N.D. Fla. Loc. R. 54.1 — Motions for Attorney’s Fees

High confidence· verified September 26, 2026Local Rules

Summary

N.D. Fla. Loc. R. 54.1 — Motions for Attorney’s Fees: the court's own rule, verbatim from LOCAL RULES UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA (Effective November 24, 2015), official PDF, sha-custodied. Court-level requirement: applies in every case before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida alongside the federal rules and any judge-specific procedures.

Requirement

(A) Bifurcated Procedure. A party who seeks an award of attorney’s fees must first move for a determination of the party’s entitlement to a fee award and may move for a determination of the amount of an award only after the Court determines the party’s entitlement to an award. Local Rule 7.1, including the requirement for the attorneys to confer in a good-faith effort to resolve the dispute, applies in full. (B) Deadline for an Entitlement Motion. The deadline for moving for a determination of entitlement is 14 days after the entry of the judgment or, if there is no judgment, 14 days after the case is closed. An appeal does not extend the deadline unless the Court so orders. (C) Maintaining Time Records. No award of attorney’s fees will be made based in whole or part on time devoted to a case unless the attorney or other timekeeper made a contemporaneous, detailed record of the time to the nearest tenth hour. A detailed record must provide enough information to allow the Court to evaluate reasonableness; an entry like “research” or “conference” without a description of the subject will not do. (D) Filing and Disclosing Time Records. Unless an assigned judge orders otherwise, the time records must not be filed with the Clerk until necessary for the determination of a fee motion. But a party must promptly disclose to another party—on a request made at any time—the total number of hours that have been devoted to the case by the party’s attorneys and other timekeepers through the end of the month preceding the request. (E) Required Filings in Support of a Motion to Determine the Fee Amount. If the Court determines that a party is entitled to a fee award, the party must file within 30 days: (1) A declaration setting out the time devoted to the case by date and task, specifically identifying the timekeeper and the timekeeper’s claimed hourly rate. The declaration must include sufficient detail to allow a determination of reasonableness. And the declaration must include sufficient detail to allow the maximum feasible separation of time devoted to matters that are and are not compensable and matters on which the party did and did not prevail. (2) A declaration of an independent attorney addressing the reasonableness of the claimed time and rates. (F) Required Filings in Opposition to a Motion to Determine the Fee Amount. A party who opposes a motion to determine the fee amount must file within 30 days after the motion is served a memorandum specifically identifying any objection to the claimed amount. If the party objects to a timekeeper’s claimed hourly rate, the memorandum must set out the rate that the party asserts is reasonable. If the party asserts that hours should be reduced or not compensated, the memorandum must identify the hours or otherwise specifically describe the proposed reduction. The memorandum must set out the fee award the party asserts would be reasonable—and by doing so the party will not be deemed to waive the party’s objection that fees should not be awarded at all. (G) Additional Conference and Notice. After a party files a memorandum in opposition to the motion to determine the fee amount, the attorneys must confer again in a good-faith effort to resolve the dispute—on amount if not also on entitlement. The parties must file a notice of whether they have reached any agreement. The deadline for the notice is 14 days after the memorandum in opposition was filed.

Source of truth

(A) Bifurcated Procedure. A party who seeks an award of attorney’s fees must first move for a determination of the party’s entitlement to a fee award and may move for a determination of the amount of an award only after the Court determines the party’s entitlement to an award. Lo

Official source: N.D. Fla. — Northern District of Florida
Source health: Healthy · checked October 4, 2026
Effective date: November 24, 2015
Last verified: September 26, 2026benchpath-appfed-flrules-2026-09-26

Change history

September 20, 2026Monitor could not safely verify the registered source.
September 8, 2026Monitor could not safely verify the registered source.
August 17, 2026Monitor could not safely verify the registered source.
August 6, 2026Monitor: content changed at N.D. Fla. — Northern District of Florida. Review before republishing dependent rules.
August 5, 2026Monitor: content changed at N.D. Fla. — Northern District of Florida. Review before republishing dependent rules.
August 3, 2026Monitor: content changed at N.D. Fla. — Northern District of Florida. Review before republishing dependent rules.
August 2, 2026Monitor: content changed at N.D. Fla. — Northern District of Florida. Review before republishing dependent rules.
August 1, 2026Monitor: content changed at N.D. Fla. — Northern District of Florida. Review before republishing dependent rules.
July 31, 2026Monitor: content changed at N.D. Fla. — Northern District of Florida. Review before republishing dependent rules.
July 30, 2026

Related rules

Local RulesDuval County

Duval County Local Rules Implementing S.B. 7 (Texas Fair Defense Act) — Order Amending Local Rules of the District/County Court of Duval County, amended July 11, 2022

Duval County's indigent-defense and magistration rules under the Texas Fair Defense Act (S.B. 7): who may be booked into the county jail and on what paper; arrest-case numbering; presentment to a magistrate within 48 hours (art. 15.16); the magistrate's warnings, counsel inquiry, interpreter duty, indigence determination and appointment of counsel within 24 hours of a request; the alternative appointment plan under art. 26.04(g)-(h) with annual applications, seven attorney categories (capital, first and second degree, third degree/state jail/misdemeanor, competency, appeals, post-conviction, extradition), CLE and experience standards, random rotation within each category, written acceptance within 48 hours, first contact by the end of the next working day, replacement and suspension of counsel, fee applications within five days of completing services and the compensation attachment ($500 pleas; $175/$150 hourly; $1,400 per jury-trial day; appellate caps); bail schedules by offense class with a personal bond office (fee $20 or 3%), pre-trial supervision and revocation hearings within two working days; arraignment settings and notice; repeal of conflicting rules.

