GENERAL INFORMATION: Office Hours: Monday – Friday between 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Tel: 305-569-2518; Judicial Assistant: Carmen Hernandez (chernandez@jud11.flcourts.org); Bailiff:
COURT CALENDAR:
- 5-Minute Motion Calendar: Hearings are every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 9:30 a.m.
- Special Sets: Hearings are every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., and every Tuesday and Thursday at 2:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.
- Attorney's Fees/PIP MSJ: Hearings are conducted every Monday from 9:30 am to 12:00 p.m. and, as needed and upon Court approval via email request to the Judicial Assistant, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
- Pretrial Hearings: Subject to Florida Small Claims Rule 7.090(a) and Florida Rules of Practice and General Administration 2.530, hearings are every Friday at 9:30 a.m. in Courtroom 1-1.
- Non-Jury Trials: Trials are generally held on Fridays during jury trial week. Some non-jury trials are special set and subject to the same procedures as other special sets.
- FWOP (Notice of Intent to Dismiss for Lack of Prosecution): Hearings are held on Wednesdays at 2:00 p.m.
PARTIES MUST CONTACT CHAMBERS IF CANCELING ANY SCHEDULED HEARING AND PROVIDE REASON FOR CANCELATION. EMERGENCY MOTIONS: If you have a good faith belief that your motion qualifies as an emergency, please contact Judicial Assistant Carmen Hernandez at 305-569-2518 and chernandez@jud11.flcourts.org (subject line must state “emergency motion” and contain the e-filing information) to confirm receipt of the motion and schedule a hearing. The Court will generally hold a hearing at 9:00 a.m. the following business day or sometime as soon as possible thereafter unless the parties request other dates.
The Court treats Motions to Stay Writs of Possession as emergency motions. The Court also treats Claims of Exemptions on Garnishment as emergency motions if plaintiff files an objection to the claim of exemption.
PLEASE NOTE REGARDING PROPOSED ORDERS: As of November 15, 2022, any proposed order that does not comply with the requirements of administrative order 22-02 will be rejected. See https://www.jud11.flcourts.org/judges_forms/21592459899-ao%2022-02.pdf.
In addition, proposed orders on ex-parte motions to compel discovery will be rejected and/or denied if the motion fails to comply with administrative order 06-09.
DIVISION PROCEDURES: 1. Small Claims Pre-Trial Conference Waivers are to be submitted as Agreed Orders via courtMAP.
For Insurance Cases ONLY: Administrative Order 21-10 invoked the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure and waived pretrial conferences for ALL insurance cases. DO NOT submit motions/proposed orders on these issues; they will be rejected.
2. Ex-parte motions to compel (including both discovery and compliance with the attorney’s fees order) must comply with Administrative Order 06-09, including the requirement of waiting 7 days, and must reflect the date discovery was served (date or docket #), and when the motion to compel was filed (date or docket #). The Court will not include sanctions on ex-parte motions to compel (expenses, attorney’s fees, or waiver of non-privilege objections) - those require a hearing. 3. Motions for Substitution of Counsel must comply with the requirements of Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.505 and certify that the incoming counsel has conferred with current counsel, reviewed the case docket, and is aware of all upcoming depositions, hearings, and other deadlines in the case. Motions to withdraw under Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.505(f)(1) (not substitution of counsel or other grounds for termination of attorney appearance) require a hearing. 4. Please arrive at least 5 minutes before your scheduled hearing time. 5. If you need an interpreter, you must call the Judge’s chambers as soon as possible in advance of the hearing. Si necesita un traductor, tiene que llamar a la oficina del juez lo mas pronto possible antes de la audiencia. 6. Video appearance is required for any Zoom participant. Proper attire (professional) is also required. 7. Motions to Disqualify must follow the procedures laid out in the Administrative Memorandum on Motions to Disqualify. 8. Motions for Extensions of Time must include a timeframe for the requested extension. Motions may be denied if they do not include a timeframe for the requested extension and/or are not set for hearing on the Court's motion calendar within 30 days. 9. If you seek to cross-notice a hearing already set and/or approved by the Judge, send a copy of the cross notice to the Court's Judicial Assistant to ensure the calendar is properly updated. Otherwise, the matter may not be heard. 10. If you need to email the Judge's judicial assistant (e.g., to request or cancel a hearing, confirm the filing of a motion, etc.), you must copy all parties in the case. Otherwise, these may be considered impermissible ex-parte communications, which will not be read and will be deleted. DO NOT email Judge Pérez Santiago directly about your case unless you are instructed to do so, you are responding to an email sent from Judge Pérez Santiago, or you have a good faith belief that an email to Judge Pérez Santiago is necessary on an urgent basis (e.g., you have tried reaching chambers to obtain Zoom information for an upcoming hearing and cannot get a hold of the Judicial Assistant or Bailiff). Communications to Judge Pérez Santiago should be a last resort. Judge Pérez Santiago will ordinarily delete any emails from the parties without reading it.
