GENERAL RULES AND REQUIREMENTS SCHEDULING HEARINGS

GENERAL RULES AND REQUIREMENTS
SCHEDULING HEARINGS:
ALL HEARING DATES MUST BE COORDINATED. Once a hearing date has been selected
and coordinated, please contact Judge Laboda’s Judicial Assistant, Kathleen at 239-533-2744 to
schedule the hearing. You must speak with the Judicial Assistant personally to schedule a
hearing; no messages regarding scheduling are to be left.
NOTICE: In compliance with the Twentieth Circuit Standards of Professionalism, all Notice
of Hearings shall reflect the following:
Whether the date and time have been coordinated with opposing counsel. If the
attorney has been unable to coordinate the hearing with opposing counsel, the
notice should state the specific good faith efforts the attorney undertook to
coordinate or why coordination was not obtained.
NOTE THE FOLLOWING:
If a hearing of 45 minutes or more is needed, counsel shall first send a copy of the
motion to the Judge with a cover letter. The cover letter shall set forth the agreed
amount of hearing time needed. If not agreed, the cover letter must set out each
attorney’s time estimations and reasoning.
Once a motion is scheduled, subsequent motions may not be “piggybacked” or
“cross-noticed” onto the time reserved for the first motion absent prior approval
of the Court and the original scheduling attorney.
Each party will be entitled to one-half of allotted hearing time.
MOTIONS THAT MUST BE HEARD BY MAGISTRATE:
The Judges of the Circuit Civil Division require attorneys to schedule all discovery motions
before Magistrate Robert L. Crongeyer. For hearing time please contact Lily in Magistrate
Crongeyer's office at 239-533-2583. These motions include:
Motion to Compel
Motion for Protective Order
Objection to Interrogatories/Request to Produce
Motion for In Camera Inspection
Motion for Contempt
Motion to Amend
Motion to Strike
Motion to Dismiss

If you are requesting a hearing on a Motion to Compel, you are required to file a Certificate of
Good Faith. Once you have filed the Certificate of Good Faith you may contact the Magistrate's
office at 239-533-2583 to obtain hearing time. You will then need to submit the Order of
Referral to our office along with a courtesy copy of your Certificate of Good Faith. Please be
sure to provide copies and stamped, addressed envelopes for conforming. The scheduling
attorney must prepare an "Order of Referral" for the Judge's signature, unless an Order has
previously been entered.
TELEPHONE APPEARANCES THROUGH COURT CALL: (15 minutes or less only)
If you have obtained court permission to attend a hearing telephonically (by order), all phone
hearings must be set up through CourtCall at least three business days in advance of the hearing
at the absolute latest. CourtCall can be contacted at 888-882-6878 or www.courtcall.com. If
someone is planning to attend by phone, the hearing must be scheduled and designated as a
phone hearing on JACS and noticed accordingly. Any party or attorney that wishes to attend a
hearing telephonically via CourtCall will be responsible for the payment of their own CourtCall
fees, for making timely arrangements with CourtCall, and ensuring the hearing notice reflects
telephonic attendance is planned. If attending a hearing by phone, you should call into CourtCall
at least five to ten minutes prior to the scheduled hearing time to ensure your timely appearance
and to provide ample time to address connection problems, if any. Also, please do not place your
phone on hold at any time while you are on CourtCall and remain quiet until your case is called.
DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED TO COURT:
When submitting documents or proposed Orders for the Court’s consideration, a cover letter
must be submitted, along with the documents or proposed Orders outlining the materials being
directed to the Court and state the reasons for such submissions.
All counsel and/or other parties (if not represented by counsel) shall be copied on the
cover letter and provided a set of the documents being submitted to the Court. The
cover letter must list the names of all counsel or other parties to whom copies were
sent.
If submitting a proposed Order or other such document, the cover letter must indicate
that all counsel have reviewed the proposed submission and indicate whether or not
they have an objection to the same. If there is an objection both parties must submit
their proposed Orders or documents in the same envelope to the Court, outlining the
objections and copying all parties with enclosures. Self addressed, stamped
envelopes should be included along with copies to be conformed of all proposed
Orders. The Court will not hold Orders pending objection by the parties. All
Orders not in conformity with the above will be returned.
EMERGENCY HEARINGS:

All requests for emergency hearings must be submitted to the Judge in writing with a copy of the
verified Motion signed not only by counsel but also their client(s). The motion must be filed
with the clerk prior to submission. All parties of interest shall be copied on the correspondence
to the Court. After review, the Judge will determine if hearing time is required.
CANCELLATIONS:
If you cancel a hearing you are required to file a Notice of Cancellation.
Said notice should first be filed with the Clerk of the Court, with copies being provided to all
parties and counsel of record, as well as the Judge’s office, as soon as counsel becomes aware
that the hearing is to be cancelled. The notice should indicate that the opposing side either
agreed to the cancellation or is otherwise given reasonable notice of the cancellation.
CONTINUANCES:
SANCTIONS:
This Court strictly adheres to Fla.R.Jud.Admin. 2.085(e) and Fla.R.Civ. P. 1.460
Continuances will rarely be granted, and then only upon a showing of an
unanticipated event and good cause.
Stipulations: Trials are not automatically continued by the submission of a
stipulation. A stipulation must be signed by all counsel and all parties and shall
be submitted to the Court detailing the reasons a continuance is necessary. The Judge
will determine if a hearing is required. All parties shall continue to prepare for
trial as scheduled until an Order is entered granting a continuance.
Motions: All opposed motions must include the moving party’s written consent,
and be coordinated for hearing using JACS and in compliance with the requirements
set forth herein.
Failure to comply with these standard procedures and requirements and the administrative orders
upon which they are based may result in the cancellation of hearing, termination of the privilege
to appear telephonically, or any other sanctions the Court deems appropriate.