Twentieth Judicial Circuit of Florida, Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hendry and Lee Counties Document Format Requirements

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026CRITICAL

Format

DOCX

Proposed orders must be submitted in Word format and provided to opposing counsel and any self-represented litigant.

All proposed orders must be submitted in Word format and provided to opposing counsel and any self-represented litigant.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026CRITICAL

On the first day of trial, each party must submit both a Microsoft Word electronic version and a typed copy of the proposed jury instructions and verdict forms.

On the first day of the trial, the attorney for each party shall submit to the Court both an electronic version in Microsoft Word and a typed copy of the proposed jury instructions and verdict form(s).

Checked and corrected to match the court's document on Oct 1, 2026CRITICAL

Format

DOCX

All proposed orders must be sent in Word format.

Please send all proposed orders in word form.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026CRITICAL

Format

DOCX

Proposed orders must be submitted only in Word format and may not contain the listed material after “Done and Ordered.”

All proposed orders must be submitted in Word format only. Do not include headnotes, footnotes, inserts such as text boxes or pictures, any reference to date, signature line, Judge’s name and Certificate of Service after “Done and Ordered”.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026CRITICAL

At docket sounding, counsel or parties must submit both an electronic Microsoft Word version and a printed copy of the jury instructions and verdict form.

Counsel/parties shall submit to the Court both an electronic version in Microsoft Word and a printed copy of the jury instructions and verdict form at docket sounding.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026CRITICAL

Composite exhibits must be satisfactorily marked and bound before presentation to the court.

All composite exhibits shall be satisfactorily marked and bound before presentation to the Court.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026CRITICAL

Format

DOCX

Counsel and parties must submit both a Microsoft Word electronic version and a printed copy of the jury instructions and verdict form at docket sounding.

Counsel/parties shall submit to the Court both an electronic version in Microsoft Word and a printed copy of the jury instructions and verdict form at docket sounding.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026CRITICAL

Civil cases

Format

DOCX

Proposed orders must be submitted in Word format only.

All proposed orders are to be submitted as “proposed orders” in the Florida Courts e-filing portal in word format only.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026CRITICAL

Pleadings submitted for Court review must be clipped together or spiral bound.

Please have your pleadings either clipped together or spiral bound for the Court’s review.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026CRITICAL

Format

DOCX

Proposed orders must use Word format, 12-point Times New Roman font.

Must be submitted in Word Format, font size 12, Times New Roman.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026CRITICAL

Civil cases

Memoranda or briefs submitted for consideration at a hearing must use 8.5-by-11-inch paper and comply with the lettering and spacing requirements of Rule 9.210(9)(2).

Memoranda or briefs to be considered by the Court for any hearing shall be limited to ten (10) pages in length on 8 1/2-by-11-inch paper, and shall also comply with the lettering and spacing requirements of Rule. 9.210(9)(2), Rules of Appellate Procedure.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026CRITICAL

On the first trial day, each party's attorney must submit proposed jury instructions and verdict forms both electronically in Microsoft Word and as typed copies.

On the first day of the trial, the attorney for each party shall submit to the Court both an electronic version in Microsoft Word and a typed copy of the proposed jury instructions and verdict form(s).

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026CRITICAL

All proposed orders must use word format and contain no special characters or spacing so they remain editable if necessary.

All proposed orders must be submitted in word format with no special characters or spacing so that the order can be edited if necessary.

Checked and corrected to match the court's document on Oct 1, 2026CRITICAL

Each document submission may not exceed 50 megabytes.

The maximum file size for documents filed with the Court is 50 megabytes for each submission.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026CRITICAL

A motion and its exhibits exceeding 50 megabytes must be separated into multiple documents, each under 50 megabytes.

If your motion plus exhibits exceeds 50 megabytes, you must separate the large document into multiple documents each under 50MB.

Checked and corrected to match the court's document on Oct 1, 2026CRITICAL

Format

PDF_A

Each exhibit must be saved as PDF/A, combined into one reduced-file PDF/A binder, and separately identified with PDF bookmarks; physical exhibits require placeholders, and optical character recognition is encouraged when possible.

Each separate exhibit must be saved as a PDF/A document and then combined with the other exhibits into a single PDF file. The single PDF file is the electronic exhibit binder. Within the single PDF file (electronic exhibit binder), counsel must identify each exhibit separately using PDF bookmarks. If an exhibit is physical evidence, counsel should insert a placeholder exhibit that states, "Exhibit [Number] is [description of exhibit]." When possible, counsel should scan an exhibit for the electronic exhibit binder with optical character recognition. The electronic exhibit binder must be saved in reduced-file format (PDF/A).

