Seventeenth Judicial Circuit of Florida, Broward County Filing Rules
Official rules, filing, calendar, and procedure resources for this state court
For Broward court filings, start with Florida procedural rules, then check Seventeenth Judicial Circuit local rules, administrative orders, CMS, division procedures, and court schedule resources
- Court-level rules
Motions must state the facts with specificity, list all of the defendant's cases, the charges for each case, and the legal reason for custody; boilerplate motions are not allowed.
- Judge Rothschild Michael I.
Parties seeking relief must prepare orders that require no findings of law or fact, while the Court prepares orders requiring factual findings or legal interpretation.
- Judge Porth Ari Abraham
The notice of hearing must state the hearing date, time, and length of time set aside.
- Judge Bailey Tim
The Court may not hear a set matter without a Notice of Hearing unless the opposing party waives the notice requirement.
- Judge Gillespie Kenneth L.
Submitting an order through a CMS portal constitutes an affirmation that the matter is uncontested, all interested parties were served notice, and no objection has been received.
- Court-level rules
Counsel must contact the Division Judge's judicial assistant to be placed on an in-custody docket and must provide a working phone number and email address.
- Judge Rothschild Michael I.
Email is the preferred communication method and must include the opposing attorney or pro se litigant and other necessary parties.
- Judge Porth Ari Abraham
Division FZ provides email contacts for the judge (JPorth@17th.FLCOURTS.org), judicial assistant Makila Holmes (MHolmes@17th.FLCOURTS.org), and the division inbox (DIVFZ@17th.FLCOURTS.org).
- Judge Bailey Tim
Hearings not accommodated in court are arranged by contacting the Judicial Assistant at (954) 831-7821 or DIVFH@17th.flcourts.org.
- Judge Gillespie Kenneth L.
Hearings set through CMS must be cancelled by the party that set them; do not ask the Judicial Assistant to cancel them.
- Court-level rules
A copy of the motion must be e-filed with the Clerk's office.
- Judge Rothschild Michael I.
Attorneys must use the CMS system to schedule hearings on the morning motion calendar for the listed motion types and should not contact the Judicial Assistant for these motions.
- Judge Gillespie Kenneth L.
The Motion Calendar and Ex Parte dockets are eliminated; uncontested matters may be processed without a hearing through the court's CMS online portal.
- Judge Phillips Carol-Lisa
Hard copies of motions must not be sent to the Division; all paperwork must be uploaded electronically through CMS 'Supporting Documents'.
- Judge Bowman John B.
Agreed orders or agreed language following a hearing may be uploaded through the Judge's workbench.
- Judge Rothschild Michael I.
Rejected proposed orders must be resubmitted within 24 hours, or by Monday 5:00 p.m. if the rejection was submitted on a Friday.
- Judge Porth Ari Abraham
Requests for next-day add-on hearings must be submitted by the 3:00 p.m. cutoff.
- Judge Gillespie Kenneth L.
Parties must exchange witness and exhibit lists 5 days before evidentiary hearings unless otherwise ordered by the Court.
- Judge Phillips Carol-Lisa
Parties must submit the agreed jury questionnaires two days prior to juror prequalification.
- Judge Bowman John B.
A motion must be filed with the clerk before it can be set for hearing.
- Court-level rules
A copy of the motion must be sent by email to the Division Judge.
- Judge Rothschild Michael I.
A courtesy copy of the pleading, along with any case law, must be provided to the Court at least two days before the scheduled hearing.
- Judge Bailey Tim
Parties must provide the Court with case law and a courtesy copy of the pleading at least two days before the scheduled hearing.
- Judge Gillespie Kenneth L.
Upon filing the Notice of Readiness for Trial, a courtesy copy must be emailed to the Judicial Assistant along with any notices of unavailability, with all parties cc'd.
- Judge Siegel Andrew L.
When scheduling a five-to-ten minute motion hearing, a copy of the filed motion must be sent to the Judicial Assistant.
- Judge Rothschild Michael I.
Written continuance requests (with an attached order) must be filed by the Tuesday before calendar call, and only emergency written motions will be addressed after that deadline.
- Judge Porth Ari Abraham
When an evidentiary hearing is cancelled, all parties must be given adequate notice so the time slot can be reallocated to another case.
- Judge Bailey Tim
Written continuance requests must be filed with an attached order by the Wednesday before calendar call; only emergency written motions are addressed after that, and the rule applies to both defense counsel and state attorneys.
