Judge Enjoliqué A. Lett
Individual Rules, Standing Orders & Policies
- Rules last changed:
Adjournments
- Discovery disputes must be raised within 28-day window (plus 7-day extension).
Communication
Chambers
Document Format Requirements6 rules
Electronic devices are prohibited in federal courthouses except for specified categories.
Court's wording
All electronic devices including but not limited to Cellular Phones, Pagers, Personal Data Assistants (PDA), Laptop Computers, Tape Recorders, etc., are prohibited from being brought into any federal courthouse facility within the Southern District of Florida with the following exceptions:
Law enforcement officers with valid ID and official business exempt.
Court's wording
D. Any Special Agent for the United States Government or other law enforcement officer authorized to enforce the law within the Southern District of Florida, having official business within the courthouse facility and possessing a valid agency/department issued identification badge; or,
B. Any federal courthouse employee (United States Probation, Clerk's Office, Chambers Staff, and United States Marshals Service) with valid permanent government employee identification; or,
Attorneys with valid Florida Bar ID or pro hac vice order exempt.
- Attorneys
Court's wording
E. Any attorney permitted to practice law within the Southern District of Florida with a valid Florida Bar identification card or pro hac vice order having business within the facility. This applies to attorneys only and precludes staff, investigators, clients, etc.; or,
Jurors and witnesses with subpoenas may bring phones and e-readers.
Court's wording
F. Prospective jurors and seated jurors and witnesses with subpoenas shall be permitted to bring in their cellular phones (with or without their integrated cameras) and electronic book readers of any kind, including but not limited to Kindles, Nooks, iPads, and any type of electronic tablet reading device; or,
Federal prosecutor/public defender/bankruptcy trustee staff with valid ID exempt.
- Attorneys
Court's wording
C. Any attorney or employee of the United States Attorney's Office, the Federal Public Defender's Office or the United States Bankruptcy Trustee with a valid identification card issued from that office; or,
Document Filing Requirements10 rules
Parties must confer in good faith and certify efforts before discovery hearing.
- Document
- Motion for discovery hearing
Must include
- •Certificate of conference
Court's wording
Before requesting a discovery hearing, the parties must first confer in a good- faith effort to resolve the dispute in compliance with Local Rule 7.1(a)(3). Under this Local Rule, counsel must certify that they made good-faith efforts to confer. An adequate certificate of conferral requires at least one personal communication (in
As part of their conferral, the parties should specifically discuss each discovery request and objection at issue before seeking Court intervention. If counsel refuses to confer, then the party seeking the hearing shall state so and outline the efforts made to confer with opposing counsel in the Motion for Discovery Hearing, which is explained in paragraph three below.
The parties should take note that the Court strictly enforces Local Rule 26.1(d), which requires that all discovery, including resolution of discovery disputes, be fully completed prior to the expiration of the discovery cutoff.
Parties shall not make conclusory, boilerplate objections. Blanket, unsupported objections that a discovery
Relevance/proportionality objections must include specific explanations.
Court's wording
An objection based on relevance or proportionality must include a specific explanation describing why the requested discovery is not relevant and/or why the requested discovery is disproportionate in light of the factors listed in Rule 26(b)(1).
File joint motion with proposed order and email Word version to chambers.
Court's wording
When the parties have stipulated to the entry of an agreed-upon discovery order, such as a standard confidentiality-type of protective order, the parties shall file a joint motion for entry of the stipulated order and attach a copy of the proposed stipulated order as Exhibit A. Immediately after the parties file the motion, the parties shall email a Word version of the proposed stipulated order to Lett@flsd.uscourts.gov.
Written judge authorization required for specific electronic device access.
Court's wording
A. A written request signed by a judge or other designated authority, forwarded to the United States Marshal for verification, allowing a specific person access to the courthouse with a specific electronic device for a specific purpose and period of time; or,
News reporters may bring devices with written agreement restricting use to text mode only.
Court's wording
G. Upon application and approval, news reporters may bring into courthouses cellular phones, mobile electronic devices and laptops, and may utilize the wireless capabilities of those devices, as long as the news reporters agree in writing to use their electronic device inside the District's courtrooms only in text function mode consistent with this Order. Reporters also must agree in writing to not record or transmit in any way audio, still photography, or video from anywhere inside courthouses nor from inside courtrooms, and agree to not transmit a live feed of any of the aforementioned at any time. Nor may they create a verbatim record of any proceeding. They must acknowledge in writing that a knowing or willful violation of the agreement will result in contempt of court. The Clerk of Court shall keep the list of reporters who have signed such agreement and make that list
Court will not enter agreed orders for discovery extensions or unargued agreements.
Court's wording
The Court does not enter agreed orders extending the due date for discovery responses, nor does the Court enter orders memorializing discovery agreements between the parties on issues that were not argued to the Court during a hearing.
Court may impose sanctions for improper discovery conduct under Rule 37.
Court's wording
The Court may impose sanctions, monetary or any other type, if it determines discovery is being improperly sought or is being withheld in bad faith or without substantial justification. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 37.
Filing & Service rules
Adjournment & Extension Requirements
Discovery disputes must be raised within 28-day window (plus 7-day extension).
Timing: Parties must timely raise discovery disputes as required by Local Rule 26.1(g)(2). The Court strictly enforces the Local Rule and interprets the 28-day window as the time during which the parties must make good-faith resolution efforts, subject to the seven-day extension permitted by the Local Rule. Thus, the parties must seek relief within the period prescribed in Local Rule 26.1(g)(2) by filing a joint motion for discovery hearing, as explained in paragraph three below.
Civil cases
Page 2 | DISCOVERY HEARING PROCEDURES
Chambers Communication Rules
Email demands same day are insufficient for conferral obligations.
cautions counsel that sending an email demanding a response or position on the same day is insufficient to satisfy the conferral obligations under this Local Rule. The Court expects all parties to engage in reasonable compromise to facilitate the resolution of discovery disputes.
Civil cases
Page 1 | MEET AND CONFER
Notify chambers via email to cancel discovery hearing if all issues resolved.
If the parties resolve all the disputed discovery issues, the parties shall notify chambers at Lett@flsd.uscourts.gov as soon as practicable and the discovery hearing will be cancelled.
Civil cases
Email chambers with specific resolved discovery issues if partial resolution.
If the parties resolve some, but not all, of the disputed discovery issues, the parties shall notify chambers as soon as practicable via email of the specific discovery issues that no longer require Court action.
Civil cases
Junior Lawyer Participation Incentives
Junior lawyers (5 years or less) may argue with multiple attorneys if notified in advance.
Ordinarily, only one lawyer for each party may argue at the discovery hearing. However, the Court has a strong commitment to supporting the development of our allow less-experienced practitioners the opportunity to argue in court. If a lawyer of five (5) or fewer years of experience will be arguing the matter, a party should advise the Court prior to the beginning of the hearing. In that event, the Court will allow multiple lawyers to argue on behalf of that party.
Civil cases