Beginning in January 2022, all civil cases pending before Judge Barber will have an initial in-person case management conference approximately 60 days after filing, followed by regular in-person status conferences occurring about every 6 months until the case is resolved. A lawyer for each party is required to attend these hearings. Requests to appear by phone or other means (Zoom) are highly disfavored, and such requests will generally be denied absent compelling circumstances.

Cases will ordinarily proceed as follows:

INITIAL CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE (approximately 60 days after case is filed). The Court will typically ask the parties to provide a brief description of the case, discuss compliance with Rule 1, Fed. R. Civ. P., settlement possibilities, and general scheduling matters. The Court will approve, modify, or reject the dates proposed by the parties in their case management report and issue a case management scheduling order shortly after the Initial case management conference. Jurisdictional issues, including removal/remand, may also be addressed at this time.

CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCES (approximately 6-9 months after the case is filed, and every 6 months thereafter; more frequently if necessary). The parties will update the Court on the progress of the case and identify any pending issues, disagreements, difficulties, or challenges. On a case-by-case basis, the Court will attempt to assist the parties in resolving pending issues. The Court may conduct brief hearings on ripe motions involving routine matters not requiring witness testimony. More complex motions may be set for a hearing at a future date, or decided on the papers, as appropriate. 

PRETRIAL CONFERENCE (approximately 24 months after case is filed and two weeks before trial term).  A trial date and associated pretrial conference will be set by the Court in the case management and scheduling order. All requirements outlined in the case management scheduling order must be met including, but not limited to, submission of a final joint pretrial statement, joint statement of the nature of the action, proposed jury instructions and verdict form, proposed voir dire questions, motions in limine, proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law, and (optional) trial briefs.

The pretrial conference shall be attended by counsel who will act as lead trial counsel in the case and who is vested with full authority to make agreements with respect to all matters pertaining to the trial. Furthermore, every party shall have a  client with full settlement authority (or other person with full settlement authority if the client does not have such authority) in attendance at the pretrial conference. Cases proceeding to trial will be set on a trial docket with various other cases, both civil and criminal; criminal cases have priority for trial over civil cases. Parties are expected to be ready to proceed to trial at any time during the assigned trial term upon forty-eight hours' notice. Parties desiring more certainty as to scheduling may consent to proceed before a U.S. Magistrate Judge. 

JURY INSTRUCTION CONFERENCE (approximately 24 months after case is filed). Jury instructions and verdict forms must be finalized, as far as possible, by the beginning of the trial. As indicated in the case management and scheduling order, jury instructions and verdict forms must be filed seven days before the pretrial conference. Typically, jury instruction issues will be discussed and resolved at the pretrial conference. However, in some cases a jury instruction  conference will be scheduled after the pretrial conference to finalize jury instructions and verdict forms.

TRIAL (approximately 24 months after case is filed). Jury trials typically take place from 9:00 am through 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday. All participants (attorneys, witnesses, parties) are expected to be available during those hours. The Court will work with the parties, where possible, to accommodate scheduling issues. However, in no event will jurors be inconvenienced to accommodate any scheduling issues presented by trial participants. Pursuant to Rule 1, Fed. R. Civ. P. and Rule 611(a), Fed. R. Evid., the Court will exercise reasonable control over the mode and order of examining witnesses and presenting evidence so as to make those procedures effective for determining the truth and avoid wasting time, and to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of the issues presented in the trial. Additional trial procedures will be discussed at the pretrial conference. 

Case Management and Scheduling Order
The court will enter a case management and scheduling order. It may be modified only for good cause and with the court’s consent.

Case Management Report
For the majority of the cases, parties must file the uniform case management report in accordance with Local Rule 3.02. Certain cases may be subject to a fast-track scheduling order. 

Closing Cases
For statistical purposes, the court will close civil cases after the entry of final judgment following a jury verdict, court decision, the parties' stipulation, or settlement. This will not affect the disposition of post-trial motions or the assessment of fees and costs as appropriate.

