Loading…
40 verbatim requirements from 5th Jud. Cir., Stacy M. Youmans — 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/2026/07/youmans-judicial-practices-and-procedures-07-2026.pdf, harvested 2026-07-25; whitespace normalised only. • Any and all communication that a person desires to have considered by the Court must be filed appropriately with the Clerk of Court and copies must be provided to all interested parties. • The subject line of any e-mail to the judicial office must contain the case number, case name, and relevant matter. • The judicial office does not accept text messages. • Ex parte Communications: ➢ All communications with the judicial office must comply with • All parties must be copied on every e-mail directed to the judicial office, unless ex-parte communication is authorized by law. • Unsolicited Communications: ➢ Parties may only contact the judicial office in accordance with these practices and procedures. • Unsolicited communications from non-parties will not be considered by the court. • E-Filing Portal Contact Information: ➢ All attorneys and self-represented litigants must make and receive service by e-mail, which is generally through the • Admin. 2.516. ➢ All attorneys and self-represented litigants must provide an e- mail address to receive signed orders electronically, unless excused. • In the email, please provide the following information (an example is below): -- 3 of 16 -- 4 ❖ Case number and style ❖ Motion to be heard and date filed (with a copy of the filed motion) Motions must be filed with the Clerk prior to the scheduling of a hearing. • Zoom ❖ Once available hearing times are provided to the parties, the parties must confer prior to responding the Judicial Assistant. • The response shall provide two choices from the times provided where all parties are available. • If a party does not respond to coordinating counsel within 2 business days, the party that requested the hearing may reach out to the Court, provide information as to the attempts made to coordinate, and request that the hearing be unilaterally set. • Contact must be attempted at all emails provided as well as telephonic attempts at any phone number provided. ❖ If the hearing is an emergency, refer to the Emergency and Time-Sensitive Hearings portion. ❖ Court Reporters. • Parties desiring a record of any hearing must arrange and pay for a civil court reporter to attend and record the proceeding. • Please let the Judicial Assistant know if a Court Reporter is expected to attend. • Notice of Hearing: ➢ Once an email is received from the Judicial Assistant stating that the hearing time is confirmed, a Notice of Hearing must be filed and served immediately after confirming hearing time. • If a Notice of Hearing is not filed within 48 hours of receiving the confirmation email from the Judicial • Please do not serve a copy of the Notice of Hearing to the • Judicial Assistant through the E-Filing Portal. -- 5 of 16 -- 6 ➢ A notice of hearing involving any remote appearance must list the judge’s Zoom credentials. ➢ All notices of hearing must contain the Americans with • Motions for the continuance of hearings must be submitted at least 7 days prior to the scheduled hearing. • Motions for the continuance of a trial must be submitted at least 14 days prior to the scheduled trial for which the continuance is sought, barring exigent circumstances. • Except for good cause shown, the motion must be signed by the party requesting the continuance, as required by Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial • A motion to continue a trial, even if stipulated, must state with specificity: ❖ Basis for the need for continuance, including when the basis became known to the movant; ❖ Whether the motion is opposed, including position of movant’s client; -- 6 of 16 -- 7 ❖ The action and specific dates for the action that will enable the movant to be ready, including, but not limited to, confirming the specific date any required participants such as third-party witnesses or experts are available; ❖ The proposed date by which the case will be ready for trial and whether that date is agreed by all parties. • Cancelling Hearings: ➢ Noticed hearings set by a party may only be cancelled with the approval of the Court. • If approved by the Court, you must immediately file and serve a notice of cancellation on opposing counsel and any self- represented litigant. ➢ If a hearing was set by the Court, it will only be cancelled through a voluntary dismissal, entry of a stipulation and order dismissing the cause of action, or any other order of the Court. • Conflicts with Hearings: ➢ A party that has a conflict with a hearing already set shall comply with Fl. • Admin. 