florida Rules of Judicial Administration.
10. Judges have limits on the number of cases that can be scheduled using the Online Scheduling System. If you are unable to schedule your matter on a specific date, it is likely because the docket is full and there are no additional time slots available. Please schedule on an alternate date.
11. Agreed Orders. All agreed orders shall be uploaded and transmitted to the court via the 17th Circuit Court agreed order portal. Information relating to uploading an agreed order can be found at . Agreed orders that are permitted to be uploaded, include:
(2) Local Rule 10A ex parte orders;
(3) orders which are the result of a ruling by the court in which the language is agreed to by all parties;
(4) final judgments approved by the court at a hearing;
(5) any order which a judge orders a party to submit via the online agreed order portal; and
(6) orders re-validating subpoenas for trial.
12. When a motion to compel alleges a complete failure to respond or object to discovery, and no request for extension has been filed, an ex parte order may be entered requiring compliance with the original discovery demand within ten (10) days of the execution of the order. The moving party must submit a proposed order via the 17th Judicial Circuit online agreed order portal indicating a complete failure to respond to the discovery citing non-compliance with Local Rule 10A. Any ex parte discovery order under this rule shall not contain language regarding attorney’s fees. Sanctions may be imposed if discovery is not completed within ten (10) days from the date the judge executes the ex parte order.
SPECIAL SET HEARINGS
2. Cancelling special set hearings. It shall be the responsibility of the scheduling party to utilize the Online Scheduling System to cancel any hearing set using the Online Scheduling System. The filing of a notice of cancellation, without also cancelling using the Online Scheduling System, is insufficient to cancel a special set hearing. The cancelling party shall also generate an email advising all parties and the court’s judicial assistant of the cancellation of the hearing. It is the responsibility of all parties to check their email regarding the cancellation of hearings. Any special set hearing that is scheduled by the court may only be cancelled when:
(2) there exists an emergency; or
(3) the court has approved the cancellation.
3. All special set hearings shall contain the following language in the body of the notice of hearing:
I hereby certify that I have made a good faith attempt to resolve this matter by having direct communication about the matter with all parties, prior to my noticing this motion for hearing.Direct communication means by oral or written communication, including by telephone, in person, email, or text messaging.
4. Prior to appearing before the court, the parties shall have direct communication regarding the issues raised in the pending motion, and all parties shall be prepared to certify at the hearing that they have made a good faith effort to resolve the issues, as required to be included in the notice of hearing by paragraph (3) above.
5. Failure to comply with the procedures designated in Local Rule 10A may result in a hearing being stricken from the docket, suspension of online scheduling privileges, an award of attorney’s fees, or such other sanction as may be permitted by Florida law or other rules of court.
MOTIONS FOR EMERGENCY RELIEF
| /s/ Jack Tuter | |
| Jack Tuter, Chief Judge |
