Case Management Report
In calculating deadlines for the report, keep in mind the court's goal is to try Track Two cases within two years and Track Three cases within three years. The court schedules pretrial conferences one month before the trial month. The motion-filing deadline should be two months before the pretrial conference date. The discovery deadline should be one month before the motion-filing deadline. The deadline to add parties or amend pleadings should be at least three months before the discovery deadline. Download a blank case management report as needed.

Civil Status Conferences
Judge Lazzara routinely holds status conferences on all civil cases scheduled for trial. This conference is separate from the pretrial conference scheduled before the magistrate judge and is generally scheduled at 9:30 a.m. on the second Thursday of the month preceding the scheduled trial term.

Consent to Proceed Before a Magistrate Judge
Should the parties in any civil case consent to proceed before the magistrate judge, all parties must sign and submit the Notice, Consent, and Reference of a Civil Action to a Magistrate Judge (AO 85).

Jury Trials
Parties are provided a one-month trial calendar about two to three weeks before their trial month. The court generally will try cases in the order they are listed on the calendar, with criminal cases taking precedence. Counsel may contact the lawyers on the cases preceding theirs or consult with the courtroom deputy as to their position on the calendar.

Parties must file trial briefs, proposed voir dire questions, proposed jury instructions, and any special verdict forms five days before the trial term. Parties should provide special jury instructions and verdict forms should on a disk in WordPerfect 11 format (.wpd) or any earlier version.

On the date each trial begins, each party must give the courtroom deputy clerk the original and two copies of their respective exhibit and witness lists. All exhibits must be appropriately marked. Exhibit instructions, lists, and tags are available under the Forms tab.

Motion Practice
The court sometimes refers discovery matters to the assigned magistrate judge for disposition. Judge Lazzara disfavors motions in limine, which raise evidentiary issues more appropriately raised at trial.

Judge Lazzara does not routinely provide oral argument on dispositive motions.

Pretrial Conferences
The court refers all cases to the assigned magistrate judge to conduct the pretrial conference.

Proposed Orders
Parties should email proposed orders on substantive motions and should not docket them with the motion on CM/ECF.

Settlement
The court refers all cases to mediation four to six months before the trial term.

Change of Plea
Judge Lazzara generally handles his own changes of plea. Call Courtroom Deputy Clerk Sonya Cohn at (813) 301-5354 to schedule the change of plea. Pleas should be entered at least five days before the scheduled trial term.

Discovery
The court sometimes refers discovery matters to the assigned magistrate judge.

Jury Trials
Parties are provided a one-month trial calendar about two to three weeks before their trial month. The court generally will try cases in the order they are listed on the calendar, with criminal cases taking precedence. Counsel may contact the lawyers on the cases preceding theirs or consult with the courtroom deputy as to their position on the calendar.

Parties must file trial briefs, proposed voir dire questions, proposed jury instructions, and any special verdict forms five days before the trial term. Parties should provide special jury instructions and verdict forms on a disk in WordPerfect 11 format (.wpd) or any earlier version.

On the date each trial begins, each party must give the courtroom deputy the original and two copies of their respective exhibit and witness lists. All exhibits must be appropriately marked. Exhibit instructions, lists, and tags are available under the Forms tab above.

Motions to Continue
Any motions to continue sentencings, revocations hearings, or trials should contain the following information:

The court encourages counsel to file notices of unavailability when planning continuing legal education, seminars, and personal leave.

Proposed Orders
Parties should email proposed orders on substantive motions and should not docket them with the motion on CM/ECF.

Sentencing
Judge Lazzara schedules sentencing 70 to 90 days following the entry of the plea. Sentencings are set on Fridays at 9:00 a.m. Counsel and/or probation should notify chambers if sentencing is expected to exceed 30 minutes.