Judge Robert Bauman: Hearings, Proposed Orders, and Chambers Contact

If you have a case in Division J of Florida’s Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, Judge Robert A. Bauman’s procedures and preferences control how you schedule hearings, deliver documents, submit proposed orders, and appear in court. Most hearings run on Zoom, responses and case law are due five business days before the hearing, proposed orders should not reach the court’s queue until after the ruling, and temporary relief hearings require mediation and a hearing memorandum filed 72 hours in advance. Getting any of these wrong is the fastest way to lose a hearing date.¹

How to Schedule a Hearing

Attorneys set 15- and 30-minute hearings through the Judicial Automated Workflow System (JAWS), the court’s online tool for the uniform motion calendar. Self-represented parties cannot access JAWS and must email the Judicial Assistant to request available times. Anything longer than 30 minutes, including trials and evidentiary hearings, needs the judge’s approval and goes through the Judicial Assistant.¹

Discovery disputes run on a separate track. Motions to compel, motions to strike, and objections to discovery are heard twice a month on Friday afternoons from 2:00 to 4:30 p.m., and those hearings always happen live in the courtroom.¹

The underlying motion must be e-filed with the Clerk and electronically served on all parties before you book a slot. Don’t pack unrelated matters into one hearing without the court’s permission, and respect the time limit you reserved.

Zoom or In-Person

Most Division J hearings happen by Zoom, including the uniform motion calendar, 15-minute hearings, and 30-minute hearings. The court does not use WebEx in any circumstance. Pretrial conferences, trials, and evidentiary hearings require everyone in the courtroom in person.¹

Every notice of hearing must state clearly whether the appearance is live or on Zoom and must include the correct courtroom number or Zoom meeting ID. A notice that leaves this out, or lists the wrong platform, is a common source of cancellations.

Zoom hearings are formal court sessions. Participants are expected to wear court-appropriate attire and appear from a setting suitable for court.¹

Getting Documents to Chambers on Time

Responses to motions and copies of case law must reach the court at least five full business days before the hearing. Anything that arrives later will not be reviewed or considered. This is a hard cutoff.¹

How you deliver depends on length:

Ten pages or fewer: email to the division’s official address.
More than ten pages: hard copy by mail or hand delivery, at least five business days before the hearing.
Any hearing set for more than 30 minutes: hard copy required regardless of page count, same five-business-day deadline.

These page limits are specific to Division J. Other judges in the Thirteenth Circuit have different rules, so confirm the procedure for each division if you appear before more than one.

Proposed Orders

Do not submit a proposed order to the court’s electronic queue before the hearing takes place. This is one of the most frequently violated rules in Division J, and submitting an order before the judge has ruled risks rejection.¹

Agreed Orders

When all parties agree on the relief and the wording, upload the proposed order as a PDF to the “Documents for Judicial Review” portal. The order should start with “Agreed Order” in the title, and “Division J” should appear in the case style. Verify the division letter before e-filing through the E-Portal.

Competing Orders

When parties disagree about the form of an order after a hearing, submit competing proposed orders in Word format by emailing them to the Judicial Assistant with “Competing Proposed Order” in the subject line. A short explanation of why your version is correct is allowed; extended legal argument is not.¹

Circuit Deadlines

Administrative Order S-2024-046 governs timing. The party directed to prepare the order must consult with opposing counsel within three business days of the ruling and make a genuine effort to agree on language. Proposed orders on uniform motion calendar matters are due within five days of the ruling. Other proposed orders and final judgments are due within ten business days unless the court directs otherwise. If the preparing party misses those deadlines, the other side has five additional business days to submit its own version.²

Every proposed order must include a cover letter identifying the hearing date and stating whether all parties agree to the form. Saying you haven’t heard back from the other side isn’t enough unless five days have passed without a response.