High confidence· verified September 10, 2026Order Amending Local Rules Implementing S.B. 7 (Texas Fair Defense Act, Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 906), District/County Court of Duval County, Texas, Rules 1-9 and the compensation attachment, amended and effective July 11, 2022, approved August 2022 and signed by Baldemar Garza, District Judge, 229th Judicial District Court, and E.B. Garcia, County Judge, Duval County; file-stamped by the Duval County Clerk August 8, 2022; TOPICs registration 2817 (Duval County, registered 02/12/2026).

Monitor: content changed at N.D. Fla. — Northern District of Florida. Review before republishing dependent rules.

Local RulesStarr County

Starr County Local Rules for the Judicial District Courts (229th and 381st District Courts, applying in part to the County Court at Law; approved May 31, 2018; approved and recommended to the Supreme Court by the Fifth Region's Presiding Judge August 9, 2018)

The 23 local rules of the Starr County district courts: definitions and the election of the Local Administrative District Judge (last Friday in January of odd years; two-year term from February 1); random, equal assignment of district cases and the County Court at Law's share (family cases, civil cases pleading $100,000 or less, misdemeanors); the case-numbering format effective January 1, 2019 (year, CV/CR/CRS/FM/TAX, five digits; CRS for the 229th, CR for the 381st); notice of visiting-judge assignments; electronically transmitted pleadings (cover sheet, seven-day fee window, returns of service and bonds on paper, one-hour clerk handling of child-protection filings); transfer of related civil cases to the earlier court and SAPCR transfer to the divorce court; pre-trial settings through the Court Coordinator; District Clerk duties and I-Docket access; severance; temporary, emergency and ex parte orders; uncontested matters first; assignment of related prosecutions and superseding-indictment numbering (S1, S2); the protocol for trial priority (jury over non-jury, criminal over civil, jailed defendants first, oldest case first, special settings by written reasons, duties of counsel with conflicting settings); court staff; jury impaneling; the ad litem/guardian ad litem/amicus appointment rotation, duties, vouchers within thirty days and objections within thirty days; and courtroom decorum and attire.

High confidence· verified September 10, 2026Starr County Local Rules for the Judicial District Courts, Rules 1-23, approved May 31, 2018 by Jose Luis Garza, Presiding Judge, 381st Judicial District, and as Acting and Presiding by Assignment, 229th Judicial District; approved and recommended to the Supreme Court of Texas by Missy Medary, Presiding Judge, Fifth Administrative Judicial Region, Order No. 18-5AJR-314 (August 9, 2018); TOPICs registration 1986 (Starr County, registered 06/14/2024).

Local RulesJim Wells County

Local Rules for the Jim Wells County Court at Law — effective January 1, 2023

The Jim Wells County Court at Law's rules: ad litem, guardian ad litem and amicus appointment lists, qualifications, duties, flat-fee ($275) and hourly ($75–$125) compensation, voucher deadlines and fee objections; rules of administration with the 79th District Court (family-code cases and civil cases between $500 and $250,000 assigned to the County Court at Law); remote non-jury proceedings by Zoom with e-mailed setting requests, Dropbox exhibits and YouTube broadcast; settings, proposed orders, exhibits and courtroom decorum.

High confidence· verified September 10, 2026Local Rules for the Jim Wells County Court at Law, signed 1/9/2023 by Michael V. Garcia, Judge Presiding, to be effective January 1, 2023 (file-stamped January 9, 2023); TOPICs registration 1101 (Jim Wells County, Local Rules, County; Court at Law, 01/27/2023).

Local RulesJim Wells County

Jim Wells County Court at Law — Local Rules (Standing Order) in Suits for Divorce and Suits Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship — January 9, 2023

The standing order attached to every divorce and SAPCR petition in the Jim Wells County Court at Law: no disruption of children, conduct of the parties, preservation of property and funds, records, insurance, specific authorizations, a sworn inventory exchanged within 60 days of the respondent's appearance and no later than 30 days before final trial (with a certificate of compliance), service with the petition and 14-day TRO/temporary-injunction effect, protective-order precedence, an informal settlement conference at least 7 days before the final hearing, parent education for divorcing parents, and bond waiver.

High confidence· verified September 10, 2026Local Rules in Suits for Divorce and Suits Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship for the Jim Wells County Court at Law, dated 1/9/2023, Michael V. Garcia, Judge Presiding (file-stamped January 9, 2023); TOPICs registration 1100 (Jim Wells County, Local Rules, County; Court at Law, 01/27/2023).