Mediation
Mediation is required in almost all civil cases. 

If the parties need to reschedule the mediation for a date within the court's mediation deadline, they should file a notice setting forth the new mediation date. However, if the parties seek to reset the mediation for a date outside the deadline, they must file a motion setting forth good cause. 

Service of the Complaint
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure allow 90 days to effect service of process. However, the court encourages counsel for the plaintiff to effect service upon all defendants as expeditiously as possible. 

Form on Motions
All motions and cross-motions must include a concise statement of the precise relief requested, a statement on the basis for the request, and a memorandum of legal authority in support of the request. See Local Rule 3.01. All motions and responses must be typewritten, double-spaced, and at least 13-point font. See Local Rule 1.08.

Hearings on Motions
The court often provides for oral argument on motions. The court will also consider a request by either party for oral argument. The parties should note that the court is continuously reviewing the record and (once response times have expired) the court may rule at any time on a pending motion – even if it is set for a hearing date.

Courtroom Technology and Equipment

General
Counsel may contact the courtroom deputy to test or be trained on the equipment in advance of a hearing or trial. 

Evidence Presentation System
The courtroom is equipped with an evidence presentation system. This system allows counsel with their laptop computer, iPad, or tablet to present evidence simultaneously in the courtroom through a system on interconnected video liquid crystal displays (LCD). To use the evidence presentation systems, counsel must bring necessary connection adapters.  

The court does not provide any equipment to present scanned documents, animations, graphics, or audio and video files from VHS, CD, DVD, Blu-Ray, or external drives like a USB thumb drive. All files must be presented from counsel’s laptop computer. Counsel is responsible for operating the evidence presentation system and court employees are not authorized to operate counsel’s laptop computer.

Personal Electronic Devices
Parties must review the Middle District of Florida's policy on possessing and using personal electronic devices (e.g., cellular phones, laptop computers, iPads, and tablets) in the courthouse in Local Rule 7.02. Under this policy, lawyers permitted to practice in the Middle District of Florida may bring personal electronic devices beyond the courthouse's security checkpoint by presenting a valid Florida Bar identification card or pro hac vice order.

Wireless Internet
The courtroom has wireless internet access, provided and paid for by the Bench Bar Fund. The courtroom deputy has the username and password.

Change of Plea
A change of plea is often referred to the assigned magistrate judge. A change of plea must be entered with the assigned magistrate judge by the established plea deadline unless otherwise permitted by the court.

Discovery
Discovery issues are often referred to the assigned magistrate judge.

Sentencing
Counsel must promptly notify the court if a sentencing hearing is expected to last longer than 30 minutes, so appropriate arrangements can be made. Sentencing memoranda should be filed at least three business days before the sentencing date to give the court a sufficient opportunity to review the material.

Absent extraordinary circumstances, the court will not consider motions to continue that are not filed at least 10 days before the sentencing hearing.

Status Conferences
The court conducts monthly status conferences in all pending criminal cases. The court will discuss scheduling issues, possibility of a plea, length of trial, and whether the case is ready for trial.

The parties are not excused from the status conference unless the plea agreement has been executed, the change-of-plea hearing has been scheduled, and a notice of cancellation of the status conference has been docketed before the status conference date. If a plea is not accepted for whatever reason after the status conference, counsel must be prepared to go to trial and should not expect the failure of the plea to be grounds for a continuance.

The court allows lead counsel to send another attorney to the status conference to stand in for them when lead counsel is unavailable. However, stand-in counsel must have the authority to waive a speedy trial and request a continuance. If lead counsel is unavailable to appear in person, the court also permits appearance by telephone. Counsel may make the appropriate arrangements by contacting the courtroom deputy at least three days before the scheduled conference.

Administrative Procedures for Electronic Filing
The Middle District of Florida mandates electronic filing through the Case Management/Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF) system in most circumstances.

Contacting Chambers
Counsel may call chambers with procedural questions and for other assistance. However, the law clerks will not give legal advice, interpret the rules, provide time estimates for the court's written rulings, or discuss the merits of a case.

