Judicial Section Details

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. 

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 also see Administrative Order 26-04 Re: Disclosure of Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence by Attorneys and Self-Represented Litigants. If any party uses generative artificial intelligence to prepare any court filings, then the party is required to follow this Administrative Order, which is attached to this webpage.   

Calendar call, unless requested by the parties, will be conducted via Zoom. The Court treats these as case management conferences. Accordingly, if coverage counsel is utilized, coverage counsel must be familiar with the case and able to coordinate additional hearing dates, as needed. 

Pre-trial conferences, or any hearings addressing trial issues (motions in limine, motions to exclude experts, etc.), may be held in person unless the Court expressly directs that the hearing will be held via Zoom. The parties must meet and confer and produce a joint pre-trial conference checklist (see attachments on the webpage) at the pre-trial conference and must meet and confer and produce a joint pre-trial stipulation as required by the case management and jury trial orders.

The Court, as required by the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure and Florida Rules of General Practice & Judicial Administration, has a firm trial continuance policy. The Court will deny any oral motions for continuance (unless made at trial) and any written motions that do not comply with Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.460. 

Original Notices for Jury Trial Must be E-Filed with the Clerk's Office. Please then submit the notice for jury trial to the Court via e-mail to the Judicial Assistant. The Court will then set the matter on trial calendar.

Proposed Orders

PLEASE NOTE: AS OF NOVEMBER 15, 2022, ANY PROPOSED ORDER THAT DO NOT COMPLY WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER 22-02 WILL BE REJECTED.   

Administrative Order 22-02 requires ALL proposed orders submitted by counsel include the following:

Docket Index Number: _______________________ or E-filing Number _______________

Date Filed: ______________________

Full Name of Motion: ___________________________________________

In addition, the Court requires that orders contain all information required (i.e., no blanks shall be left). Incomplete orders will be rejected, and you will be asked to resubmit the proposed order with the complete information.  Please ensure that ALL parties have been included on the service list.

The Court will also reject proposed orders granting ex parte motions to compel discovery if the motion does not comply with Administrative Order 06-09. Among other things, Administrative Order 06-09 states, "an ex parte order compelling discovery may be entered only when the motion to compel alleges a complete failure to respond or object to discovery, and there has been no request for extension of time." (Emphasis added). 

SUBMISSION THROUGH COURTMAP/VIA EMAIL: Proposed Orders are to be submitted through courtMAP.  Proposed orders should be in Times New Roman type, with a minimum of 12-point font.  The Title of the Proposed Order should include the full name of the Motion at issue.  If the order is an Agreed Order, please utilize the “Agreed Order” option when submitting via courtMAP.

The Motion attached to the Proposed Order must be filed with the Clerk's Office prior to uploading any proposed orders. Failure to do so will result in the proposed order being rejected and require you to resubmit the proposed order. PLEASE NOTE: documents submitted with proposed orders DO NOT get efiled by the Clerk. You must use the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal.

Proposed orders following hearings on summary judgment or other special set hearings should also be submitted via email to the judicial assistant together with the supporting documents and a brief note/cover letter. The Court requires proposed orders to be submitted within 20 days after special set hearings unless the Court instructs the parties not to submit proposed order. The Court also requires proposed orders to be submitted after case management conferences unless the Court instructs the parties not to do so.

The Court schedules case management conferences in all cases in which a party has timely filed a motion for attorney's fees and/or to tax costs. This is generally conducted as a scheduling conference. Following the hearing, if the Court does not issue a scheduling order within five days of the hearing, the parties are encouraged to upload a proposed order in the attached form with deadlines set by the Court at the hearing.

Please do not submit proposed orders via mail or e-mail to Chambers.

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS: Please submit the relevant underlying document(s) as “Supporting Documents” with the Proposed Order (e.g., settlement agreement, stipulation for substitution of counsel, motion, complaint (if complaint is relevant to motion), etc.). Because of docketing delays, failure to do so may result in your proposed order being rejected and you will be asked to resubmit the relevant documents as attachments to the motion.

Special Set hearings are held on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., and on Tuesday and Thursday afternoon from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Non-evidentiary hearings less than 30 minutes are generally held via Zoom. Evidentiary hearings (including hearings on Claims of Exemption) and other special set hearings 30 minutes or longer, such as Non-Jury Trials and Summary Judgment motions, are presumptively in person (Court Room 1-2), unless all parties have agreed to Zoom, submitted a Joint Notice Requesting Hearing Via Zoom (and agreed order through courtMap), and the Court approves the request.

INSTRUCTIONS TO SET SPECIAL SET HEARINGS: All motions must be filed with the Clerks’ office prior to setting a hearing date. To facilitate conferrals on hearing dates, all parties impacted by the issue(s) to be heard must contact the Judge’s judicial assistant together via telephone to schedule the hearing. The hearing date will be at least twenty (20) days from the date the parties contact the judicial assistant unless you receive approval from the Court for an earlier setting. The setting party must identify the specific motion(s) to be heard. Absent express permission from the Court based on good cause shown, no more than two (2) motions may be set for one Special Set hearing.

