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40 verbatim requirements from 5th Jud. Cir., Jason J. Nimeth — sha256-hashed 2026-07-25.
Fifth Judicial Circuit (Citrus, Hernando, Lake, Marion, Sumter). Procedural information only; not legal advice.
Verbatim from https://www.circuit5.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/a-2021-58.pdf, harvested 2026-07-25; whitespace normalised only. • A lawyer must not seek clients through the use of misleading or manipulative oral and written representations or advertisements. • Contingency fee arrangements must be in writing and follow R. • A lawyer must place a client's best interest ahead of the lawyer's or another party's interests. • A lawyer must maintain and preserve the confidence and private information of clients. • A lawyer must routinely keep clients informed and attempt to resolve client concerns. • In the case of irreconcilable disagreements with a client, the lawyer must provide diligent representation until the lawyer-client relationship is formally dissolved in compliance with the law and the client's best interests. • A lawyer must devote professional time and resources and use c1v1c influence to ensure equal access to our system of justice. • A lawyer must avoid discriminatory conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice in connection with the practice of law. • Candor and civility must be used in all oral and written communications. • A lawyer must avoid disparaging personal remarks or acrimony toward opposing parties, opposing counsel, third parties, or the court. • Incivility within the profession and courts of the Fifth Circuit shall not be tolerated. • A lawyer must timely serve all pleadings to prevent prejudice or delay to the opposing party. • A lawyer's communications in connection with the practice of law, including communications on social media, must not disparage another's character or competence or be used to inappropriately influence or contact others. • A lawyer must not knowingly misstate, misrepresent, or distort any fact or legal authority to the court or to opposing counsel and must not mislead by inaction or silence. • Further, the discovery of additional evidence or unintentional misrepresentations must immediately be disclosed or otherwise corrected. • A lawyer must not inappropriately communicate with a party represented by a lawyer (See R. • Social media must not be used to disparage opposing parties, lawyers, judges, and members of the public. • Social media must not be used to inappropriately contact judges, mediators, jurors, witnesses, or represented parties. • Social media must not be used for the purpose of influencing adjudicative proceedings. • A lawyer must ensure that the use of electronic devices does not impair the attorney-client privilege or confidentiality. • A lawyer must diligently respond to calls, correspondences, complaints, and investigations by The Florida Bar and to any Professionalism Panel of the • A lawyer must not permit non-lawyer personnel to communicate with a judge or judicial officer on any matters pending before the judge or officer or with other court personnel except on scheduling and other ministerial matters. • A lawyer must avoid substantive ex-parte communications in a pending case with a presiding judge. • The lawyer must notify opposing counsel of all communications with the court or other tribunal, except those involving only scheduling or clerical matters. • A lawyer must promptly prepare a proposed order, ensure that the order fairly and adequately represents the court's ruling and does not include any argument, inflammato:ry remarks, or unannounced findings, before submitting the order to the court, and advise the court whether or not opposing counsel has approved the order. • A lawyer must not ask a deponent irrelevant personal questions or questions designed to embarrass a deponent. • A lawyer must not prevent a deponent from answering questions unless a legal privilege applies. • A lawyer must not threaten opposing parties with sanctions, disciplinary complaints, criminal charges, or additional litigation to gain a tactical advantage. • A lawyer must not invoke a rule for the purpose of creating undue delay, or propose frivolous oral or written arguments which do not have an adequate basis in the law nor fact. • A lawyer must not use discovery to harass or improperly burden an adversary or cause the adversary to incur unnecessary expense. • A lawyer must not request rescheduling, cancellations, extensions, and postponements without legitimate reasons or solely for the purpose of delay or obtaining unfair advantage. • A lawyer must not criticize or denigrate opposing parties, witnesses, or the court to clients, media, or members of the public. • A lawyer must always behave in a courteous and formal manner in hearings, depositions, and trials and should refrain from seeking special consideration from a judge or juror. • A lawyer should accede to all reasonable requests for scheduling, rescheduling, cancellations, extensions, and postponements that do not prejudice the client's opportunity for full, fair, and prompt adjudication. • A lawyer must respond promptly to inquiries and communications from clients and others including opposing parties and lawyers. • A lawyer must counsel a client against using tactics designed: {a) to hinder or improperly delay a legal process; or (b) to embarrass, harass, intimidate, improperly burden, or oppress an adversary, party or any other person and should withdraw from representation if the client insists on such tactics. • Participants must dress and otherwise present themselves professionally, as if they are physically appearing in a courtroom, deposition or mediation, as the circumstances indicate. • Participants must not operate a motor vehicle while participating in a remote proceeding and should otherwise ensure that their participation does not create a public safety issue. • Participants in video conferencing proceedings must use a device that allows them to have access to a camera, a speaker, and a microphone. • Participants must have an adequate Internet connection.
A lawyer must not seek clients through the use of misleading or manipulative oral and written representations or advertisements.
Reviewer note: PDF sha256: bcfba38a6a6366de2624d2fdbc63baef79f7fff1ec4806fbedd1bd98a807e01a. Extracted from the document'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.