Twentieth Judicial Circuit of Florida, Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hendry and Lee Counties Filing Rules

A Florida driver license, Florida identification card, Florida voter-registration card, or affidavit of corroborating witness must be included.

The petition must contain an allegation establishing venue.

When submitting transmittal letters and proposed orders for signed copies to be returned, provide copies and postage-paid envelopes only for pro se parties.

A cross-noticed motion hearing may not be canceled without the written consent of the parties or counsel.

A motion with exhibits must include an exhibit index identifying each exhibit, its title, and its filing page, and the index may be filed separately or placed at the end of the motion.

Motions to add parties or amend the complaint must be filed sufficiently in advance to be heard before the 180-days-before-trial deadline.

All exhibits must be marked and exchanged at least five full business days before docket sounding.

At least five business days before an evidentiary hearing, counsel and parties must exchange with each other and file all intended evidence and demonstrative aids.

A party may file cross-exceptions within five days after service of the initial exceptions.

Unless the Court directs otherwise, jury instructions and verdict forms must be fully discussed and submitted before docket sounding.

Documents submitted to the Magistrate for signature must be emailed to the specified Magistrate’s-office address using the prescribed subject-line format.

All parties must be copied on emails to the judicial office unless an ex parte communication is authorized by law.

Trials must be coordinated through Civil Case Management.

For a hearing up to one hour, no letter to the judge is required; an email to the Judicial Assistant and all parties is sufficient.

All communications to the judicial office must be sent by e-mail to the dedicated division account, with the case number, case name, and relevant matter in the subject line.

A defendant may not be served under an extension more than 180 days after filing.

Opposing counsel must be copied on the proposed-order e-mail.

For hearings longer than one hour, a copy must be mailed to Judge Brodie's Office no later than seven days before the hearing.

The moving party must serve the motion on the opposing party at least seven days before submitting the order to the court.

The plaintiff must serve a copy of the standing order and attached case management plan with every summons issued in the case.

Oversized exhibits may be used at trial, but if practicable they must be reduced to 8 1/2 x 11 inches, with the reduced copy retained by the clerk.

The distribution list must be placed at the end of the document and ordinarily include attorneys, with parents or the mediator included only on some occasions.

Oversized exhibits may be used at trial, but if practicable they must be reduced to 8 1/2 by 11 inches, with the reduced copy retained by the clerk.

Oversized exhibits larger than 8 1/2 by 11 inches may be used at trial, but should be reduced to that size when practicable; the clerk retains the reduced copy and returns the original to counsel after trial.

Exhibits must use the prescribed party-specific label format.

The Report and Recommendations and Order on Report must be emailed to the magistrate.

An email-service-exempt self-represented litigant may file documents manually with the clerk under Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.525.

Jury instructions and verdict forms must be submitted electronically in Microsoft Word by email to the listed court address.

Proposed orders should be submitted through the stated E-Filing Portal, and the assigned judge should be verified in the Clerk’s ShowCase System.

Pretrial conference orders must be submitted through the Florida Courts E-Portal.

A notice of unavailability does not extend a case-management deadline, and a party unable to comply must act consistently with Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.200(e)(1)-(3).

Continuances are rarely granted and require both an unanticipated event and a showing of good cause.

A hearing covered by the standing order may not be cancelled without express permission from the court.

A stipulation to continue trial does not automatically continue the trial; it must be set for a hearing before docket sounding and should state the reasons for the request.

A case-management extension motion must state the basis and discovery date of the need, opposition status, requested and agreed-upon date, and action plan with specific dates.

Courtesy copies must be submitted at least seven days before a hearing or trial.

A courtesy copy must be submitted to the Court in Chambers when a Motion for Rehearing is filed.

Courtesy copies under 50 pages may be submitted to the court by email at the specified address.

Copies of the final judgment and envelopes must be provided for pro se parties.

A courtesy copy of the Notice of Compliance must be sent directly to the court immediately when the arbitration information is provided.

Except in emergency situations, before filing any motion in a civil case, except a motion for injunctive relief, for judgment on the pleadings, for summary judgment, to dismiss or to permit maintenance of a class action, to dismiss for failure to state a cause of action, to dismiss for lack of prosecution, or to otherwise involuntarily dismiss an action, the moving party shall confer with counsel for the opposing party in a good faith effort to resolve the issues raised by the motion, and shall file with the motion a statement certifying that the moving counsel has conferred with opposing counsel and that counsel have been unable to agree on the resolution of the motion.

All motions must comply with Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.202’s conferral requirement before filing.

Motions to withdraw in civil cases must be scheduled before Judge Brodie in a five-minute JACS calendar slot.

The discovery conference must be a substantive in-person or telephone conversation conducted in good faith to resolve the dispute without court action; merely attempting to confer or exchanging self-serving emails or faxes is insufficient.

Before filing a nondispositive motion or a motion listed under Rule 1.202(c), the movant must confer in good faith with opposing counsel, but the requirement does not apply to litigants without lawyers.

Jury instructions must be submitted in one agreed-upon package, appropriately ordered, with disputed instructions flagged.

Subsequent motions may not be piggybacked or cross-noticed onto a scheduled motion's reserved time without prior approval from both the court and the original scheduling attorney.

Exhibits may be filed together in one filing, but the filing must include an index identifying the exhibit pages.

A proposed order must not be submitted until its supporting documents are viewable in the Clerk's system.

The movant may file a reply brief not to exceed 7 pages in length with pinpoint citations to the record within 10 days after service of the response.

Memoranda or briefs considered for any hearing may not exceed ten pages and must satisfy the specified paper, lettering, and spacing requirements.

An applicant found not indigent may request a hearing to obtain judicial review of the clerk's decision without paying a review fee.

The plaintiff must pay the statutory clerk's fee for copies of each standing order issued and attached to the summons.

The plaintiff must pay the applicable statutory clerk's fee for each copy of the standing order attached to a summons.

Substance abuse records are confidential.