Courtesy Copy
When filing motions electronically, it is not necessary to submit a courtesy copy to chambers unless the motion exceeds 100 pages in length, including exhibits and attachments. A courtesy copy should be mailed or delivered to chambers as soon as practicable after electronic filing.

Local and Federal Rules
Many answers to frequently asked questions are found in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 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.

Notice of Unavailability of Counsel
A Notice of Unavailability of Counsel has no force or effect in this court. Counsel should not rely on filing a notice of unavailability to excuse his or her failure to appear before the court or to comply with deadlines or other procedural rules.

If counsel needs to extend a deadline or reschedule a proceeding, counsel must first confer with opposing counsel and then file a motion for an extension of time or continuance with the court.

Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
When possible, counsel who files a document on Case Management/Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF) should scan the document with optical character recognition (OCR). OCR converts scanned images into text and provides the ability to search text and copy and paste in a document. OCR is available in most scanning and portable document format (.pdf) creation software packages. OCR is most effective on primarily text-based documents and is generally not beneficial for maps, photographs, charts, graphs, financial statements, and other non-text documents. Counsel using OCR are responsible for verifying reasonable accuracy and readability of the document.

Proposed Order
A proposed order is not necessary unless the court specifically requests one or the Local Rules require one. When submitting a proposed order, counsel must email it to the chambers inbox in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) format. Counsel must include the csase name and number in the subject line.

Requests for Extensions of Time
Because the Middle District of Florida is one of the busiest trial courts in the country, extensions of court-imposed dates and deadlines will be granted only for compelling reasons. The court’s permission is required to extend court-imposed dates and deadlines

Bench Trials
After the conclusion of the bench trial, the court will direct counsel for each party to file proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law (usually 30 days after the trial). The proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law must be emailed to the chambers inbox in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) format.

Deposition Testimony
Parties must file with the court color-coded copies of deposition transcripts (preferably mini-script versions) reflecting, in different highlighted colors, the deposition excerpts each party has designated to be read at trial, with objections noted in the margin, five days before the beginning of the trial term. Parties should submit unresolved objections to video-recorded depositions to the court 10 days before the trial term.

Exhibit Lists
In accordance with the applicable case management and scheduling order, counsel for each party must file and exchange a list of exhibits that might be introduced at trial. Counsel must use the exhibit list form found on this website. In completing the 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 their respective exhibit lists and email the lists in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) format to the chambers inbox. Include the case number and case name in the subject line.

Please avoid inserting duplicate exhibits into the record. Joint exhibits should be on a joint list. For example, if photographs or medical records are being stipulated jointly into evidence, they should be marked as a joint exhibit and not listed separately by both (all) parties' witness lists. 

Hours
The court typically conducts 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.

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, citing authority that supports the requested non-pattern instruction. In addition, counsel must email proposed jury instructions and verdict forms in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) format to the chambers inbox. Include the case number and case name in the subject line. The parties should use the Eleventh Circuit's jury instruction builder.

Jury Selection and Voir Dire
Jury selection is typically set for the Monday morning of the week a trial is set to begin.

Marking Exhibits
Before trial, counsel for each party must mark exhibits using the exhibit tags found on this website. 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:

Paper Exhibit Binder
On or before the morning of trial, before jury selection, counsel for each party must provide the court with a paper exhibit binder that contains all individual exhibits and joint exhibits each party intends to introduce at trial. The exhibits should be labeled.

If an exhibit is physical evidence (e.g., drugs, ammunition, firearm), counsel should insert a placeholder exhibit that states, "Exhibit [Number] is [description of exhibit]." If an exhibit contains child pornographic images, counsel should either (a) provide a redacted version of the exhibit, or (b) insert a placeholder exhibit that states, "Exhibit [Number] contains child pornographic images."

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 might be called at trial. In addition, on the morning of the first day of trial, counsel for each party must provide three copies of the 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).