United States District Court – Southern District of Florida – Amendments to the Local Rules pursuant to Order 2012-91

United States District Court – Southern District of Florida – Amendments to the Local Rules pursuant to Order 2012-91 took effect December 3, 2012. A summary of the amendments are below and you can click HERE to see the full Order.

Rule 3.3 Civil Cover Sheet – Amended to eliminate reference to civil cover sheet being available at the Clerk’s Office and directing readers to the Court’s website instead.

Rule 7.3 Attorneys Fees and Costs – Section (8)(b) is amended to make clear that a draft fee motion need not be prepared on issues where the parties agree.

Rule 16.1 Pretrial Procedure in Civil Actions – Amended to add subparagraph (b)(3)(C). Proposed scheduling order must now include “[a]ny agreements or issues to be decided by the Court regarding the preservation, disclosure, and discovery of documents, ESI, or things.”

Rule 16.2 Mediation – Amended to delete reference to attorney admissions examination which was eliminated under Administrative Order 2012-14 and to heighten qualifications for mediator certification.  It adds the requirement that certified mediators be current members of the SD bar and must have substantial experience as a mediator. Also, Rule 16.2(h) was eliminated and the form was relocated to the Court’s website.

Rule 88.1 Appointment of Counsel for Indigent Defendants in Criminal Proceedings – Amended to advise readers that the Plan of the US DC for the SD of Florida pursuant to the Criminal Justice Act of 1964 can be found on the Court’s website rather than at the Clerk’s Office.

Appendix A – Discovery Practices Handbook – is amended to add the requirement that party must obtain leave of court, and the court must grant leave, if parties haven’t stipulated and the deposition would result in more than 10 depositions being taken by a side.

Additionally, there were some Admiralty rule changes all of which I believe deal with forms being removed from the book and added to the Court’s website instead.

Finally, the Special Rules Governing the Admission and Practice of Attorneys were amended to remove references to the attorney admissions examination which was eliminated under Administrative Order 2012-14 and referring attorneys to the Court’s website for the petition for admission to the SD bar.