Checked and corrected to match the court's document on Oct 1, 2026CRITICAL

Counsel must pre-mark exhibits before any trial or hearing, using numbers for plaintiffs and letters for defendants, and include the case style, case number, and exhibit number or letter.

Before any trial or hearing, counsel for each party must pre-mark exhibits using numbers for Plaintiffs and letters for Defendants. Each exhibit must contain the case style, case number, and exhibit number/letter as shown below (Avery 5366 works well and is preferred):

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026CRITICAL

At docket sounding, counsel or parties must submit both a Microsoft Word electronic version and a printed copy of the jury instructions and verdict form.

Counsel/parties shall submit to the Court both an electronic version in Microsoft Word and a printed copy of the jury instructions and verdict form at docket sounding.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026CRITICAL

Civil cases

Format

DOCX

Electronically submitted proposed orders must use a recent version of Microsoft Word.

All electronically submitted proposed orders MUST be submitted to the Court utilizing recent versions of Microsoft Word.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026CRITICAL

Civil cases

Format

DOCX

Electronically submitted proposed orders must use a recent version of Microsoft Word.

All electronically submitted proposed orders MUST be submitted to the Court utilizing recent versions of Microsoft Word.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026CRITICAL

Civil cases

Format

DOCX

Proposed orders must use a .docx file from Microsoft Word 2003 or later; RTF, PDF, and other formats are unacceptable.

No other formats will be accepted. Recent versions of Word include all versions from 2003 to now with a “docx” file type. “RTF, PDF, etc” files are not acceptable.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026CRITICAL

Civil cases

The Report and Recommendations and the Orders on Report must be submitted as separate documents.

Report and Recommendations and Orders on Report must be two separate documents.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026CRITICAL

RTF files are unacceptable, and WordPerfect files must be converted to Word, with compatibility concerns arising from outdated WordPerfect software.

“RTF” files are not acceptable, and if your office uses WordPerfect, you can convert the WP files to Word files, but if your WP program has not been upgraded for many years, the version of Word that is produced may not be compatible with the judicial software that must process the proposed order.

Checked and corrected to match the court's document on Oct 1, 2026CRITICAL

Proposed orders must omit the date, judge signature line and judge’s name, and certificate of service from the document’s end, while retaining the phrase “Ordered and Adjudged.”

All proposed orders MUST be stripped of the following Modifications information at the bottom/end of document: -Any reference to the date (Please keep the language “Ordered and Adjudged.”) - Judge Signature Line and Judge’s Name - Certificate of Service

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026WARNING

For an in-person hearing, exhibits should be marked, exchanged, brought to the hearing, and accompanied by a table of contents.

For in-person hearing, Exhibits should be marked, exchanged and brought to the hearing to be handed to the Clerk of Court at the time of the hearing. A Table of Contents should be attached.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026WARNING

Exhibits must be pre-marked with party-specific exhibit numbers.

Pre-mark all exhibits using numbers for each party description, i.e. Plaintiff/Petitioner Exhibit #1, Defendant/Respondent Exhibit #2, etc.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026WARNING

An exhibit label should not be placed on the reverse side of a document.

Exhibit label should NOT be placed on the reverse side of documents.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026WARNING

Each Avery 5366 exhibit label should include the case style, case number, and exhibit number in the lower-right corner.

Each exhibit label (AVERY 5366) should contain the case style, case number and exhibit number as shown in the lower right side:

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026WARNING

Oversized exhibits may be used at trial, but if practicable they must be reduced to 8 1/2 by 11 inches, with the reduced copy retained by the clerk.

Exhibits to be introduced which are larger than 8 1/2 x 11" may be used at trial, but if practicable, same shall be reduced to 8 1/2 x 11", and the reduced size copy shall be the exhibit retained by the Clerk in the court file.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026WARNING

A party requesting written jury instructions must provide the court a clean copy without citations before the case is submitted to jurors.

Any party who intends to request that the Court provide a set of written jury instructions for the jury's consideration, pursuant to Rule 1.470(b), shall be responsible for providing a clean copy (i.e., without citations to authority) of the jury instructions and verdict form(s) to the Court for this purpose prior to the submission of the case to the jurors.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026WARNING

Plaintiff exhibits must be pre-marked with numbers and defendant exhibits with letters.

All exhibits shall be pre-marked using numbers for Plaintiff’s Exhibits and Letters for Defendant’s Exhibits.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026WARNING

Composite exhibits must be satisfactorily marked or bound before presentation to the court.

