Magistrate Adrienne Fleming

• • Method of Communication: All communications to the magistrate’s office must be submitted by e-mail to civil_magistrate@circuit19.org, the dedicated division e-mail account. The subject line of any e-mail to the magistrate office must contain the case number, case name, and relevant matter (e.g., 2024 CA 001234 – Doe v. Jones – 2-Hour Hearing Requested).
    • The body of the e-mail must contain a brief description of the purpose of the e-mail, including the specific request from this office. Please include a good faith estimate of time needed for the entire hearing (after consulting with opposing counsel/party), and a good faith certification that attempts have been made to resolve the matter with the outcome of those attempts.
    • Do not send multiple emails about the same subject matter. Emails are answered in the order in which they are received. Do not start a separate email thread about the same case—it will be ignored until you reply within the thread.
    • Documents submitted to this office by e-mail should be attached as a document with a name that is easily identifiable and searchable and not attached under a “scanned doc” name. Example of simple name for document: Smith v. Jones 18CA6 O-Set Hrg.
    • Self-represented litigants and attorneys excused from e-mail service may communicate with the magistrate’s office by telephone call to 772-871-7244. The magistrate’s office does not accept text messages. Please understand that the general magistrate assistant is entitled to sick and vacation time, which might occasionally account for a delayed return of a voicemail.
  • Ex Parte Communications: All communications with the magistrate’s office must comply with Canon 3 of the Code of Judicial Conduct, which prohibits a judge from initiating, permitting, or considering ex parte communications and from considering other communications outside the presence of the parties concerning a pending or impending proceeding, unless authorized by law. All parties must be copied on any e-mail directed to the magistrate’s office, unless an ex parte communication is authorized by law.
  • Unsolicited Communications: Unsolicited communications from non-parties will not be considered by the court. Parties may only contact the magistrate’s office in accordance with these practices and procedures.
  • E-Filing Portal Contact Information: All attorneys and self-represented litigants must provide an e-mail address to receive signed orders electronically, unless excused. Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516. It is the responsibility of attorneys and self-represented litigants to update their contact information using Form 2.603 any time there is a change in the e-mail account registered for electronic service.
  • Response to Inquiries: The general magistrate assistant is not authorized to provide legal advice.
    • The general magistrate assistant strives to substantively respond to all inquiries within one business day. If the general magistrate assistant is unable to substantively respond within one business day, your message will be acknowledged as received with an indication of when to expect a substantive response and alternate contact for immediate assistance.
    • When the general magistrate assistant is out of the office, your message will be acknowledged as received with an indication of when to expect a substantive response and an alternate contact for immediate assistance.
    • Any e-mail sent to or from the magistrate’s office may be a public record subject to disclosure.

• Jurisdiction: the following matters may be referred to the General Magistrate
  • All Discovery Motions
  • Motion for Contempt
  • Motion for Protective Order
  • Motion for Sanctions
  • Motion to Transfer Venue
  • Motion to Add/Substitute Parties
  • Motion to Withdraw/Substitution of Counsel
  • Motion to Intervene
  • Motion to Amend
  • Motion for Attorney’s Fees/Costs
  • Pretrial Conference
  • Status/Case Management Conference
  • Motion to Compel

  UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should a dispositive motion ever be set before the general magistrate. Further, the General Magistrate SHALL NOT address any motions to continue and/or any motions that will move an e-docket call or trial date.

