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

A motion to withdraw or substitute exhibits is exempt from the supporting-written-memorandum requirement unless the Court requests one.

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

The proposed order approving a Stipulated Civil Case Management Plan must identify the parties and case number, preserve the template formatting and codes, and be submitted through the court E-portal.

The foreclosure summary judgment checklist and all required supporting documents must be completed and e-filed at least 10 business days before the hearing.

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.

Hearing requests must be submitted by email to the Judicial Assistant.

Judge Toti’s office should be contacted by email at tmann@circuit5.org.

Judge Singeltary’s office should be contacted by email at etorres@circuit5.org.

A hearing must be requested by email to the judicial assistant.

Mediations | 270 Days Streamlined 450 Days General & Complex 500 Days Complex At least 45 Days Prior to Pretrial Hearing

At least five days before a hearing, all intended evidence must be submitted as pre-marked PDF exhibits to the opposing party and emailed to the Court.

An objection to case differentiation must be filed within 30 days.

The 10-day response period for an opposition memorandum runs from service of the motion or application.

Electronic evidence for every bench trial and evidentiary hearing, whether Zoom or live, is due to the Court and opposing counsel at least two business days before the hearing or trial.

When bulk-generating Word documents, filers should check for hidden fields and special characters using Word's Show/Hide feature.

Intended evidentiary exhibits must use the PDF format.

Jury instructions and verdict forms emailed to the division must be in Word format.

The person being examined need not bring medical records, diagnostic films or studies, aids, or reports.

All proposed orders must be submitted only in latest-version .docx format on 8.5-by-11-inch pages with one-inch margins and provided to opposing counsel and any self-represented litigant.

The client-notification policy does not apply to the State of Florida or other governmental bodies.

A motion to continue a previously set hearing must state specific grounds, acknowledge client consent, and identify opposing counsel's position.

A stipulated motion to continue a trial must state specific information supporting the request.

The proper motion must be filed with the Clerk’s office.

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

Electronic evidence must be emailed to the Court and opposing counsel at least two business days before a bench trial or evidentiary hearing.

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

Civil proposed orders may be submitted by email.

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

An agreed or unopposed proposed order must be submitted by email in Word format.

The plaintiff must serve the order on each defendant, obtain proof of service, and file that proof in the court file.

Attorneys and self-represented litigants must make and receive service by email, generally through the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal, unless excused.

Pre-marked evidence must be served on opposing counsel or the pro se party by the required deadline.

A proof of service or waiver of service must be electronically filed with the Court before the hearing on an emergency motion.

For a self-represented litigant not using portal e-service, the proposed order must provide for U.S. mail service and a filed notice of service within five days after order entry.

Parties must provide the court with courtesy copies of Completion and Status Reports through the designated Courtesy Copy link.

The requesting party must email one courtesy copy of the electronically filed hearing notice to the Judicial Assistant after date confirmation.

Courtesy copies of emergency motions and motions seeking an expedited response should be emailed to the court.

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.

Before filing a motion, the movant must make a good-faith effort to confer with the opposing party, subject to the listed exceptions.

Discovery-content motions are also subject to the meet-and-confer requirement.

Motions and applications ordinarily are decided on the papers unless rule or law requires a hearing, but summary judgment motions must be set for hearing and still must be accompanied and responded to with memoranda.

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

Before filing the specified discovery motions, counsel must confer and correspond with opposing counsel in a good-faith effort to resolve the issues by agreement.

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.

All payments must be submitted directly to the Clerk of Courts; do not send any form of payment to the Judge’s office.

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.