The setting party or movant is responsible for coordinating/conferring with the other parties the date and time to call the Judge's judicial assistant. If the setting party/movant certifies via e-mail that they have made multiple efforts (three or more over the course of five (5) business days) in good faith to coordinate with the other parties/nonmovants but have failed, then the setting party/movant may contact the judicial assistant to set the hearing unilaterally (or the judicial assistant will make additional attempts to contact the opposing party). The Court will then generate the Notice of Hearing. The setting party is not required to file a separate Notice of Hearing.

If you did not receive the Notice of Hearing, please communicate with the Clerk of Court’s office and confirm you are on the service list.

INSTRUCTIONS TO SET ATTORNEY’S FEES/PIP MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT: Evidentiary hearings relating to reasonableness of attorneys’ fees are held exclusively on Mondays from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.  as needed and upon Court approval via email request to the Judicial Assistant. The Court will also hear summary judgment motions in PIP cases (these may also be heard Tuesday through Thursday, but the default is Monday) when space is available. Priority, however, is given to attorneys’ fees hearings for Monday hearings. The procedure for setting a PIP motion for summary judgment is the same procedure outlined above for special set hearings.

Attorney’s fees hearings will be held in person at the Coral Gables Courthouse (Room 1-2) unless the parties file a Joint Notice of Request for Hearing via Zoom and submit an agreed order (or the Court finds good cause upon motion). 

To schedule a hearing on attorney’s fees, the setting party must first timely file a motion seeking fees and/or costs pursuant to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.525. If the Court has not already determined entitlement to fees and/or costs or the opposing party has not stipulated to entitlement, then the party seeking fees must upload through courtMap an agreed order or proposed order and/or set a hearing for entitlement only. If the Court has determined entitlement to fees and/or costs or the opposing party has stipulated to entitlement, then, if the Court has not already done so on its own, the party seeking fees must contact the judicial assistant and/or bailiff and request that the Court enter an order preliminary to the hearing on fees and costs in the form provided below ("Fees Scheduling Order"). The Fees Scheduling Order establishes requirements the parties must fulfill before setting a hearing. Once the parties have complied with the Fees Scheduling Order, then the parties must then contact the judicial assistant pursuant to the same procedures for setting a special set hearing. The parties may modify, through agreed order or on motion establishing good cause to do so, the Fees Scheduling Order, particularly deadlines. 

COURTESY COPIES: Party submissions that total more than 40 pages combined (this includes the Motion to be heard, legal memoranda, key legal authorities (no more than five cases), discovery, exhibits, or other materials in support of or in opposition to the Motion) may be submitted to Judge Pérez Santiago’s chambers at least five (5) business days before the scheduled hearing. Please be mindful that, because of docketing delays, filings do not always appear on the docket immediately. Case law or statutes provided in the materials should highlight the relevant portions. ANY RESPONSES OR REPLIES MUST BE FILED AT LEAST 5 BUSINESS DAYS PRIOR TO THE HEARING. Failure to do so may cause the Court not to consider the response or reply or delay the Court's resolution of the motion. Please send a hard copy or USB of the materials via USPS, FEDEX, UPS, hand delivery to 3100 Ponce de Leon Boulevard, Miami, FL 33134, Chambers 1-6, attention: Judge Jorge A. Pérez Santiago, or, if possible, the materials may be sent via e-mail to the Court's Judicial Assistant. YOUR HEARING MAY BE CANCELED AND RESET BY THE JUDGE IF YOU DO NOT COMPLY WITH THESE PROCEDURES.

Please make sure you contact the Judge’s Chambers when your materials have been dropped off to confirm that they were received by the Judge.

MOTIONS TO CONTINUE: All Motions to Continue Trial or Strike Trial dates or to Continue a Hearing set by the Judge must be set on the Court’s 5-minute Motion Calendar prior to the special set hearing, calendar call, or trial date. Any agreement between the parties for a continuance must be approved by the Judge. All continuances must be made by written motion. NO ORE TENUS MOTIONS for continuances will be entertained. 

CANCELATIONS: The setting party must cancel the hearing on courtMAP and Notices of Cancellation must be filed, even if you have filed a proposed order that includes the cancelation of the hearing. The setting party must notify the judicial assistant, particularly if the Special Set hearing is canceled less than 24 hours before the hearing date.

Please also see Administrative Order 26-04 Re: Disclosure of Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence by Attorneys and Self-Represented Litigants. If any party uses generative artificial intelligence to prepare any court filings, then the party is required to follow this Administrative Order, which is attached to this webpage.