MANDATORY TRIAL PRACTICE PROCEDURES
Welcome to Judge Graham’s Division. In an effort to alert the
parties to issues that frequently arise, the following required
procedures have been prepared to assist in the orderly resolution of
your case. Keep in mind, these procedures are non-exhaustive and only
serve as a supplement to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the
Local Rules for the Southern District of Florida.
1. The Court’s Notice of Status Conference requires the parties to
submit a Joint Status Report. This Joint Status Report will serve
to satisfy the parties’ Rule 16 obligations.
2. After the initial status conference in this case is held, the
Court will enter a Scheduling Order to govern proceedings. Please
review this Scheduling Order carefully. Calendar all dates with
advance ticklers, to ensure your submissions will be filed timely.
3. The Southern District of Florida is one of the busiest trial
courts in the country. In order to resolve your case in a timely
manner, please refrain from filing motions for extensions of time.
Motions to Extend, Continue or Enlarge will rarely be granted.
4. Counsel are reminded to comply with the filing requirements set
forth in the Administrative Procedures of the Southern District of
Florida for the Case Management Electronic Case Filing (CM/ECF).
5. In accordance with Local Rule 5.1.a.4, all pleadings, motions, and
other papers tendered for filing shall be plainly typed or written
on one (1) side with one (1) inch margins on each side and
properly paginated at the bottom of each page. In addition, all
such papers shall be double-spaced and typed papers shall appear
in twelve (12) point font size.
6. Do not request extensions of the discovery deadline without making
every effort to obtain discovery and resolve discovery disputes.
Any requests to extend the discovery deadline must be made at
least ten (10) days before the expiration of the discovery
deadline. Generally, the Court will not permit discovery past the
discovery deadline, except on occasion at the convenience of the
parties and without Court intervention in the resolution of any
discovery disputes. Any such accommodation will not result in an
extension of the remaining pre-trial deadlines i.e. deadline for
filing motions, trial, etc.
7. For all motions requesting extensions of time, the moving party
should type on the middle right hand side of the pleading, the
deadline for filing motions, the date of the pretrial conference,
calendar call and trial period, if applicable. Also, advise the
number of times requests for extensions of time have been filed
and whether the motion has been referred to the Magistrate Judge.
A sample format appears below. Motions without this information
will be summarily denied.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
___________ DIVISION
CASE NO. xx-xxxxx-CIV-GRAHAM
A,
Plaintiff,
Deadline to file motions: xx/xx/xx
vs. Pretrial Conference: xx/xx/xx
Calendar Call: xx/xx/xx
B, Trial Period: xx/xx/xx
No. of extension requests: ________
Defendant. Referred to Magistrate: Yes/No
__________________________/
MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME
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8. If a Motion to Extend, Enlarge, Continue is granted, DO NOT MAKE
a second request whether it is related or not to the granted
relief. In other words, no more than one Motion to Extend per
party will be considered.
9. Include a proposed order with all motions in accordance with the
CM/ECF Administrative Procedures. The proposed document should be
sent separately by e-mail in WordPerfect or Word format. The e-
mail subject line and the name of the attachment should include the
case number, docket entry number, followed by a short description
of the attachment (e.g., xx-CV-xxxxx Order on DE xx) to
[email protected].
10. In accordance with Local Rule 7.1.a.3, the moving party must
include the position of opposing parties on all appropriate
motions. Please indicate with specificity the manner in which
reasonable efforts were initiated (via facsimile, e-mail or voice-
mail), the dates of such efforts, and the number of times an
inquiry and follow up on the response to the inquiry was sought.
Failure to comply with Local Rule 7.1.a.3 will likely result in
denial of the requested relief.
11. Although the Scheduling Order will contain a deadline to amend
pleadings, please make every effort to amend your pleadings as
early as possible.
12. The parties should make every effort to comply with the Scheduling
Order. The Court expects the parties to be prepared for trial on
the agreed upon scheduled trial date. Over ninety (90) percent of
the cases are reached during the scheduled trial period.
13. If the parties elect to have a United States Magistrate Judge
conduct any and all further proceedings in the case, including
trial, please have all pleadings filed thereafter indicate that
election by typing "CONSENT CASE" in bold type under the case
number.
14. You will receive an Order of Reference to Mediation. It is
imperative to utilize the mediation procedures as early as
possible. If the parties cannot agree on a mediator, they may
either seek random selection by the Clerk of the Court, or request
that the Court select a mediator for the parties.
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15. If the parties believe they may benefit from a settlement
conference before the Magistrate Judge, please request the Court
to refer the case for a settlement conference at any time. For
example this could be before or soon after the scheduling
conference.
16. Please keep your information on CM/ECF current to ensure that all
orders and other notices are distributed to the proper parties and
is still required when a party files a document electronically.
The certificate must state the manner in which service or notice
was accomplished on each party. A model form (Form B) can be found
in the CM/ECF Administrative Procedures. Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure 6(e) for service by mail shall also apply to service by
electronic means.
17. Local Rule 7.1.b.4 provides that a “Notification of Ninety Days
Expiring” be filed for any motion that has been pending and fully
briefed for ninety (90) days. In this Division, if a ripe motion
or decision after oral argument or a bench trial is pending for
more than forty-five (45) days, please contact Chambers and advise
the Judicial Administrator of the pendency of the motion.
18. For additional information, please visit the Court’s website
located at www.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Thank you for your attention to the above matters. We look forward
to the expeditious resolution of your disputes. If we can be of
assistance, please file the appropriate motion in a timely fashion.
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