Judicial Section Details

GENERAL INFORMATION:
Miami-Dade Children’s Courthouse
155 N.W. 3rd Street, Courtroom #9-1
Miami, FL 33128
Assistant to General Magistrate Email Address: bgottlieb@jud11.flcourts.org
E-Service Address: 11thfcgm17@jud11.flcourts.org
Division Zoom Instructions: If a hearing is set for Zoom appearance, please contact the Judicial Assistant by email or telephone listed on this page for the Zoom Meeting ID.   

Most hearings before the General Magistrate in the Unified Family Division are non-jury trials or evidentiary hearings. In accordance with the most recent Administrative Order and Unified Family Court Division operation procedures, hearings before the General Magistrate will be conducted in the manner prescribed by operation procedures and may be accommodated based on the preferable method of the parties, in-person or virtual (Zoom). The Miami-Dade Children’s Courthouse has the capability to conduct hearings in a hybrid format (hybrid hearing requires at least one party to be physically present in the courtroom). The format in which hearings will be conducted shall be set by the Court and may be changed upon agreement by the parties.

GENERAL MAGISTRATE AND STAFF COMMUNICATION:
The opposing party or their attorney (as well as any other necessary parties such as a Guardian Ad Litem or Assistant State Attorney for the Department of Revenue) must be included in all communications to the Court. Parties are prohibited from contacting the General Magistrate or the General Magistrate’s staff to discuss facts of the case. The assistant to the General Magistrate should only be contacted to discuss scheduling matters. If a Recommended Order has been entered and a party feels there are discrepancies within the Recommended Order, the appropriate motion should be filed with the Circuit Court Judge.

ORDER OF REFERRAL TO GENERAL MAGISTRATE:
All matters to be heard by the court MUST be filed with the Clerk of Court, and a copy must be submitted to the opposing side or their attorney.  No matter can be heard by a general magistrate without an appropriate Order of Referral and the consent to the referral of all parties. You are entitled to have the referred matter heard by a judge. If you do not want to have the referred matter heard before the general magistrate, you must file a written objection to the referral within 10 days of the time of service of the Order of Referral. Any motions sent directly to the General Magistrate that have not been properly referred, will not be considered or set for hearing.

SCHEDULING HEARINGS:
Please email bgottlieb@jud11.flcourts.org to schedule a hearing date and be sure to include any necessary parties in the email communication. In the email, please provide a copy of the matter referred to the General Magistrate for which you are requesting a hearing, and provide the length of time requested for both sides to complete their presentation at the hearing.
The parties shall wait until (10) days after the date that the Order of Referral to General Magistrate is entered before requesting a hearing on the matter referred. Once the ten (10) day objection period expires (and if there was not a timely objection filed) the parties shall have fourteen (14) days to have the matter set for hearing. Failure to schedule the hearing within fourteen (14) days from the date that the Order of Referral to General Magistrate objection period expires may result in the Court unilaterally scheduling the matter for hearing.

PROPOSED RECOMMENDED ORDERS:
If you have been instructed to prepare and submit the proposed Recommended Order, the proposed Recommended Order must be submitted via CourtMAP, no later than ten (10) days after the date of the hearing. The form of all proposed Recommended Orders should be agreed to by both parties. If the parties simply cannot agree on the proposed Recommended Order, then each party may submit their own.

CONTINUANCES:
Motions for Continuance of a hearing scheduled before the Magistrate must be heard by the Magistrate. All MOTIONS FOR CONTINUANCE must be filed with the Court and emailed to 11THFCGM17@JUD11.FLCOURTS.ORG.  No hearing will be continued or re-set without the appropriate Motion for Continuance filed first. If one side objects to the continuance, a hearing will be held on the Motion for Continuance. No hearing will be canceled without Magistrate approval. Your filing of a Notice of Cancellation is insufficient.

REQUEST FOR TRANSCRIPTS:
All hearings before a General Magistrate are recorded electronically. All requests for copies of audio recordings of judicial proceedings by attorneys of record, parties to a case, and self-represented litigants shall be submitted electronically by following the instructions found online under the Court Services and Court Reporting Services tabs on the 11th Judicial Circuit website Court Reporting Services. Upon full review of the request and in accordance with Rule 2.420, a final invoice shall be sent to the requester, which must be paid prior to release of the audio recording.

INTERPRETERS:
It is your responsibility to bring an interpreter to the hearing if you or your witness need one. One will not be provided for you. Your interpreter must be a professional interpreter, not a friend or relative.

EXHIBITS:
Prior to the hearing, you must provide a copy of each of your proposed exhibits to the opposing party. You must also contact the opposing party and attempt to stipulate to exhibits. An exhibit list must be prepared and filed in advance (7 days) of the hearing date. For a Zoom hearing, all proposed exhibits must be e-filed, to be easily found on the docket, at least 7 days prior to the hearing.  All parties shall have the Docket Entry Number available.  Failure to do any of these things may result in your exhibit getting excluded from evidence. If necessary, a status conference may be held to determine the admissibility of your proposed exhibits in advance. You must contact the General Magistrate's Assistant to schedule a Status Conference.

RESOLVED MATTER:
If your matter gets resolved, settled or dismissed, please notify the Magistrate immediately at 11THFCGM17@JUD11.FLCOURTS.ORG.  No matter that has been resolved will be taken off calendar without an Agreed Recommended Order submitted to 11thFCGM17@jud11.flcourts.org. The Agreed Recommended Order must be submitted in Word format. No hearing will be canceled without Magistrate approval. Your filing of a Notice of Cancellation is insufficient.

OTHER INSTRUCTIONS:
Each person must Zoom from their individual device. There will be no sharing of a computer or phone to Zoom. No one shall Zoom while driving, and everyone must Zoom from an appropriate location while appropriately dressed. 

Children may not be brought to the courthouse or to the hearing without first obtaining a court order.

In order to file a pleading or a motion, all attorneys and self-represented litigants must register at E-Filing Portal

Self-represented litigants can also find help at Self Help Program