Local and Federal Rules
Many answers to frequently asked questions are found in Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, Federal Rules of Evidence, the Local Rules for the Middle District of Florida, and the Middle District of Florida's CM/ECF Administrative Procedures for Electronic Filing. The Court expects counsel and pro se litigants to know and follow these rules. Frequent review of the rules is recommended as they are often amended.  

Parties may obtain a copy of the Local Rules from the Court’s website or by visiting the Office of the Clerk of Court.  

Resources and information related to proceeding in court without a lawyer, including a handbook entitled Guide for Proceeding Without a Lawyer, can also be found on the Court’s website. Also helpful is the Middle District’s Handbook on Civil Discovery Practice (Civil Discovery Practice Handbook), which can be found under the forms and publications section of the Court’s website  

Emergency Motions
Emergency motions should be designated as such in the caption of the motion. Emergency motions should be served on opposing counsel, and any necessary non-parties, by hand delivery or other equivalent method of service. You must notify the Clerk’s office that you have filed an emergency motion. 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 a motion explain specifically why you believe the matter requires expedited consideration.

Motions to Compel/Protective Order
The parties should consult the Middle District’s Handbook on Civil Discovery Practice (Civil Discovery Practice Handbook) for guidance.

Confidentiality Orders
Confidentiality orders should be limited to documents or specific categories of documents that are subject to confidential treatment under prevailing law. Judge Lammens will not issue blanket confidentiality orders that provide that any information designated by the parties as confidential will be protected. However, the parties are free to enter into private confidentiality agreements. Under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26 (c), good cause must be shown before a protective order will be granted. In rare circumstances, the Court may order the filing of information under seal. See Middle District Discovery Handbook Section I. C. 2. If a request for filing under seal is made, the Eleventh Circuit precedent setting forth the governing standard and the public's interests, as well as the requirements of Local Rule 1.11, should be addressed. See U.S. v. Rosenthal, 763 F.2d 1291, 1293 (11th Cir. 1985); Nixon v. Warner Communications, Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 597 (1978); Chicago Tribune Co. v. Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc., 263 F.3d 1304, 1311-12 (11th Cir. 2001); Globe Newspaper Co. v. Superior Court for Norfolk County, 457 U.S. 596, 606-07 (1982); Microlumen, Inc. v. Allegrati, Case No. 8:07-cv-350-T-17TBM, 2007 WL 1247068 (M.D. Fla. April 30, 2007).

Disputes Arising During Depositions
If a dispute arises during a deposition in a case in which Judge Lammens is the assigned Magistrate Judge, counsel and any unrepresented parties may contact chambers to ascertain whether the Judge is available to consider the disputed issue by telephone. However, counsel for the parties should conduct a good faith conference pursuant to Local Rule 3.01(g) on the record before involving the court. If the Judge is available, he will hear the dispute in a telephone conference call in which all counsel and any unrepresented parties participate.

Hearings and Oral Argument
Hearings on motions are scheduled at the written request of the parties or, from time to time, by order of the judge without the request of the parties. Witnesses and other evidence are generally not permitted at oral argument unless permission to present evidence is obtained from the Court before the hearing. For planning purposes, this should be sought with sufficient time in advance of the hearing to allow the Court and opposing counsel to prepare. Counsel and unrepresented parties who wish to present argument are generally required to appear in court in person. Oral arguments and evidentiary hearings will be scheduled by the courtroom deputy. Although in person appearances are presumed, telephonic or video appearances may be granted – for good cause – upon the request of counsel through a motion filed with the Court.

Hearings Materials
If an evidentiary hearing is being conducted, each party shall submit three (3) 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 shall if directed to) 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 complied 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 the chambers email. Include the case number and case name in the email 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 thumbdrive containing the electronic file.

Courtroom Technology
Any party intending to use technology, including accessing the internet, shall consult with the Courtroom Deputy in advance.

Official Record of Proceedings
All proceedings before Judge Lammens are recorded by the courtroom tape recording system or by a court reporter.  

Proposed Orders
If the Court requests a proposed order, a copy should be submitted in Microsoft Word^® format to the chambers email. Generally, parties should not submit proposed orders unless directed to.

Trial Term and Calendar
Upon consent of the parties, Judge Lammens will schedule bench and jury trials to begin on a date certain.

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.

Hours
The Court typically holds trial from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM with two 15-minute breaks and a lunch recess. This schedule may change as circumstances dictate.  

Courtroom Technology
Any party intending to use technology, including accessing the internet, shall consult with the Courtroom Deputy in advance.

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 8 jurors for civil cases, although it may seat additional jurors in lengthier cases.   

In accordance with the applicable 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 shall email the proposed questions in Microsoft Word^® format to the chamber’s email. Include the case number and case name in the email subject line.

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 to case law that supports the requested non-pattern instruction.  

In addition, counsel must email the proposed jury instructions and verdict forms in Microsoft Word^® format to the chamber’s email. Include the case number and case name in the email subject line.  

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 3 copies of its final witness list to the Courtroom Deputy Clerk.   

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.   

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, prior to jury selection, counsel must provide the Courtroom Deputy Clerk with 3 copies of their respective exhibit lists and email the lists in Microsoft Word^® format to the chambers email. Include the case number and case name in the email subject line.   

Marking Exhibits
In advance of 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:

Exhibit Binders
On or before the morning of trial (prior to jury selection or the commencement of a bench trial), each party shall submit three (3) 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 shall 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 complied 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 the chambers email. Include the case number and case name in the email 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 thumbdrive containing the electronic file.

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 will not suffice, the Court permits the use of depositions. Generally, the parties shall 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.   

Trial Briefs
Generally, no later than seven days before the trial date set forth above (unless a specific date is set by the Court), to the extent necessary, each side may file a trial brief, not exceeding ten pages, with citations to authorities and arguments specifically addressing those issues (if any) raised in the pretrial statement (see Local Rule 3.06(c)(12) and (13)) and any other significant disputed issues of law likely to arise at trial.

Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law   
The parties should anticipate that they will be required to submit, within 21 to 30 days after the conclusion of the bench trial, Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law. When they do so, each shall be separately stated in numbered paragraphs and Findings of Fact shall contain a detailed listing of the relevant material facts the party has established, in a simple, narrative form; and the Conclusions of Law shall contain a full exposition of the legal theories relied upon by counsel. The proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law must be filed with the Court and also emailed to the chambers email in Microsoft Word^® format.