Judge James W. Morgan III

 Judicial Assistant: Wendy Dube
wendy.dube@keyscourts.net or 305 852 7165

 Family Court Case Manager: Adriana Abreu
adriana.abreu@keyscourts.net or 305 853 7387

 Civil Action Case Manager: Denise Moore
denise.moore@keyscourts.net or 305 853 7383

SCHEDULING HEARING TIME

     CIVIL ACTION:

• • Motions must be filed with the Clerk of the Court prior to requesting hearing time.
  • Parties seeking hearing time with Judge Morgan may call the office or send a request via email to the Judicial Assistant. Please provide the following information with your request: case number, amount of time necessary, title of motion(s) to be set and the preferred platform for the hearing request (In-Person or via Zoom).
  • Parties will be offered three dates and times of availability. Please note that dates are  on a first come first serve basis.  Once availability of all parties is confirmed, please confirm with this office prior to noticing for hearing.  It is not necessary to include the Judicial Assistant in communications regarding the coordination of the hearing.
  • This court does not permit add-on motions to be set unilaterally.
  • Zoom Meeting ID: 915 4086 9408

     CRIMINAL:

• • Motions must be filed with the Clerk of the Court prior to requesting hearing time.
  • Parties seeking hearing time with Judge Morgan may call the office or send a request via email to the Judicial Assistant. Please provide the following information with your request: case number, amount of time necessary, title of motion(s) to be set.
  • Parties will be offered three dates and times of availability. Please note that dates first come first serve.  Once availability of all parties is confirmed, please confirm with this office prior to noticing for hearing.  It is not necessary to include the Judicial Assistant in communications regarding the coordination of the hearing.
  • This court does not permit add-on motions to be set unilaterally.
  • Attorneys are permitted to appear In-Person or via Zoom at criminal hearings unless directed otherwise at a previous hearing. Defendants must appear in person unless their appearance has been waived, in accordance with FLA. R. Crim. P. 3.180(a).
  • Arraignments: If a Notice of Appearance has been filed, the attorney and their client’s appearance are waived.
  • Docket Sounding: If there is an agreement to continue docket sounding, the attorney shall contact chambers to obtain a new date and time for docket sounding. Once received, the attorney shall upload an agreed order to include the new date and time.
  • Plea in Absentia: Pleas in absentia will NOT be accepted in a felony case.
  • Zoom Meeting ID: 982 8756 9587

     FAMILY CASES:  

• • Family matters requesting hearing time of 2 hours or less shall be set with General Magistrate Holly Aliprandi through the Family Court Case Manager via email.

CANCELLING HEARING TIME

• Please call or email the Judicial Assistant to cancel the hearing. Please note, the hearing may only be cancelled by the party that scheduled the hearing.
• Submit a Notice of Cancellation of the Hearing.

SUBMISSION OF PROPOSED ORDERS

• Attorneys must confer prior to forwarding a proposed order to the Judge.
• Proposed Orders shall be submitted in Word in DJMCA format for the court’s review and signature through the State of Florida E-filing Portal. Please be advised that the e-filing portal requires a separate cover letter in PDF with each order.  Any exhibits referenced in the body of the proposed order must be attached, otherwise, the order will be rejected.

SERVICE OF DOCUMENTS FOR SCHEDULED HEARINGS AND TRIALS

• Copies of notices, motions, memorandum of law, exhibits & exhibit list shall be forwarded to the Judicial Assistant in the form of a hyperlink via email at least five days prior to the scheduled hearing. Please note: the Clerk of the Court requires hard copies of Exhibits to be marked for identification and shall be submitted at least 5 business days prior to the scheduled hearing.

CASES SETTLED

• Cases that have been settled that are scheduled for a hearing and/or trial, must file a Notice of Settlement with the Clerk of Court and email a copy to the Judicial Assistant. A Notice of Settlement does not automatically cancel hearings previously scheduled, nor does it close the case.  A Notice of Voluntary Dismissal or a Stipulated Order to Dismiss shall be filed within 15 days of the Notice of Settlement, or this case may be set for a status hearing.

MOTIONS TO CONTINUE

• Motions to Continue must be filed with the Clerk of the Court and emailed to the Judicial Assistant along with a proposed order, at least three business days prior to the scheduled hearing. Prior to forwarding to chambers, please confer with opposing counsel as to whether there is an agreement between parties for a continuance.  If there is no agreement between parties, please note the points of disagreement in the email.

NOTICE OF READY FOR TRIAL

• Please forward a copy of your Notice of Ready for Trial to the Judicial Assistant via email. The notice shall include the type of trial that is requested: Trial by Court or Trial by Jury, amount of time requested, and a certificate of service to all parties with corresponding email addresses.  Once the Notice of Ready has been received by this office, it will be held for twenty-one days to allow time for objections to be filed. Thereafter, the case will be set and noticed for a pretrial conference to discuss and solidify trial dates.