Seventeenth Judicial Circuit of Florida, Broward County Filing Rules

The proposed order granting withdrawal must include the client's address, email address, and phone number in its body.

Notices of special set hearings must contain the Local Rule 10A good-faith conferral certification, and direct communication means oral communication (FaceTime, Zoom, or telephone).

Remote appearances require a properly filed motion set on UMC in advance; parties may not stipulate among themselves to appear via Zoom.

Proposed orders uploaded to the CMS Workbench must be accompanied by the motion and supporting documents uploaded under SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS.

If opposing counsel does not respond within two full business days, the hearing may be set unilaterally with the required notation on the Notice of Hearing.

All motions in domestic violence cases must be scheduled through the Judicial Assistant.

Chambers office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., closed for lunch from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.

For disputed proposed orders, the drafting party must email the Judicial Assistant copying all parties with 'DISPUTED PROPOSED ORDER' in the subject line and a cover letter detailing the disputed provisions.

For DV cases, the Judicial Assistant must be notified by phone or email of the need for an interpreter at least seven days before the hearing.

Pro se voluntary dismissal notices are forwarded to chambers by the Clerk.

Proposed orders from domestic violence hearings must be submitted within seven days of the hearing.

Proposed orders after special set hearings must be uploaded to the CMS Workbench within 10 days of the hearing.

Motions for summary judgment must be filed 90 days before Calendar Call.

After a UMC hearing, the proposed order (run by the opposing party) must be uploaded to the CMS Workbench within 48 hours.

All pretrial motions must be filed and heard no later than 7 days before trial, and the moving attorney must promptly file, serve, and obtain a hearing time.

Motions for rehearing/reconsideration must be e-filed and accepted by the Clerk's Office within the time prescribed by Rules, Statute, or Law.

Motions must be scheduled on CMS with the motion and all related papers uploaded as Supporting Documents, or the hearing may be cancelled.

Self-represented parties must file all requests with the Clerk of Court and deliver or email them to chambers.

Ex parte orders on motions to compel discovery may be submitted via the CMS portal only if the motion is uploaded under supporting documents.

Motions for rehearing/reconsideration must be e-filed and accepted by the Clerk within the time prescribed by rule, statute, or law.

Pleadings for the Judge's review must be provided via CMS portal, email, or chambers delivery before the hearing; courtesy copies are also accepted at the hearing.

Hearing materials over fifteen pages must be delivered to the Court in hard copy at least three business days before the hearing, and emailed materials will not be accepted.

The party requesting relief on an ex-parte or non-evidentiary motion must provide sufficient copies of the prepared order with self-addressed stamped envelopes for all parties.

Courtesy copies and Agreed Orders may be provided to the Court only after the motion has been e-filed and appears on the Clerk of Court's system.

After e-filing a Motion for New Trial, a courtesy copy must be emailed to div49@17th.flcourts.org with all parties cc'ed.

Motions to continue a scheduled trial must be set on UMC at least five business days before trial and include the client's consent, absent exigent circumstances.

Parties cannot unilaterally cancel emergency hearings set by the Court.

Trial continuances will only be considered for good cause on written motion prior to trial, with party consent per Rule 12.460 and Rule 2.545(e).

UMC hearings must be canceled through CMS by the attorney/party who set them; filing a notice of cancellation alone does not cancel the hearing.

Special-set hearings may only be canceled by immediately emailing the Judicial Assistant with the reason and obtaining court approval.

A copy of the notice of change of plea must be sent by email to the opposing party.

Documents sent to the Court must state they were mailed or emailed to the opposing side or they will be returned as unauthorized ex parte communications.

Once a hearing date is confirmed, the moving party must complete a Notice of Hearing, file it with the Clerk's office, and provide it to the non-moving party.

The moving party must serve the non-moving party and email the Division/Judicial Assistant a copy of the notice of hearing; the Judicial Assistant will not confirm the non-moving party received notice.

All motions must be filed and served on the appropriate parties pursuant to the applicable rules.

Court-set pretrial conferences must be attended by the parties or counsel; failure to attend results in sanctions.

Hearings over five minutes or requiring evidence must be Special Set; motions to vacate GM/HO R&R are limited to 30 minutes, temporary relief to 1 hour, and temporary relocation to 3 hours.

A law firm and its affiliated attorneys may not set more than three motions on a single day without advance court approval.

Attorney fee hearings will not be scheduled until the attorney fee scheduling order is complied with; a copy of the fee motion must be provided to Ms. Stitt so the Court can issue a scheduling order.

Motions subject to legal sufficiency review (e.g., suppress, dismiss, post-conviction) must be provided to the Court before a hearing is set, and the Court may rule on sufficiency before setting any hearing.

Pleadings must be printed single-sided (front page only); double-sided pleadings will be returned.

PDF submissions containing more than one item must be bookmarked.

Exhibits must be pre-marked with consecutive letters for identification; the Clerk will number them once admitted.

Physical evidence must be presented at hearings as hard copies or on a USB drive; displaying it on a phone, laptop, or tablet does not constitute entry of evidence.

Trial exhibits must be pre-marked using letter format (A, B, C...).

For cross-motions for summary judgment, the Court may order consolidated statements of material facts, and parties may jointly move for consolidated statements before filing.

Orders must be filed together with their appropriate motion on CMS or the Court will reject the order.

Add-ons, cross notices, exchanged motions, and amended notices are prohibited without written Court approval delivered by U.S. mail, overnight, or hand-delivery.

No more than two motions may be noticed for a single case on one motion calendar docket.

Correspondence and motions must not be transmitted together with the agreed order submission.

Motions are limited to 4 pages if set on motion calendar and 10 pages if set for special set hearing.

Motions set on motion calendar are limited to 4 pages and motions set for special set hearing are limited to 10 pages.

For special set hearings, the motion is limited to a maximum of 15 pages including footnotes and endnotes.

Motions uploaded to CMS for special set hearings are limited to 25 pages including footnotes and endnotes, due five business days before the hearing.

To file confidential pleadings, a party must schedule a UMC hearing, inform the judge which documents need confidentiality, and obtain an order notifying the clerk's office before filing.

In camera inspection documents must be emailed to div21@17th.flcourts.org and not uploaded to CMS, where the other side can see them.

Sensitive information in documents must be redacted per Rule 2.425, Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin.

To file confidential pleadings, a party must schedule a UMC hearing so the judge issues an order notifying the clerk, then file a 'Notice of Confidential Information within Court Filing' marked 'See Judge's Order on file' with the documentation in the Clerk's Office.

Exhibits containing confidential information such as bank account/routing numbers or social security numbers must be redacted (blacked out) before filing.

Family law forms are available in Room WW4-130 of the Clerk's Office for a fee.