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IN THE CIRCUIT/COUNTY COURT OF THE THIRTEENTH JUDICIAL
CIRCUIT, IN AND FOR HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FLORIDA
CBC SETTLEMENT FUNDING, LLC
Plaintiffs,
v. Case Number: 24-CA-001768
Division I
ATHENE ASSIGNMENT CORPORATION; ATHENE ANNUITY AND LIFE COMPANY
Defendants.
___________________________
DIFFERENTIATED CASE MANAGEMENT ORDER &
NOTICE OF CASE MANAGEMENT HEARING
ON 9/24/2024 AT 9:00 AM
(GENERAL CIRCUIT CIVIL CASES FILED AFTER APRIL 30, 2021)
THIS CAUSE comes before the Court on review of Amendment 12 to Florida Supreme
Court Administrative Order AOSC20-23 (the “Supreme Court Order”). The Supreme Court
Order directs the chief judge of each circuit to issue an administrative order requiring the
presiding judge for each civil case to actively manage civil cases in accordance with a
differentiated case management process. Consistent with this requirement, the Chief Judge of
the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit issued Administrative Order S-2021-060 (the “Case Management
Plan”) on April 26, 2021.
Accordingly, it is now
FOUND, ORDERED, and ADJUDGED that:
1. Designation of Case. This case is preliminarily designated as a General civil case, as
defined by the Supreme Court Order and the Case Management Plan.
2. Plaintiff’s Obligation to Serve DCM Order on All Defendants. Consistent with the Case
Management Plan, this Differentiated Case Management Order & Notice of Hearing (the
“DCM Order”) has been generated automatically upon the filing of the complaint and
will be provided to Plaintiff along with the summons. Plaintiff is DIRECTED to serve
the DCM Order on each and every named defendant in the same manner and at the same
time as the complaint itself is served.
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3. Conformity with Supreme Court Order’s Directive. The deadlines established in this
DCM Order are set in conformity with the Supreme Court Order’s directive that General
civil cases be managed according to the time standards specified in Florida Rule of
General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.250(a)(1)(B).
4. Procedure for Modification of Deadlines. Counsel or any self-represented parties, or both,
may seek to modify the deadlines set forth in this order by either:
a. Filing a motion and setting it for hearing; or
b. Stipulating to new deadlines and submitting an Amended Differentiated Case
Management Order. The Amended Differentiated Case Management Order
(“Amended DCM Order”) form is available under the “Forms” tab of the
undersigned’s page at http://www.fljud13.org. The Amended DCM Order must
include a date for a court-ordered case management conference (the “Court-
Ordered Case Management Conference”). Hearing time for the Court-Ordered
Case Management Conference should be secured on either a Uniform Motion
Calendar (“UMC”) docket or a 15-minute hearing docket.
5. Procedure for Setting Firm Trial Date When Case is at Issue. Consistent with the
Supreme Court Order’s mandate, the deadlines set forth in this DCM Order contemplate a
projected trial date within the time standards specified in Florida Rule of General Practice
and Judicial Administration 2.250(a)(1)(B). A firm trial date will be set through entry of
a Uniform Order Setting Trial & Pretrial at the Court-Ordered Case Management
Conference or as otherwise provided in this order.
6. Court-Ordered Case Management Conference. It is appropriate to set a Court-Ordered
Case Management Conference prior to the close of fact discovery to both assess the
progress of the case and set a firm trial date.
a. Date and Time for Court-Ordered Case Management Set Below. A date and
time for the Court-Ordered Case Management Conference is set below.
b. Method of Conducting Court-Ordered Case Management Conference: The
Court-Ordered Case Management Conference will be conducted remotely through
the use of the following technology and connection instructions:
ZOOM link is https://zoom.us/j/7196320493 or if joining the hearing via
telephone Call 1-786-635-1003 or 1-470-381-2552
ZOOM Meeting ID number is 719-632-0493.
c. Attendance Mandated. Counsel and any self-represented parties MUST
ATTEND unless otherwise excused by the Court and must be prepared to discuss
selection of a firm trial date and corresponding pretrial conference date and time.