- Judge Siegel Andrew L.
A motion to continue must be submitted to the Court before the status hearing with an attached order, and if not agreed it must be set for hearing.
- Judge Phillips Carol-Lisa
Continuances are rarely granted and only upon good cause; all motions to continue trial must be set for a UMC hearing, and witness issues alone are insufficient grounds.
- Court-level rules
Documents or exhibits for a hearing must be provided to the Division Judge and opposing party no later than 2 days before the hearing, except for the State's access to criminal history and judicial notice of the court file.
- Judge Rothschild Michael I.
All emails regarding the setting of hearings must copy opposing parties and/or counsel.
- Judge Porth Ari Abraham
Hearing request emails to the Judicial Assistant must include a courtesy copy to the opposing party.
- Judge Bailey Tim
Motions must be filed in writing, properly notified to opposing counsel, and set for a hearing; they will not be heard at Calendar Call.
- Judge Gillespie Kenneth L.
All parties must be formally noticed of any hearing set before the Court; the automated CMS notification is not sufficient.
- Judge Rothschild Michael I.
Agreed motions should not be scheduled for hearing unless the Court determines a hearing is necessary.
- Judge Porth Ari Abraham
For special set hearings (15 minutes or longer), the motion must first be filed with the Clerk of Court, and chambers does not accept ex parte communication.
- Judge Bailey Tim
The moving party must meet and confer with opposing counsel or the opposing side before setting a hearing.
- Judge Gillespie Kenneth L.
Parties must hold a mandatory conference before proceeding, as required by Local Rule 10a.
- Judge Bowman John B.
Appellate matters have no hearings unless ordered by the Court, and all motions are decided on the papers.
- Judge Rothschild Michael I.
Proposed orders submitted electronically must be in Word format.
- Judge Porth Ari Abraham
After an oral ruling, the designated party must email the prepared order to the judge's office in both Word and PDF formats.
- Judge Phillips Carol-Lisa
Proposed orders must be in Word (.doc) format.
- Judge Bowman John B.
Pleadings must be printed single-sided (front page only); double-sided pleadings will be returned.
- Judge Deluca Steven P.
Trial exhibits exceeding four pages must be consecutively paginated and provided in sufficient copies for both parties and the witness, or they will not be allowed at trial.
- Judge Rothschild Michael I.
Every proposed order must include the underlying motion, either attached or referenced by the date of the pre-filed CMS motion.
- Judge Gillespie Kenneth L.
In virtual proceedings, no evidence may be submitted to the Court before the hearing; evidence must be presented contemporaneously with the proceeding per Administrative Order 2022-37-Gen.
- Judge Bowman John B.
Add-ons, cross notices, exchanged motions, and amended notices are prohibited without written Court approval delivered by U.S. mail, overnight, or hand-delivery.
- Judge Bristol Hope Tieman
Double-booking or adding matters onto a pre-scheduled hearing is prohibited at all times unless approved by the Court.
- Judge Robinson Michael A.
Add-ons to existing UMC hearings are prohibited unless all parties agree, and no more than two motions may be noticed per case on UMC.
- Judge Robinson Michael A.
Motions set on motion calendar are limited to 4 pages and motions set for special set hearing are limited to 10 pages.
- Judge Barner Florence Taylor
For special set hearings, the motion is limited to a maximum of 15 pages including footnotes and endnotes.
- Judge Powell Jackie
Motions uploaded to CMS for special set hearings are limited to 25 pages including footnotes and endnotes, due five business days before the hearing.
- Court-level rules
Motions are limited to 4 pages if set on motion calendar and 10 pages if set for special set hearing.
- Judge Phillips Carol-Lisa
Confidential paperwork for the judge's review must be submitted by email to div26@17th.flcourts.org.
- Judge Achille Pascale
Sensitive information in documents must be redacted per Rule 2.425, Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin.
- Judge di Pietro Nina W.
Exhibits containing confidential information such as bank account/routing numbers or social security numbers must be redacted (blacked out) before filing.
- Judge Singer Michele Towbin
Confidential paperwork for the judge to review must be emailed to div21@17th.flcourts.org.
- Judge Davis Michael
To file confidential pleadings, a party must schedule a UMC hearing so the judge issues an order notifying the clerk, then file a 'Notice of Confidential Information within Court Filing' marked 'See Judge's Order on file' with the documentation in the Clerk's Office.