Fifth Judicial Circuit of Florida, Citrus, Hernando, Lake, Marion and Sumter Counties Filing Rules

A motion to appear pro hac vice is exempt from the supporting-written-memorandum requirement and is subject to the referenced procedures.

For each motion hearing request, each party must submit a proposed competing order unless the parties submit an agreed order.

A cover letter is recommended when necessary information must be conveyed to the judge, but a cover letter is not required for a simple standard order.

The Uniform Final Judgment of Foreclosure form must be used, or written permission to deviate must be obtained, and the exact legal description must be included.

The discovery motion must include a certification that counsel conferred with opposing counsel but could not resolve the dispute.

The courtesy-copy link must not be used to ask questions, including questions about proposed orders.

An email to the judicial office must identify the case number, case name, and relevant matter in its subject line.

Scheduling requests must be emailed to Toni Mann at tmann@circuit5.org.

A party may confirm a hearing date and time by email only after all parties agree to that selection.

Hearings are held via Zoom, and an in-person hearing must be requested when the hearing is scheduled.

Plaintiffs must file their witness list at least 120 days before pretrial.

A proposed order submitted before the motion and supporting documents are docketed will be rejected and must be resubmitted after docketing.

Alternative dispute resolution must be completed within 450 days after the complaint is filed in a general case.

The reply period is 5 days from receipt of the opposing memorandum.

Proposed orders should be submitted no more than 24 hours prior to the hearing and within five (5) days after the hearing is held

All proposed orders must use one of the court's website templates, which should be saved and reused.

A proposed Zoom order must leave space for the Court to insert the meeting link and access information.

Each jury instruction must be printed on its own separate sheet of paper.

The person being examined should bring identification if identity verification is requested.

Proposed orders must not contain page breaks, section breaks, memos, notes, or comments because hidden or blank-page formatting can cause system or filing problems and rejection.

After a case is set for trial, a continuance may be granted only for good cause, and lack of preparation is not a sufficient ground.

An agreed or opposed trial continuance motion must specifically state the grounds and when known, whether opposed, readiness actions and dates, required participant availability, the proposed trial-ready date, and whether all parties agree to that date.

A motion to continue a trial must be submitted at least fourteen days before the trial, absent exigent circumstances.

The party must either schedule a hearing on the continuance motion or obtain all parties’ consent; approval by the Court is not guaranteed.

A timely request for an extension should be filed to avoid administrative closure and possible revocation of Letters of Administration.

Filings should be paperless, and paper or U.S. Mail submission is prohibited unless absolutely necessary and approved in advance.

Parties must use the 5th Circuit website's Hernando/Judges/Scaglione pleading link to submit pleadings.

Original wills and death certificates must be sent directly to the clerk of court.

Please DO send your proposed orders to the Judicial Assistant via US Mail ONLY (orders via email will not be accepted).

Proposed orders may not be submitted through the court's electronic filing portal.

Service under an extension is permitted or must occur within 240 days from filing of the complaint, as reflected in the case-completion schedule.

A party asking the Court to mail proposed orders must submit hard copies to the stated Chambers address with stamped, addressed envelopes for every party not receiving electronic service.

When a proposed Final Judgment requires a Fact Information Sheet, it must be served with the judgment and the filed certificate of service must report that service.

A party seeking to add allegations arising after filing must submit a Supplemental Petition and serve a copy on the Respondent.

Attorneys and self-represented litigants must update their registered electronic-service email information using Form 2.603 whenever the email account changes.

Courtesy copies may not be submitted by electronic service and must instead be submitted through the courtesy-copy link.

Every criminal continuance motion requires one courtesy copy for the Judicial Assistant when it is e-filed.

Standard motions should be filed with the Clerk and should not be copied to the Judge.

Additionally, copies of caselaw and legal authority shall be sent to the Court according to the requirements under Paragraph F above.

Courtesy copies of case law may be submitted to the court and opposing party or counsel when the case presents a novel legal issue.

Counsel with settlement authority must confer before hearing scheduling, include a Certificate of Compliance in the Notice of Hearing, and the counsel scheduling the hearing is responsible for arranging the conference.

The Court ordinarily resolves motions based on the motion and legal memorandum without oral argument.

Counsel must confer in good faith, certify the unresolved conferral, and attach the correspondence before filing a motion to compel or for a protective order; email alone is insufficient, and noncompliance may result in striking the motion.

All unstipulated motions in limine must be filed in accordance with the Court's motion practice procedure order.

The parties must confer and attempt to resolve by agreement the issues raised in their in limine motions.

No legal memorandum may exceed ten pages without the Court’s prior permission.

Unless the Court gives prior permission, a legal memorandum may not exceed 15 pages.

Unless the court grants prior permission, legal memoranda on motions or court requests are limited to 10 pages, in 12-point font and double spaced; motions and memoranda, responses, and replies each have a 10-page limit.

Unless the court gives prior permission, a legal memorandum may not exceed 15 pages.

The certificate of service must list the parties and must fit on one page rather than being split across two pages.

The vital statistics form must be submitted separately.

The sender should, if possible, send all documents in one submission.

Parties with many exhibits are encouraged to use a thumb drive or zip files to transmit evidence or to agree to appear in person.

Exhibits must be submitted as separate documents rather than bundled into one PDF.

Litigants should not send binders or notebooks containing copies of pleadings already in the court file.

A party filing a case should not prepay for certified copies at the time of filing.

All payments must be submitted directly to the clerk of courts and not to the judge's office.

Copies of identification filed with the court must redact all license information except the last four digits and all birth information except the month and day.