HEARINGS:
FWOP, 5-Minute motion calendar, and non-evidentiary special set hearings under 30 minutes are generally held on Zoom. Subject to Florida Small Claims Rule 7.090(a) and Florida Rules of Practice and General Administration 2.530, the Court prefers conducting the following hearings live/in person: - All Small Claims Pretrial Hearings/Conferences (Court Room 1-1); - Evidentiary Hearings, and other Special Set Hearings longer than 30 minutes (Court Room 1-2) (unless all parties have agreed to appear via Zoom and submitted a Joint Notice Requesting Hearing Via Zoom (and agreed order through courtMap) or the Court has otherwise provided prior approval). All parties are expected to read and comply with the Judge's Special Set procedures on the Special Sets tab.
Division: County CivilSection: CG 01Court Location: Coral Gables Branch CourtAddress: 3100 Ponce de Leon Blvd., Coral Gables, FL 33134Phone: (305) 569-2518Room: CG 1-6Judicial Assistant: Hernandez, Carmen
Bailiff: Cambo, Eddie
Type: Open
Notice Before Hearing: 5 Business Days
Files at Hearing: None
The Court holds 5-minute Motion Calendar on Tuesday through Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. via Zoom.
The procedure for scheduling your motion(s) on the 5-minute Motion Calendar is as follows: 1. All motions must be filed via the eFiling Portal prior to setting a hearing. No original motions should be sent to the judge.
2. Schedule your hearing via courtMap and attach a courtesy copy of the motion and any other supporting materials via courtMap. Parties are to coordinate the date and time of the hearings to ensure that all sides are available on the selected date, and must seek approval from the Judge to unilaterally set a hearing.
4. Written Notice to opposing counsel/parties shall be provided immediately after a hearing is set by a party, along with a copy of the motion. The setting party is responsible for filing the Notice of Hearing on the docket.
5. The Notice of Hearing must contain the title(s) of the motion(s) to be heard and the date that the motion was filed. The Court will not issue a Notice for Motion Calendars, but an email with the Zoom link will be generated before the hearing.
6. You may schedule only ONE MOTION per Motion Calendar slot. The Court may cancel your hearing if you do not comply with this requirement. If you wish to hear additional motions on the same case (e.g., cross-notice another motion) – limited to no more than three (3) motions – set the notice for the same time in a separate motion calendar slot or contact the judicial assistant. Motions to be set on Motion Calendar shall take less than five minutes for both sides. Parties must submit all materials via courtMAP so that the Court may review the materials beforehand. This includes a response, if any, to the motion. The Court may conclude that the non-movant does not object to the requested relief if the non-movant fails to file a response. The Court will not consider arguments/issues not addressed in the parties' filed motion/response. COURTESY COPIES: A courtesy copy of any response or other relevant pleading filed less than 48 hours before the hearing should be emailed to the Court's judicial assistant. Include the case number and hearing date/time in the subject of the email. MOTIONS NOT FOR MOTION CALENDAR: The following motions are NOT for Motion Calendar absent prior approval from (or scheduled by) the Court: Landlord/Tenant matters, Attorneys’ Fees matters, Sanctions Motions, hearings on Claims of Exemption hearings, complex Motions to Dismiss, Motions for Judgment on the Pleadings, Motions to Compel Arbitration, and Motions for Summary Judgment.* Please do not set these on the Motion Calendar; the parties risk that the Court will hear your case at the end of motion calendar and/or will not have time to address the motion and reset the hearing. For Landlord/Tenant matters, please email the judicial assistant with your request for a hearing so it will be set promptly. The other motions described previously should be set as special set hearings, following the procedures outlined in that tab.
CANCELATIONS: Setting party must cancel the hearing on courtMAP and Notices of Cancellation must be filed, even if you have filed a proposed order canceling the hearing. Chambers does not need a courtesy copy of the NOC, but the party canceling the hearing should give a courtesy call or email to the judicial assistant. This will be greatly appreciated.
*Small Claims Motions for Summary Disposition may be set for Motion Calendar. These DO NOT include Insurance Cases, as the Rules of Civil Procedure have been invoked in those cases by Administrative Order.
Please be aware that certain items are prohibited on courthouse premises. If any listed prohibited item is detected to be in your possession when entering a court facility, you will be asked to exit the facility to secure the item elsewhere or dispose of it, before being allowed entry into the facility.