To avoid the loss and disintegration of component parts of pages, all composite exhibits shall be satisfactorily marked and/or bound before presentation to the Court.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026WARNING

A certificate of service must not be included in the body of the proposed order.

Do not include a certificate of service in the body of the order.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026WARNING

For a pro se party without an email address, the party’s name and address must appear at the bottom of the proposed order.

If there is a prose party that does not provide an email address, their name an address should be listed on the bottom of the order.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026WARNING

Format

PAPER

Hearing materials exceeding 50 pages must be submitted by U.S. mail or hand-delivered to the court as hard copies.

Hearing materials of more than 50 pages must be submitted by U.S. mail or hand-delivered in hard copy to the Court.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026WARNING

Oversized exhibits may be used at trial, but if practicable they must be reduced to 8½ by 11 inches, and the reduced copy must be retained by the clerk.

Exhibits to be introduced which are larger than 8 ½ x 11" may be used at trial, but if practicable, same shall be reduced to 8 ½ x 11", and the reduced size copy shall be the exhibit retained by the Clerk in the court file.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026WARNING

Composite exhibits must be marked and bound before presentation, and oversized exhibits should be reduced to 8 ½ x 11 inches when practicable, with the reduced copy retained in the court file.

All composite exhibits shall be satisfactorily marked and bound before presentation to the Court. Exhibits to be introduced which are larger than 8 ½ x 11" may be used at trial, but if practicable, same shall be reduced to 8 ½ x 11", and the reduced size copy shall be the exhibit retained by the Clerk in the court file.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026WARNING

All orders must use Times New Roman font at 12-point size.

All orders should be in font Times New Roman, font size 12.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026WARNING

Format

DOCX

The Agreed Case Management Plan must be submitted to the Civil Department in Word format.

Agreed Case Management Plan: Please submit your Agreed Case Management Plan to the Civil Department in Word Format.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026WARNING

Proposed orders may not contain headnotes, footnotes, text boxes, or pictures.

Do not include headnotes, footnotes or weird inserts like text boxes or pictures in your proposed orders.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026WARNING

Exhibits must be pre-marked with numbers for the plaintiff and letters for the defendant.

All exhibits shall be pre-marked using numbers for Plaintiff’s Exhibits and Letters for Defendant’s Exhibits.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026WARNING

Composite exhibits must be satisfactorily marked and/or bound before being presented to the court.

To avoid the loss and disintegration of component parts of pages, all composite exhibits shall be satisfactorily marked and/or bound before presentation to the Court.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026WARNING

Oversized exhibits larger than 8 1/2 by 11 inches may be used at trial, but should be reduced to that size when practicable; the clerk retains the reduced copy and returns the original to counsel after trial.

Exhibits to be introduced which are larger than 8 1/2 x 11" may be used at trial, but if practicable, same shall be reduced to 8 1/2 x 11", and the reduced size copy shall be the exhibit retained by the Clerk in the court file. The oversized exhibits, if reduced, shall be returned to counsel at the close of the trial.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026WARNING

Exhibit labels should be placed on the front bottom-right corner when possible without obscuring the document.

Each exhibit label must be placed on the front, bottom right corner of the document whenever possible and so long as none of the document is hidden behind the label.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026WARNING

Composite exhibits must be satisfactorily marked and bound before presentation to the court.

All composite exhibits shall be satisfactorily marked and bound before presentation to the Court.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026WARNING

Oversized exhibits may be used, but if practicable they must be reduced to 8½ by 11 inches, with the reduced copy retained by the clerk.

Exhibits to be introduced which are larger than 8 ½ x 11" may be used at trial, but if practicable, same shall be reduced to 8 ½ x 11", and the reduced size copy shall be the exhibit retained by the Clerk in the court file.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026WARNING

Jury instructions must be submitted as one agreed package in presentation order, with disputed instructions flagged for review and discussion.

Jury instructions shall be submitted in one agreed upon package in appropriate order of presentation, with any disputed instructions flagged for review and discussion.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026WARNING

Civil cases

Format

PDF

When requesting pretrial rulings on deposition designations and objections, the parties must email PDF transcripts to the court at the stated address.

If the parties request rulings on deposition designations and objections prior to the trial, send a PDF of the transcripts via e-mail to: RKIRSHYCIVIL@CA.CJIS20.ORG

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026WARNING

Civil cases

A Thursday Court Order emailed to the judge must use the prescribed subject-line format.

If emailing the Judge any Thursday Court Orders please send with the subject line as such: “Arr. Order – Smith 19-123D”.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026WARNING

Civil cases

Multiple Reports and Orders on Report may be emailed together, but each must be labeled with the corresponding case name and number and use consistent saved filenames.

