How to Schedule a Broward County Uniform Motion Calendar Hearing: A Verification Checklist

A visible date in Broward’s Court Management System does not establish that a motion belongs on Uniform Motion Calendar. Start by identifying the exact motion, the relief requested, the assigned judge and division, and the current sources that control the scheduling decision.

This guide teaches operational verification. It does not decide whether a motion should be filed, whether a matter legally qualifies for UMC, how much notice is legally sufficient, or what a notice or proposed order should say. Those decisions remain with the authorized attorney or supervisor applying the current rules and division procedures.

Use the complete case number and a current authoritative matter record to confirm the case style, parties, assigned judge, and division. Then locate that judge through the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit’s current judiciary directory rather than relying on a prior hearing notice or saved link.

A reassignment or division change can alter the available calendar, appearance method, document-delivery process, and contact information. Treat a mismatch between the case record, CMS, and saved instructions as a stop-and-escalate condition.

Broward Local Rule 10A directs people scheduling motion-calendar and special-set hearings to review the assigned judge’s practices and procedures. Those procedures may identify which matters are accepted, how appearances occur, what materials must be delivered, and which deadlines or instructions apply to that division.

Open the current procedure from the court’s website for the assigned judge. Do not copy a remote link, hearing location, delivery address, or deadline from another division or an old notice.

Local Rule 10A requires the scheduling party’s notice certification to address a good-faith conference and whether the issues may be heard and resolved within five minutes. The rule also excludes hearings requiring evidence unless the division judge permits them and directs longer or complex discovery matters away from UMC unless the assigned judge allows otherwise.

Do not compress a matter into UMC merely to obtain an earlier date. If the motion may require testimony, exhibits offered as evidence, extended argument, several disputes, or more time, obtain attorney or supervisor direction and follow the judge’s special-set process when appropriate.

Local Rule 10A requires a direct good-faith effort to resolve or narrow the issues before setting the matter on UMC. Preserve a clear record of whom the scheduling party contacted, how and when contact occurred, the substance needed for the scheduling record, and any dates discussed.

The rule states a five-day scheduling minimum, while other procedural rules or the assigned judge’s procedures may require more time. Calculate notice only under the firm’s approved process and use the controlling requirement identified by the authorized reviewer.

Sign in through the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit’s official CMS path, locate the correct case, verify the displayed judge and parties, and select the Motion Calendar event only after the eligibility and procedure checks are complete. Review every field before saving because the Circuit’s CMS FAQ explains that a scheduled motion cannot simply be edited after the event is created.

If a desired date is unavailable, it may be full or not yet opened by the division. Choose another authorized date or follow the division’s current instructions. Do not select a different hearing type to work around calendar availability.

A CMS reservation is one event in the workflow. The responsible team must still complete the approved notice, filing, service, internal calendaring, hearing-material delivery, and proposed-order steps required by the current rule, judge, and firm procedure.

Verify the exact outgoing notice and appearance instructions before filing or service. Then preserve the filing acknowledgment, service evidence, calendar entry, CMS confirmation, and proof that required materials reached the authorized destination.

Before the hearing, verify that the event still appears correctly in CMS and recheck the assigned judge’s current procedure for changed appearance or materials instructions. Give the responsible attorney a concise hearing record rather than requiring the attorney to reconstruct the scheduling history.

If cancellation is authorized, Local Rule 10A requires the scheduling party to cancel the UMC event through the online scheduling system and advise all parties by email. Filing a notice of cancellation without cancelling the CMS event is not sufficient under the rule. Complete any additional division and firm steps as instructed.