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40 verbatim requirements from admin. order AO 1.16 - Court-Ordered Mediation In Circuit Civil, Family, Dependency & County Court Civil Cases (6/12/13) amended 12/19/2019 [Civil].
20th Judicial Circuit. Procedural information only; not legal advice.
Verbatim from https://www.ca.cjis20.org/pdf/ao/ao_1_16.pdf, harvested 2026-07-25; whitespace normalised only. • The addresses listed below shall be used for all notices to be served on the Court Mediation Program: • Parties and their attorneys, if represented, are required to file notice of their current address and telephone number with the Clerk of Court in the applicable county and to keep all contact information current. • If mediation has been court-ordered, the parties and attorneys, if represented, shall provide the Court Mediation Program with a copy of any filed notice or updates of their contact information. • P. l.710(b), bond estreatures, bond validations, petitions for extraordinary writs, or contempt actions (civil or criminal) shall not be referred to mediation as it relates to civil cases. • Court shall not refer any case to mediation if it finds there has been a history of domestic violence that would compromise the mediation process. • If a history of domestic violence exists and a waiver of mediation has not been sought or granted, the party shall still contact and advise the Court Mediation Program in advance of the scheduled mediation. • Small Claims cases referred by the Court for mediation at other than the pretrial conference, shall have a contract with the Court to provide these services. • Court's Mediation Program, the parties may not remove the case to private mediation without Court approval. • In order to cancel court-ordered mediation, the requesting patty or parties must do one of the following at least three (3) full business days prior to the scheduled mediation, excluding the date of mediation: a. • A fee paid as a late cancellation fee shall not be applied as payment for any subsequently scheduled mediation. • A mediation session must be cancelled by order of the Court if required by the presiding judge, or by filing a notice of settlement or dismissal. • The written order or filed notice shall be provided to the Court Mediation Program at least three (3) full business days prior to the mediation date, excluding the date of mediation. • In Family law cases in which the parties have a combined income of less than $100,000.00 per year, and in County Comt Civil cases involving an amount in controversy not exceeding $15,000.00, if mediation is not cancelled at least three (3) full business days prior to the mediation date, excluding the date of mediation, with documentation of cancellation being provided to the Coutt Mediation Program, a late cancellation fee equal to each parties' session fee shall be assessed. • This fee shall be paid to the Clerk of Court and shall not be applied to any future mediation. • In Family law cases in which the patties have a combined income of$100,000.00 or more per year, if mediation is not cancelled at least three (3) full business days prior to the mediation, exclusive of the date of mediation, with documentation of cancellation being provided to the Coutt Mediation Program, the patties shall be assessed a two (2) hour late cancellation fee. • The fee shall be paid directly to the assigned mediator, and shall not be applied to any subsequently scheduled mediation. • If mediation is not cancelled at least three (3) full business days prior to the mediation date, excluding the date of mediation, with documentation of cancellation being provided to the Coutt Mediation Program, the parties shall be assessed a two (2) hour late cancellation fee. • If an attorney is called to trial less than three (3) business days before a scheduled mediation session, the attorney must immediately notify the other party and the Court Mediation Program. • For verification purposes, the notification shall include the county, case number and name of the presiding judge of the conflicting case. • If such notice is received by at least 3 :30 p.m. on the business day that precedes the mediation date, only one-half the normal late cancellation fee is required, Notice received after 3:30 p.m. on the business day that precedes the mediation date will necessitate payment of the full late cancellation fee. d. • Court Civil mediation, the parties are required to provide the Coutt Mediation • The rescheduled date shall be no more than thirty (30) days from the current mediation date, or, in Circuit • Fees paid for the initial session shall not be applied to any subsequent session. • Each named party shall appear at any scheduled mediation session, unless that pa1ty has been dismissed from the case or has been dismissed from attendance by the presiding judge. • These fees shall not be applied to any subsequently scheduled mediation. • If an indigent patty fails to appear at mediation, sanctions, including cost of a mediation session for both parties, shall be assessed. b. • If counsel for any patty is not present when the agreement is reached, the mediator shall provide a copy of the agreement to the patty to give to counsel. • Counsel shall have ten (10) days from the date of the mediated agreement to file a written objection with service on the mediator, umepresented parties, counsel and the Court Mediation Program if mediation was through the program. • Absent a timely written objection, the agreement is presumed to be approved by counsel and shall be filed with the Court/Clerk by the mediator or the • However, counsel must be physically present if counsel intends to patticipate in the m~diation session. c. • In Dependency cases, patties' counsel are required to attend mediation ui;tless dismissed by the presiding judge. d. • (1) The party or its representative, other than its outside counsel, having full authority to settle without further consideration, shall attend. • If another attorney will try the case, the attorney who will try the case shall also attend. • (3) If insurance is involved, a representative of the insurance carrier for any insured party, who is not such carrier's outside counsel and who has full authority to settle without futther consultation, shall attend. • (4) If a patty to mediation is a public entity required to conduct its business pursuant to Chapter 286, Florida Statutes, that patty shall be deemed to appear at a mediation conference by the physical presence of a representative with full authority to negotiate on behalf of the entity and to recommend settlement to the appropriate decision-making body of the entity. • (5) A Cettification of Authority shall be filed with the Comt/Clerk and served on the patties ten (10) days prior to the mediation conference identifying the person(s) who will be attending the mediation conference as a patty representative and confirming that those persons have the authority to settle the case. 7 -- 7 of 12 -- • Requirements established by the presiding judge will dictate what actions are required when a party wishes to appear by telephone at a mediation conference. • Attorneys, however, must appear in person unless otherwise permitted by the Court. • Confidentiality and Privilege Act, with the exception of the parties' signed financial affidavits and any other documents which are required to be filed in the public record, all communications, verbal or written, between the parties and from the parties made during the mediation session, shall be confidential. • Confidentiality and Privilege Act apply in all cases, and nothing herein shall be construed as limiting or expanding those privileges and exceptions.
The addresses listed below shall be used for all notices to be served on the Court Mediation Program:
Reviewer note: Order PDF sha256: d6ee861a6ec73058a77a086f799c46fe69a864865db00818dad006dc8ceef750. Extracted from the order's own text layer.
Judge Bell caps motions and responses at 5 pages for UMC hearings and 12 pages for special-set hearings.
Judge Alijewicz requires every motion for attorney's fees and/or costs to attach a document detailing time records — no records, no fee award.
Judge Corlew bars informal contact: every communication with the Court must be in writing, filed with the Clerk, with copies furnished to all parties — and no calls to the JA to schedule or cancel UMC.