Any assertion of fact in a motion must be supported by an affidavit or testimony or be uncontested by the opposition before it will be accepted by the court.

Generally, counsel may remain at counsel table when addressing or presenting argument to the court. Alternatively, counsel may choose to stand at the lectern when presenting argument. However, the court requires all counsel to stand when addressing the court unless counsel affirmatively requests and obtains leave to remain seated for a medical or other compelling reason. The court also requires all counsel to speak clearly into the microphones provided at counsel table or at the lectern when addressing the court or when examining testifying witnesses.

Judge Kidd's courtroom has audio-visual capabilities that parties may use provided they make advance arrangements. Counsel and unrepresented parties who wish to reserve the court's equipment should contact Judge Kidd's courtroom deputy well before the date of the hearing or trial.

Local Rule 7.02 governs electronic devices in federal courthouses. If counsel and unrepresented parties are not permitted to bring electronic devices under the Local Rule and wish to bring their own equipment into the courtroom for the hearing or trial, they must apply for permission to do so from Judge Kidd and obtain an order granting that request well before the hearing or trial begins.

Few motions qualify as true emergencies. Emergency motions should be designated as such in the caption of the motion. See Local Rule 3.01(e). Emergency motions should be served on opposing counsel, and any necessary non-parties, by hand delivery or other equivalent method of service. Counsel are advised that the designation "emergency" may cause the court to abandon other pending matters in order to immediately address the "emergency," and the court may sanction any counsel or party who designates a motion as an "emergency" under circumstances that are not a true emergency.

Emergencies generally involve scenarios when irreparable harm is imminent, Privitera v. Amber Hill Farm, L.L.C., No. 5:12–cv–7–Oc–32TBS, 2012 WL 1259074, at *2 (M.D. Fla. May 24, 2012), "a person's life is in danger, a family is about to be thrown out of its home, or a ruinous calamity is about to descend upon the community at large," Onward Healthcare, Inc. v. Runnels, No. 6:12–cv–508–Orl–37KRS, 2012 WL 1259074, at *2 n.3 (M.D. Fla. Apr. 13, 2012).

It is not a true emergency when counsel has delayed discovery until the end of the discovery period or has otherwise failed to exercise diligence in meeting a pending deadline.

If a motion is not a true emergency but is time-sensitive, counsel may indicate the matter is time-sensitive in the caption of the motion and in the body of the motion explain why the matter requires expedited consideration. In any event, the court may consider and determine a motion designated as an "emergency" at any time. See Local Rule 3.01(e).

All parties are expected to abide by Judge Kidd's Order on Discovery Motions, if the Order is entered in a case.

As a general matter, before filing or responding to any motion in a civil case, the parties should review and comply with the standards set forth in the Middle District of Florida Handbook on Civil Discovery Practice. Before filing any discovery-related motion in a civil case, the moving party must confer with counsel for the opposing party in a good-faith effort to resolve the issues raised by the motion. Local Rule 3.01(g). 

If a dispute arises during a deposition in a case in which Judge Kidd is the assigned magistrate judge, counsel and any unrepresented parties may contact chambers to determine whether the judge is available to consider the disputed issue by telephone. Subject to the court's availability and other considerations, the court may convene an informal telephone conference to hear argument from the parties and, to the extent possible, to issue an oral order on the issues presented, all of which must be recorded by the parties' private court reporter. Depending upon the issues presented, the court may order the parties to submit expedited or truncated briefing on the issues before ruling. If the court declines to convene an informal telephone conference for any reason, the parties must promptly submit the matter to the court for consideration in the manner prescribed by Local Rule 3.01.

Hearings on motions are scheduled at the written request of the parties or, from time to time, by order of the judge without a request from the parties. Witnesses and other evidence are not permitted at oral argument unless the parties obtain permission to present evidence before the hearing. Counsel and unrepresented parties who wish to present argument are generally required to appear in court in person. The courtroom deputy will schedule oral arguments and evidentiary hearings. Although in-person appearances are presumed unless otherwise noted, the court—for good cause— may allow telephonic appearances, or schedule telephonic or video hearings on request.

Ordinarily, only one lawyer for each party may argue at a hearing. Nevertheless, the Court has a strong commitment to supporting the development of our next generation of lawyers. The Court encourages parties and senior attorneys to allow less-experienced practitioners the opportunity to argue in court. A party should advise the Court prior to the beginning of the hearing if a lawyer of 5 or fewer years of experience will be arguing the matter. In that event, the Court will allow multiple lawyers to argue on behalf of that party.

Ordinarily, only one lawyer for each party may argue at a hearing. However, Judge Kidd encourages parties and senior attorneys to provide young lawyers with the opportunity to argue in court. A party should advise Judge Kidd's courtroom deputy at least one business day prior to the beginning of the hearing if a lawyer with five or fewer years of experience will participate in oral argument. In that event, Judge Kidd will allow multiple lawyers to argue on behalf of that party.

If an evidentiary hearing is being conducted, each party must file a witness list at least two days prior to the hearing. Moreover, each party must submit three exhibit binders to the court on the day of the hearing. The copies should be marked with exhibit tags and appropriate exhibit numbers.

At least one day prior to the hearing, each party must also submit a courtesy electronic exhibit binder that contains all individual exhibits and joint exhibits each party intends to introduce. The exhibits must be saved as PDF documents and compiled into a single PDF file. Counsel must identify each exhibit separately using PDF bookmarks. If an exhibit is physical evidence, counsel should insert a placeholder exhibit that states, "Exhibit [number] is [description of exhibit]."