You may send multiple Reports and Orders on Report in one email, but you must label each Report and Order on Report with the name and case number of that Report and Order on Report. Be consistent with the saved document names.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026WARNING

A cover letter must accompany a proposed order when it is e-filed.

Please attach a cover letter to the proposed Order when e filed.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 1, 2026WARNING

Civil cases

Format

DOCX

The order must be submitted in MS Word format to the family law chambers email address.

Send an order in MS Word.doc/docx format to cha- familylaw@ca.cjis20.org. Please follow the format procedures outlined in the Amended Family Order Submission Procedure. We can only process orders in MS word format!

Not confirmed. Read the court's wording below.CRITICAL?

Format

PAPER ?

Evidentiary Hearings set via Zoom: Please submit a hard copy of the evidence to the Judge at least 48-hours prior to the hearing. Please submit in a tabbed binder, with an Exhibit List Index.

Summary: For a Zoom evidentiary hearing, counsel must submit a hard copy of the evidence to the judge at least 48 hours before the hearing in a tabbed binder with an Exhibit List Index.

Not confirmed. Read the court's wording below.CRITICAL?

No. Please do not submit binders.

Summary: The Court does not accept binders.

Not confirmed. Read the court's wording below.CRITICAL?

Civil cases

Format

DOCX ?

Please forward proposed orders and judgments to the Judge’s Judicial Assistant AFTER the court proceeding, NOT before it. Please forward them through the e-portal in WORD format.

Summary: Proposed orders and judgments must be sent to the judge's judicial assistant after the court proceeding, through the e-portal, in WORD format.

Not confirmed. Read the court's wording below.CRITICAL?

You must answer every question, by typing or printing legibly in BLACK ink.

Summary: Answers to the final declaration must be typed or printed legibly in black ink.

Not confirmed. Read the court's wording below.CRITICAL?

Civil cases

Format

DOCX

No other formats will be accepted. Recent versions of Word include all versions from 2003 to now with a “docx” file type. “RTF, PDF, etc.” files are not acceptable.

Summary: Only DOCX files from Microsoft Word versions 2003 or later are accepted; RTF, PDF, and other formats are prohibited.

Not confirmed. Read the court's wording below.CRITICAL?

Civil cases

Format

DOCX ?

WordPerfect documents must be converted to Word files.

Summary: WordPerfect documents must be converted to Word files before submission.

Not confirmed. Read the court's wording below.CRITICAL?

Format

DOCX

Court utilizes recent versions of Microsoft Word. No other formats will be accepted at this time. “Recent versions of Word” include all versions from 2003 and later with a “docx” file type.

Summary: Electronically submitted proposed orders must be DOCX files created in Microsoft Word version 2003 or later.

Not confirmed. Read the court's wording below.CRITICAL?

E-mails sent must contain at a minimum the following language with subject line using the following format:

Summary: Proposed-order e-mails must use the specified case-number and case-name subject-line format.

Not confirmed. Read the court's wording below.WARNING?

Exhibits must be labeled in the following format:

Summary: Exhibits must use the prescribed party-specific label format.

Not confirmed. Read the court's wording below.WARNING?

Judge signature line and Judge’s name

Summary: The proposed order must be stripped of the judge’s signature line and name.

Not confirmed. Read the court's wording below.WARNING?

Any reference to the date (Please keep the language “Done and Ordered in Collier County, Florida.”)

Summary: A proposed order must omit the date while retaining the specified Collier County language.

Not confirmed. Read the court's wording below.WARNING?

Civil cases

The distribution list should be at the very bottom of the document and should only include attorneys and, on some occasions, parents and/or the mediator. If you want to provide a copy to a staff member please print the signed copy out and provide to them - do not add them to the distribution list.

Summary: The distribution list must appear at the bottom, generally include only attorneys and sometimes parents or the mediator, and must not include staff members who receive a printed signed copy.

Not confirmed. Read the court's wording below.WARNING?

Civil cases

The distribution list must be at the very end of the document and should only include attorneys and, on some occasions, parents and/or the mediator.

Summary: The distribution list must be placed at the end of the document and ordinarily include attorneys, with parents or the mediator included only on some occasions.

Not confirmed. Read the court's wording below.WARNING?

In these cases, the electronic submission of the proposed order should contain a reference in the subject line of the e-mail to envelopes submitted (for example: "12-345- CA Smith v. Jones (envelopes submitted)").

Summary: When envelopes are submitted for an unrepresented recipient, the proposed-order e-mail subject line should identify that envelopes were submitted.