The Divisional email for Circuit Civil Division AH is CAD-DivisionAH@pbcgov.org. This email should be used to provide information to the Judicial Assistant such as cancellation of a Uniform Motion Calendar (UMC) hearing, settlement of a case, notice of an agreed order sent to the Court through the online system resolving a hearing, notice for trial, notice for a lengthy hearing to be set on a non-jury docket or questions not answered by the Divisional Instructions.
Click on the Online Services button above. If already registered, insert the user name, password and case number. Follow the prompts to Division AH section to set a UMC hearing, special set hearing, submit documents through e-courtesy or submit orders to the Court through the OLS system. If not registered, follow prompts to set up an account.
ALL Uniform Motion Calendar (UMC) and special set hearings of 30 minutes or less are scheduled online (including foreclosures).
Uniform Motion Calendar (UMC) hearings are held Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 8:45 a.m. and are set using the Online Scheduling System on the 15thcircuit.com. Scheduling for UMCs is solely coordinated between the parties. Please do not call the Judicial Assistant to schedule or cancel a UMC hearing online.
UMC is strictly for non-evidentiary motions which can be heard in a total of 10 minutes (5 minutes per side). If more than one motion is set, the Court will hear the motion set first and if time allows will hear the second motion in the 10 minutes allowed per case. Motions for attorney's fees, summary judgment and any evidentiary matters are NOT appropriate for UMC and should be specially set for hearing. Please note: default final judgments and uncontested motions for summary judgment may be set on UMC.
Before scheduling, attorneys/pro se parties must first file a motion with the Clerk's office providing the motion to the opposing side(s). After review of the available dates online, the moving party must coordinate the hearing with the opposing side(s) giving the opposing side(s) at least five business days' notice of the hearing date, unless the parties have agreed to short notice/short set the motion. Attorneys should always attempt to clear the date chosen with the opposing counsel/side(s). Mandatory compliance with Local Rule 4 is strictly enforced. Specifically, attorneys are required to "make reasonable effort to speak to one another and engage in reasonable compromises to resolve or narrow the disputes before seeking court intervention or scheduling a UMC hearing. The "attorney noticing the motion shall attempt to resolve the matter and shall certify to the Court the good faith attempt to resolve." If you DO NOT comply with Local Rule 4, your hearing will be canceled.
For all hearings, the motion, any responsive pleadings and any case law for the hearing must be filed and docketed in the court file and provided through E-courtesy on the 15thcircuit.com to the Court five (5) days prior to the hearing for the Court's review for the hearing to go forward. DO NOT send paper or notebooks to the courthouse.
Please do not submit proposed orders in advance of the hearing on the Online Scheduling System.
To cancel a hearing schedule on UMC, the scheduling attorney's office must file a Notice of Cancellation and submit it to the Court via CAD-DIvisionAH@pbcgov.org. In addition, the scheduling attorney's office must log in to the Online Scheduling System, select "Uniform Motion Calendar 'UMC' Scheduling" select "Cancel Hearings" and follow the directions on the screen. The Judicial Assistant cannot cancel UMC hearings online.
Special Set Hearings are available in blocks of 15 and 30 minutes and must be scheduled via the Online Scheduling System. Prior to scheduling a hearing online, you must have previously filed your motion clearing the date and time with all opposing party(ies). The order setting hearing will be automatically produced by the on-line system scheduling at the time the hearing is set online and sent to the Court. The static Zoom link for Division AH will be automatically added to the order.
Motions requiring a hearing of more than 30 minutes will be set on the next available non-jury docket. Special Set Hearings of more than 30 minutes must be requested in writing by filing a notice of lengthy hearing to be placed on a non-jury docket providing the notice to the Court through the Divisional email (CAD-DivisionAH@pbcgov.org). The notice shall provide the title of the motion, the filing date and the amount of time requested after consulting with opposing side(s).
ALL DOCUMENTS FOR HEARINGS AND NON-JURY TRIALS ARE TO BE SUBMITTED USING E-COURTESY ON THE 15THCIRCUIT.COM ONLINE SYSTEM unless specifically direct by the Court or Judicial Assistant to submit otherwise. Furthermore, any memorandum or materials to the Court shall be submitted simultaneously sent to the opposing party.
If a motion is resolved prior to hearing, an Agreed Order must be submitted to the Court via the Online System. The Order must say "Agreed Order with the name of the motion." Please include a cover letter as a supporting document to the Judge indicating that all parties have reviewed and agreed to the language of the proposed Agreed Order. The names, email and mailing addresses of all persons receiving copies must appear in copies to of the Agreed Order pursuant Administrative Order 2.306. Please note: Do not send duplicate orders in the mail or by email that have been uploaded through the Online System.
Agreed Orders cannot be submitted to continue a trial docket or move a case to another trial period or cancel a hearing unless the order resolves the issue of the hearing.
Orders ARE NOT to be submitted to the Court PRIOR to a hearing date. The order should be submitted with the Court's ruling following the hearing. Orders submitted prior to a hearing will be rejected by the Court.
If the Court directs an attorney to prepare and submit an Order after a hearing, the order must state the date the hearing was held. All parties must have reviewed the Order before it was submitted through the Online System. Please include a cover letter as a supporting document stating that all parties have review the Order and are in agreement with the form of the Order. If parties are not in agreement with the form of the Order, that must be noted in the "comments" to the Judge. Parties may submit competing Orders and the Judge will sign the order reflecting the Court's ruling. ALL ORDERS UNLESS DIRECTED BY THE COURT OTHERWISE ARE TO BE SUBMITTED WITHIN 48 HOURS OF THE HEARING.