• Court Schedule: All hearings must be coordinated through the general magistrate assistant via email civil_magistrate@circuit19.org. This office does not currently use an online calendar. All hearings are special set at this time. Generally, Martin County hearings are on Monday, St. Lucie County hearings are on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Indian River County hearings are on Wednesdays. Okeechobee hearings are as needed.
  • If you would like an in-person hearing, please advise the magistrate assistant when emailing civil_magistrate@circuit19.org so it may be specially set. Otherwise, all hearings will be held via Zoom (Zoom Meeting ID: 557 478 4701).
  • An Order of Referral can be found on our webpage under forms. Please submit a proposed Order of Referral within three (3) days of requesting to schedule your hearing.
• Scheduling Hearings: All motions must be filed with the County Clerk of Court BEFORE you contact this office for hearing date and time. Hearings will not be coordinated unless 1) the motion is visible in the clerk’s file; and 2) you attach a time stamped copy of the motion to your e-mail requesting hearing time. Otherwise, you will not receive hearing time from the general magistrate assistant.
  • You must account for time for both sides and state in your email that you have done so, as the court’s presumption is to equally divide the time. Your hearing will be set quicker if your initial email indicates that you have conferred with opposing counsel and the time requested accounts for that side of the hearing as well. DO NOT JUST PROVIDE THE TIME FOR YOUR SIDE OF THE HEARING.
  • When requesting a hearing date, please email the general magistrate assistant at civil_magistrate@circuit19.org and copy opposing counsel and/or the pro se party. Once the general magistrate assistant has responded with dates, it is your responsibility to confirm availability with all parties and notify the general magistrate assistant to reserve the date. Hearing dates will be confirmed on a first come, first served basis via email. Your hearing date and time is not confirmed until you receive a confirmation email from the general magistrate assistant that it has been added to the court calendar. Do not file a notice of hearing in the court file until you have received that confirmation from the general magistrate assistant.
  • Emails including the general magistrate assistant attempting to coordinate dates and times with opposing counsel will be ignored and may result in your hearing time being given away as a sanction. The moving party is responsible for contacting the opposing party to coordinate the hearing date. If after three (3) business days you are unable to coordinate the hearing date, you may report that issue to the general magistrate assistant to unilaterally schedule the hearing setting forth in your good faith certificate the attempts that were made to coordinate the hearing (see below under good faith certificate).
  • The party filing the motion shall submit a proper request for hearing time to the general magistrate assistant within 30 days of the filing of the motion. Failure to do so may result in the denial of the motion without prejudice.
• Notice of Hearing: A notice of hearing must be filed and served immediately after reserving hearing time.
  • A notice of hearing involving any remote appearance must list the magistrate Zoom credentials (Magistrate Adrienne Fleming’s personal meeting room is Zoom Meeting ID: 557 478 4701) and include the following language:
    • At the designated hearing time, you will appear through Zoom teleconferencing (without charge) via video by clicking https://zoom.us/j/5574784701 or phone by calling 1-669-900- 9128; Meeting ID: 557 478 4701. You must appear via video to provide testimony. You will be in the virtual “waiting room” until the case is called.
  • All notices of hearing must contain the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) notification required by Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.540.
  • Notices of hearings MUST contain a good faith certificate (see Good Faith Certificate below) and MUST contain the other party’s email address if the party is pro se. Statements of service to “all parties of record” do not constitute proper notice, which may cause the hearing to be canceled.
    • Additional motions may not be “piggy-backed” by cross-notice unless counsel first confirms with the party who scheduled the hearing and/or the general magistrate assistant that sufficient additional time can be reserved to hear them.
  • Good Faith Certificate: All motions and notices of hearing must contain a certificate of good faith that you have contacted the opposing party (and attempted to resolve the matter without court time) and coordinated the hearing date, time, and amount of time necessary for the hearing. It must include a certification that the movant (attorney versus staff if the movant is represented) has personally and directly conferred or attempted to confer with the attorney or opposing party.
  • Attempts to Confer: One attorney’s staff member emailing/calling another attorney’s staff member regarding availability on dates and times does not constitute a good faith certification that attempts have been made to resolve the matter. An attorney must directly contact another attorney (or pro se party) and allow at least 48 hours during the business week for a response. Further, sending a letter in the mail (whether to opposing counsel or a pro se party) will never meet the requirement of good faith certification. Hearing time will not be allocated unless the good faith certification is strictly followed.
• Submission Deadlines: The court must receive all materials for the hearing no later than five (5) business days before the hearing.
  • Required materials include a courtesy of any case law on which the party intends to rely, and a proposed order.
• Order of Proceedings: Matters will be heard in the order they appear on the docket.
• Continuance Procedure: Continuances are disfavored and will be granted only upon good cause shown. Successive continuances are highly disfavored. Lack of due diligence is not grounds for granting a continuance.
  • Motions for continuance must be submitted at least three (3) days prior to the scheduled court date for which the continuance is sought, barring exigent circumstances. Except for good cause shown, the motion must be signed by the party requesting the continuance, as required by Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.545(e).
  • Motions for continuance must state with specificity: (1) the basis of the need for the continuance, including when the basis became known to the movant; (2) whether the motion is opposed; (3) the action and specific dates for the action that will enable the movant to be ready, including, but not limited to, confirming the specific date any required participants are available; and (4) the proposed date by which the case will be ready to proceed and whether that date is agreed by all parties.
• Canceling Hearings: If you want to cancel a hearing, contact the general magistrate assistant at civil_magistrate@circuit19.org. If you want to cancel a hearing on the opposing party’s motion or petition, contact the opposing party first to determine whether he/she will agree to the cancellation. No notice of cancellation will be accepted by this office unless 1) the pending pleading is withdrawn; or 2) the pending pleading is rescheduled while remaining in compliance with the CMPO. A mere cancellation of hearing that does not resolve or progress the underlying pleading is unacceptable and will be stricken from the court file. Further, the court may require the parties and attorneys to attend and conduct a case management conference. It is the responsibility of the moving party to contact the general magistrate assistant at civil_magistrate@circuit19.org to advise of the cancellation AND file a notice of cancellation in the court file and serve a notice of cancellation on opposing counsel and any self-represented litigant.
• Conferral: Pursuant to Rule 1.202, before filing a non-dispositive motion, the movant must confer with opposing party/counsel in a good-faith effort to resolve the issues raised in the motion. Motions without the required Certificate of Conferral, in the correct format, may be stricken for non-compliance. At the end of the motion and above the signature block, the movant must include a certificate of conferral in substantially the following form:

“I certify that prior to filing this motion, I discussed the relief requested in this motion by [method of communication and date] with the opposing party and [the opposing party (agrees or disagrees) on the resolution of all or part of the motion]
OR
[the opposing party did not respond (describing with particularity all of the efforts undertaken to accomplish dialogue with the opposing party prior to filing the motion)].”
OR
“I certify that conferral prior to filing is not required under rule 1.202.”
The date listed in the conferral must be within 7 days of the filing of the motion. Otherwise, parties will be required to update the conferral before hearing time will be offered.

• Remote Appearance Procedure: All hearing are Zoom unless specifically requested to be in person.
• Platform Used: The court uses Zoom for remote appearances..
• Platform Meeting ID#: Meeting ID#: 557 478 4701.

• • Format: For example: All proposed orders must be submitted in Word. All proposed orders must be attached to an email either (1) certifying that all parties agree to the order or (2) containing a statement identifying any disagreement of the parties as to the proposed order.
    • The document should be named in a searchable format, which contains a short style of the case, short case number and short name of order. SAMPLE: Doe v. Jones 25-CA-3 (grant MTC). Your proposed order must contain a complete service list, setting forth e-service address for pro se litigants, as well as any postal addresses if there is no e-service address. Statements of service to “all parties of record” will be returned unsigned. Signed orders will be e-filed and e-served via the e-portal only.
    • If your hearing is set to address more than one pleading/motion, each pleading/motion must be accounted for in your proposed order (in the title, in the body, and in the ordered section). A separate proposed order for each individual motion will be rejected as non-compliant with these procedures.
    • Failure to timely submit proposed orders will result in the hearing being struck from the docket.
  • Submission Method: Via email to civil_magistrate@circuit19.org.
  • Deadline for Submissions: Attorneys SHALL submit proposed orders two business days prior to hearings.
  • Other Procedures Relating to Submission of Recommended Orders: Strict compliance with this section is greatly appreciated by the court and helps produce orders more quickly and efficiently.
    • If you are submitting an agreed order for signature, please note it in the body of the email to the general magistrate assistant. Your proposed order must have the word “agreed” in the title.

• • When Required: When counsel/party intends to rely on case law or other documents in a hearing, a courtesy electronic copy submitted to the court and the opposing party in advance is required. Please make sure the documents are tabbed for ease of reference.
  • Format: Any digital format is acceptable (though PDF is preferred), as long as the pertinent sections are highlighted (for case law) or tabbed (for binders). This is a paperless office. Brevity is appreciated.
  • Submission Method: Via email to civil_magistrate@circuit19.org
  • Deadline for Submissions: Courtesy copies of case law, legal memoranda, and/or hearing materials must be submitted no later than five business days prior to the hearing.
  • Other Procedures Related to Documents: Legal memoranda are appreciated, and when submitted, they must comply with these procedures and deadlines.

• • Submission Method: The Exhibit List shall be filed with the Clerk’s office. Send a copy of the Exhibit List and the exhibits to the other party at least two (2) business days prior to the start of the hearing.
    • A completed Exhibit List and all proposed exhibits must be titled in the proper format, labeled with the clerk’s exhibit template on the first page.
  • Format: Exhibits must be submitted to the clerk of court as the clerk directs. If the hearing is on Zoom the attorneys and self-represented litigants shall contact the clerk at least two (2) days prior for submittal instructions. Exhibits must be labeled in the following format: ‘Petitioner/Plaintiff 1’ or ‘Respondent/Defendant A.’” If the hearing is in person, all attorneys and self-represented litigants must bring sufficient copies of each exhibit for the clerk, the court, and each party to review during the hearing.
  • Deadline for Submissions: All exhibits must be received in chambers two (2) days before the evidentiary proceeding.

• • ADA Accommodations: If you need an ADA accommodation, please refer to the Americans with Disabilities Act tab on the circuit website. Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) – Circuit19.
  • Interpreter Requests: If you are in need of translation services, it is your responsibility to bring a Florida Supreme Court certified interpreter to your court hearing. Your notification of the need for an interpreter to either the general magistrate assistant or the clerk is greatly appreciated at the time of the scheduling of the hearing for planning purposes.
    • A list of certified interpreters can be found on the “Find an Interpreter” page of the Florida Courts website.