The electronic exhibit binder should be emailed to chambers. Include the case number and case name in the subject line. If the file containing the electronic exhibit binder is too large to email, then it may be submitted to the court on a USB drive containing the electronic file.

If a pending motion is rendered moot (i.e., no longer requires court intervention) due to a later agreement between the affected parties or some other occurrence, the court requests that the movant immediately file an appropriate notice that either:

To establish an orderly and efficient procedure for designating information and documents withheld from discovery on the basis of a privilege or other recognized protection, Judge Kidd has issued a standing order, No. 6:19-mc-42-Orl-EJK, which governs the procedure regarding the assertion of privilege in all cases assigned to Judge Kidd. Any motion to compel or motion for a protective order that fails to comply with those procedures will be denied.

All proceedings before Judge Kidd are recorded by the courtroom audio recording system or by a court reporter. The parties are not permitted to use a court reporter or other recording system to make a record of the proceedings conducted by Judge Kidd except with his prior consent. Transcripts of audio-recorded proceedings can be obtained by making a written request to Judge Kidd's courtroom deputy clerk.

Deposition Testimony
In accordance with the applicable case management and scheduling order, the court encourages stipulations of fact to avoid calling unnecessary witnesses. Where a stipulation is insufficient, the court permits the use of depositions. Generally, the parties must file with the court copies of deposition transcripts (preferably mini-script versions) reflecting, in different highlighted colors, the deposition excerpts designated by each party to be read at trial.

Exhibit Binders
By the morning of trial (before jury selection or the commencement of a bench trial), each party must submit three exhibit binders to the court. The copies should be marked with exhibit tags and appropriate exhibit numbers.

In addition, each party may also submit (but must if directed to) a courtesy electronic exhibit binder that contains all individual exhibits and joint exhibits each party intends to introduce at trial. The exhibits must be saved as PDF documents and compiled into a single PDF file. Counsel must identify each exhibit separately using PDF bookmarks.

If an exhibit is physical evidence, counsel should insert a placeholder exhibit that states, "Exhibit [number] is [description of exhibit]."

The electronic exhibit binder should be emailed to chambers. Include the case number and case name in the subject line. If the file containing the electronic exhibit binder is too large to email, then it may be submitted to the court on a thumb drive containing the electronic file.

Exhibit List
In accordance with the applicable case management and scheduling order, counsel for each party must file and exchange a list of exhibits that may be introduced at trial. In completing the exhibit list form, counsel must provide a descriptive notation sufficient to identify each exhibit.

In addition, on the morning of trial, before jury selection, counsel must provide the courtroom deputy with three copies of the exhibit lists and email the lists in Microsoft Word format (.doc and.docx) to chambers. Include the case number and case name in the subject line.

To avoid duplicate exhibits and confusion in the record, counsel must submit all stipulated exhibits as joint exhibits. Counsel must identify joint exhibits on a single exhibit list rather than separately list the joint exhibits on their individual exhibit lists. For example, if photographs or medical records are being stipulated into evidence, they should be marked as a joint exhibit and not listed separately on each party's witness list. Each party's exhibit list should include only additional exhibits to which objections have been asserted.

Jury Instructions and Verdict Forms
In accordance with the applicable case management and scheduling order, counsel must file and serve proposed jury instructions and verdict forms based on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Pattern Jury Instructions. If a pattern instruction is not available for a certain type of instruction, counsel must submit a proposed instruction and cite authority supporting the requested non-pattern instruction.

Jury Selection and Voir Dire
Jury selection is typically set for the morning of the first day of trial. The court conducts voir dire. The court typically selects eight jurors for civil cases, although it may seat additional jurors in lengthier cases.

In accordance with the case management and scheduling order, counsel must file and serve proposed voir dire questions specific to the case. The court will give due consideration to the parties' proposed questions when conducting voir dire. Counsel must email the proposed questions in Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx) to chambers. Include the case number and case name in the subject line.

Marking Exhibits
Before trial, counsel for each party must mark exhibits using the court's exhibit tags. Counsel must staple the appropriate party-specific exhibit tag to the upper right corner of the first page.

In completing the exhibit tags, the parties must use consecutive numbers to mark exhibits. For example:

Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law
The parties should expect to submit proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law within 21 to 30 days after the conclusion of the bench trial. Each must be separately stated in numbered paragraphs. Findings of fact must contain a detailed listing of the relevant material facts the party has established in a simple narrative form. Conclusions of law must contain a full exposition of the legal theories relied upon by counsel. Parties must file proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law with the court and email them to chambers in Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx).

Trial Briefs
Generally, no later than seven days before the trial date (unless the court sets a specific date), to the extent necessary, each side may file a trial brief not exceeding 10 pages, with citations to authorities and arguments specifically addressing issues (if any) raised in the pretrial statement (see Local Rule 3.06(b)) and any other significant disputed issues of law likely to arise at trial.

Trial Term and Calendar
Parties must immediately inform the court of any development that may affect trial after the trial date is set. In civil cases, the court may assess jury costs to the parties if they fail to inform it of settlement before the jury is called.

Witness Lists
In accordance with the applicable case management and scheduling order, counsel for each party must file and exchange a list of all witnesses who may be called at trial. In addition, on the morning of the first day of trial, counsel for each party must provide three copies of its final witness list to the courtroom deputy.

Absent good cause, the court will not permit the testimony of unlisted witnesses at trial over objection. This restriction does not apply to true rebuttal witnesses (i.e., witnesses whose testimony could not have been reasonably foreseen as necessary).