2.550(c). • Other scheduling procedures: ➢ Once a motion or petition is scheduled, any other motions or matters may not be noticed for the same time without prior approval from the Judicial Assistant via email. • Requests to use communication technology for an appearance at a hearing that is set to occur in person must be made by motion. ➢ Any objection to the use of communication technology must be filed no later than 10 days prior to the scheduled hearing. -- 7 of 16 -- 8 ➢ Parties and witnesses must be logged in 5 minutes prior to the start of the hearing. • Platform Used: ➢ The court uses Zoom for remote appearances. • Platform Meeting ID#: ➢ Contact the Judicial Assistant to obtain the platform meeting • ID# • Requirements: ➢ If your hearing is scheduled to be in-person, all requests for remote appearance must be submitted 10 days prior to the hearing. ➢ Any person appearing remotely must be in a private location that is quiet and free from distractions. • Under no circumstances will a participant be permitted to appear remotely from a moving vehicle. ➢ Any person appearing remotely must dress and behave professionally in the same manner as if physically present in the courtroom. ➢ Any person appearing remotely must enable the person’s camera when joining the proceeding and keep the camera turned on until instructed otherwise by the court. ➢ Any person appearing remotely must mute the person’s microphone when joining the proceeding and keep the microphone turned off until instructed otherwise by the court. ➢ If a witness appears remotely, the party calling the witness must ensure the witness has a functioning camera and microphone and has tested the internet connection before the hearing. • The Court will give the movant(s) and nonmovant(s) specific instructions at the close of the hearing, but, in general, counsel for the parties should expect and be prepared to comply with the following requirements: ➢ Proposed orders must be emailed to the Court’s Judicial • Section E below; ➢ not as an additional written argument or legal briefing requirement, but to provide counsel an opportunity to plead any exceptions or objections to the form of opposing counsel’s proposed order (i.e., citing materials not in the record or citing to materials in the record, but not previously cited in the factual positions supporting the motion/response), the Court will generally establish a reasonable deadline for filing the exceptions/objections pleading within 5 days following the filing of the proposed orders, unless a different timeline is provided; ➢ a courtesy copy of any such filed exceptions/objections pleading must be emailed to the Court’s Judicial Assistant by the same deadline as the filing of the same; ➢ the proposed orders granting/denying the motion should contain at, a minimum the following three well-defined sections: • COURT’S E-FILING PORTAL! • Format: ➢ All proposed orders must be submitted in the latest version of Word (.docx) format ONLY on 8.5 x 11-inch pages with a 1” margin and provided to opposing counsel and any self- represented litigant. ➢ Certificates of Service shall state the below. • Counsel for the (Plaintiff/Defendant) shall provide copies to all parties not listed for service below and any party that requires U.S.P.S. mail service: ➢ Electronic proposed orders are preferred for all matters other than a Final Judgment of Foreclosure. ➢ All electronic orders (other than Final Judgments of • If hard copies are being sent, please do not use ICMS formatting. • You must use the codes as pairs (e.g., JJJJ & DDDD for Judge’s signature). • Do not use page breaks or section breaks in your document. • Do not insert memos, notes, or comments into your documents. • Counsel for the (Plaintiff/Defendant) shall provide copies to all parties not listed for service below and any party that requires U.S.P.S. mail service: *List the name and email for each party being served through the e-portal. • Right justified, All caps, No spaces ➢ Please be sure that the Certificate of Service is complete, listing all Counsel of Record and parties. -- 11 of 16 -- 12 ➢ We DO NOT ACCEPT Orders via email that are not ready for immediate entry (i.e. allow 5 days to object, etc.). • You shall obtain approval of opposing counsel or the opposing party of the proposed Order prior to your submission to the Judge for entry. • Submission Method: ➢ If all parties receive e-service, proposed orders (other than • If hard copies are being sent to the Court, please do not use the ICMS coding from above. • Please do NOT staple copies. ➢ Orders should NOT be sent via US Mail AND by e-mail. • Please use one or the other, but not both. ➢ All proposed orders must be accompanied by a cover letter either (1) certifying that all parties agree to the order or (2) containing a statement identifying any disagreement of the parties as to the proposed order. ➢ A copy of the motion should be included with all proposed orders. • Please DO NOT attach the proposed order to the motion, submit separate documents for each. ➢ Please do not send proposed orders to the court until you have approval from all parties.
Any and all communication that a person desires to have considered by the Court must be filed appropriately with the Clerk of Court and copies must be provided to all interested parties.
Reviewer note: PDF sha256: a45c34ec8a70a7e72ba51adbd3e0876ea83f3263c06dafef9f3548ceb9f79d63. 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.