Temporary Relief Hearings

Temporary relief in Division J has its own gating requirements. At least 72 hours before the hearing, the moving party must file and serve a Temporary Relief Hearing Memorandum on all parties, including the judge. If the case involves minor children, a proposed parenting plan goes with the memorandum.¹

Judge Bauman requires mediation before the temporary relief hearing. If the moving party fails to schedule and cooperate in attending mediation, or if the parties fail to comply with the administrative order on hearing memorandums, the hearing is cancelled. That cancellation is not discretionary, and you’ll start the scheduling process over.¹ Florida law separately requires circuits with family mediation programs to refer custody, visitation, and parental responsibility disputes to mediation unless a history of domestic violence would compromise the process.³

Mandatory Financial Disclosure

Family cases involving financial relief trigger Florida Family Law Rule 12.285. Both parties exchange a financial affidavit (Form 12.902(b) for gross annual income under $50,000, Form 12.902(c) at $50,000 or above), federal and state tax returns for the past three years in initial proceedings or the past year for temporary hearings, and W-2s, 1099s, K-1s, and recent pay stubs. The affidavit is filed with the court, not just served.⁴

In initial and supplemental proceedings, you have 45 days from service of the initial pleading to serve the disclosures. For temporary financial relief hearings, the moving party serves disclosures with the notice of hearing; the responding party serves by 5:00 p.m. two business days before the hearing if delivered in person, or seven days before if mailed, with at least twelve days to comply unless the court shortens it. Disclosure is ongoing: new financial information must be supplemented within thirty days.

The rule does not apply to simplified dissolutions, enforcement actions, or domestic violence injunctions.⁴

Asking for a Continuance

Continuances are disfavored, and successive ones more so. Under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.460, a motion to continue must be written (unless made during trial) and signed by the party requesting it. Lack of preparation is not a valid reason.⁵

The motion needs to state the specific reason and when you first learned of it, whether the other side opposes (agreed continuances still require court approval and the same written specifics), what steps you will take and by what dates to resolve the issue, and a proposed new trial date with the parties’ position on it. File it promptly; waiting is itself a ground for denial. Sanctions are available where a continuance is granted because of dilatory conduct.

Trial Preparation and Exhibits

Trials set for more than four hours trigger a pretrial conference. A pretrial memorandum is served at least three days before that conference.⁶ For jury trials, proposed jury instructions and verdict forms are filed at least 14 days before the pretrial conference.⁷

Exhibits are pre-marked before trial starts. The Thirteenth Circuit requires Avery #5963 adhesive labels, affixed to the back of the last page of each exhibit in the bottom left corner. No staples or paperclips. Exhibits are listed numerically, not alphabetically, and you bring copies of the exhibit list for both the court and the clerk, with everything labeled and in order before the session begins.⁸

Contacting Chambers

Florida’s prohibition on ex parte communication applies in Division J. You cannot discuss any substantive aspect of your case with the judge or court staff without the other party present or copied. The Judicial Assistant is the right contact for scheduling and non-substantive matters like confirming times or document delivery. Use the division email for documents within the ten-page limit; keep phone calls to scheduling logistics; put substantive argument in motions.

If You’re Self-Represented

Self-represented parties are held to the same procedural standards as attorneys in Division J. The court will not relax deadlines or submission requirements because you don’t have a lawyer, so reading the division’s procedures page before your first hearing is time well spent.¹

The Legal Information Center at 800 E. Twiggs Street, Room 203, in Tampa offers in-person help; hours shift weekly, so call (813) 864-2280 before going. The Domestic Relations Case Management Unit, in Room 208 of the same building, contacts you by mail or email after a family case is filed. Self-help packets and family law forms are free on the Thirteenth Circuit’s website, and the law library at 701 E. Twiggs Street has additional research resources.⁹

1
13th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida. Procedures/Preferences – Division J
2
Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Court. Administrative Order S-2024-046
3
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 0044.102
4
Florida Courts. Florida Family Law Rule 12.285 – Mandatory Disclosure
5
The Florida Bar. Florida Rules of Civil Procedure
6
Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Court. Administrative Order S-2024-019
7
Thirteenth Judicial Circuit of Florida. Uniform Order Setting Trial and Pretrial
8
Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida. Exhibit List Instructions
9
Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Court. Reference Guide for Pro Se Litigants