Division AH electronically serves orders to attorneys/parties that have registered their primary and secondary email addresses with the 15th Circuit. Please ensure that you have registered for judicial e-service with the Online System. Parties without registered emails will be served by U.S. Mail.
NOTE: THE FILING OF A "NOTICE OF E-MAIL DESIGNATION DOES NOT REGISTER YOU FOR JUDICIAL E-SERVICE. YOU MUST REGISTER WITH THE 15TH CIRCUIT'S ONLINE SCHEDULING SYSEM THROUGH ONLINE SERVICES. Failure to register may result in orders being sent by default to the email address on file with the Florida Bar.
Pursuant to Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.516(h)(1), Division AH serves all order by "email to all attorneys who have not been excused from email service in writing and to all parties not represented by an attorney who have designated an email address for service."
Stipulation for substitution of counsel must comply with Fla. R. Jud. Admin 2.505(e). The written consent of the client must be included. Submit for signature by the Judge via the Online System and attach a copy of the signed stipulation and written client consent.
All motions to withdraw must be set for a UMC hearing with proper notice to the client in accordance with Fla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.505(f)(i), and all parties/attorneys.
For ex-parte motions to compel discovery, a hearing is not necessary if the Motion is in compliance with A.O. 3.202. The moving attorney must submit the ex-parte order for signature by the Judge and a copy of the motion as an attachment via the Online System.
If a case settles or is voluntarily dismissed, please file a notice of voluntary dismissal or notice of settlement in the court file and provide to the Court by email. If the case has a hearing or trial scheduled, please include that information in the email so the hearing/trial time can be opened up for other cases.
Pursuant to Administrative Order 3.206, when an emergency motion is filed the Court is provided the motion by the Clerk of Court for review. Upon review of the motion, an order will be entered by the Court with the Court's ruling on the motion to the parties. Emergency motions shall not be set for hearing without leave of Court.
The original notice to set the cause for trial must be filed with the Clerk. The notice should include the name, telephone number, mailing addresses of each lawyer or self-represented party in the case. Please email a copy of the notice for trial using the Divisional email (CAD-DivisionAH@pbcgov.org) to the Judicial Assistant for the case to be set for trial.
Using the Differentiated Case Management system put in place by the Florida Supreme Court, all 2023 cases filed will be given an order with a trial ready date at the time of filing to be served with the Complaint. Please look on the Court's Trial Calendars tab on the Court's webpage for a list of the Court's Trial dockets with the E-Calendar Call date and Pre Trial Conference Date. The Zoom link for the Pre Trial Conference is included in that list.
The Court has 6 week trial dockets. Per the Order Setting Trial, a notice of unavailability/conflict (pre-paid vacation/special set trial or arbitration settings only) are to be filed and provided to the Court at the Divisional email address (CAD-DivisionAH@pbcgov.org) ten (10) days prior to E-Calendar Call to be considered in matters on the docket. There is no in person calendar call and the trial docket will be posted on this webpage on the Current Trial Calendar page on the morning of E-Calendar Call.
Mandatory Pre Trial Conferences are held in advance of the Court's six-week trial dockets. The date of the Pre Trial Conference will be included in the trial order if the case is older than 2023. If the case is a 2023 and forward case, the trial ready date will be the E-Calendar Call date. The date of the Pre Trial Conference and the trial period are on this webpage under the Trial Calendars tab using the E-Calendar Call date for reference.
The Pre Trial Conference is held on Zoom at the link below:
Meeting Link: Zoom meeting
Meeting ID: 829 5272 9571
Password: none needed
At the Pre Trial Conference, the parties should be prepared to discuss the weeks they are available during the trial period. No motions of any kind will be heard at the Pre Trial Conference.
Prior to the Pre Trial Conference, counsel must have:
At least 2 weeks before trial, counsel must:
Post-judgment rehearing or relief motions, including motions for reconsideration, motions for clarification and motions for new trial, may not be set online. Please file the original with the Clerk and provide a copy with supporting authority to the Divisional email (CAD-DivisionAH@pbcgov.org) to be reviewed by the Judge.
All orders for dismissal, final judgments (summary, default or consent), amended final judgments, notices of voluntary dismissals, orders vacating final judgments, orders granting motion to amend final judgment, and any other closing documents must be in compliance with Supreme Court Oder no. SC13-2384 amendments to Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.520 requiring a 3 x 3 inch available space in the right hand upper corner; one inch margins on all sides of documents; all pages must be consecutively numbered.
If, after the parties develop a pretrial stipulation, any party believes a pretrial conference will be in the best interest of judicial economy, they should set a pretrial conference on UMC. If the parties agreed that the matter cannot be handled on a UMC hearing, the parties should contact the Judicial Assistant by email to determine whether the Judge will specially-set a pretrial conference. Whether at a pretrial conference or at a hearing of more limited scope in the interest of saving prospective juror time and in an effort to focus the parties' evidence presentation prior to commencement of the trial, the Judge will make all attempts to hear argument on motions in limine prior to the first day of trial.
Any party seeking to exclude evidence under a Daubert analysis shall file a motion with the court specifically identifying the basis for the Daubert challenge. Daubert motions shall be specially set by the parties and heard prior to the commencement of the trial docket.
In no event will the Judge entertain unnecessary motions in limine such as ones which do no more than seek an order prohibiting counsel from violating the rules of evidence or procedure.
Standing orders for Division AH can be found on the Divisional Forms & Orders page.
Our office CANNOT and WILL NOT accept any ex-parte correspondence (email or regular mail) on a case. If you have a matter to bring to the Court's attention, please file the appropriate motion with the Clerk of Court and copy all parties and/or counsel in the case with said motion.