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d. Process for Securing Excusal from Attending the Court-Ordered Case
Management Conference:
i. Automatic Excusal.
1. Unless otherwise ordered by the presiding judge, counsel or any
self-represented parties, or both, are automatically excused from
attending the Court-Ordered Case Management Conference if a
Uniform Order Setting Trial & Pretrial (Revised April 30, 2021)
has been submitted to and signed by the Court at least 30 days
before the date of the Court-Ordered Case Management
Conference; and
2. Any party seeking to invoke this automatic excusal provision
should notify the judicial assistant by email sent to the division
email address within 3 business days of the date the Uniform Order
Setting Trial & Pretrial (Revised April 30, 2021) is signed.
ii. Discretionary Excusal.
1. Counsel or self-represented parties, or both, may seek a
discretionary excusal from the Court-Ordered Case Management
Conference by filing a motion and submitting an agreed proposed
order excusing attendance by the Court on one of the following
grounds:
a. The Court has signed an Amended DCM Order, either by
stipulation or by filing a motion and setting a hearing, AND
the Amended DCM Order sets a new Court-Ordered Case
Management Conference; or
b. Counsel has otherwise demonstrated good cause to believe
that the case is otherwise in full compliance with the
Supreme Court Order’s mandate and the Case Management
Plan.
e. Failure to Attend Court-Ordered Case Management Conference. The failure
to attend the Court-Ordered Case Management Conference may result in the case
being set for a trial date without input of the absent counsel or self-represented
party, or both; dismissal of the complaint without prejudice; entry of a judicial
default; monetary sanctions against counsel or any self-represented parties, or
both; or any other sanctions deemed appropriate by the presiding judge.
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7. Firm Trial Date to be Set by Uniform Order Setting Trial & Pretrial (Revised April
30, 2021). Once a firm trial date is selected, counsel will be directed to prepare and
submit through the Florida E-Portal (the “Portal”) a Uniform Order Setting Trial &
Pretrial (Revised April 30, 2021), which is available under the “Forms” tab of the
undersigned’s page at http://www.fljud13.org. The Uniform Order Setting Trial &
Pretrial (Revised April 30, 2021) will require calculation of additional deadlines in a
specified manner.
8. Requirement to Review and Comply with Administrative Order for Circuit Civil
Division. Counsel and any self-represented parties are DIRECTED to review and
comply with all provisions of the Thirteenth Circuit’s Administrative Order S-2021-014
(Circuit Civil Division), and any successive administrative order.
9. Certificate of Conferral for Non-Dispositive Motions.
a. When Required. Except for a motion (i) for injunctive relief; (ii) for judgment
on the pleadings; (iii) for summary judgment; (iv) to dismiss or to permit
maintenance of a class action; (v) to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon
which relief can be granted; or (vi) to involuntarily dismiss an action, before the
moving party or moving party’s counsel files any other motion, the party or
counsel should confer with the opposing party or opposing counsel in a good faith
effort to resolve the issues raised by the motion. The moving party or moving
party’s counsel should include in the body of the motion a statement certifying
that the moving party or moving party’s counsel has conferred with the opposing
party or opposing party’s counsel—either in person, by telephone, or by video
conferencing device—and stating whether the party or counsel agree on the
resolution of the motion. A certification to the effect that opposing party or
opposing party’s counsel was unavailable for a conference before filing a motion
should describe, with particularity, all of the efforts undertaken to accomplish
dialogue with the opposing party or opposing party’s counsel prior to filing the
subject motion.
b. Cancelation of Hearing/Denial of Motion Filed Without Certificate of
Conferral. Counsel and any self-represented parties should anticipate that a
hearing set on a motion that lacks such a certification will be canceled and the
motion may be denied without a hearing for failure to comply with this
requirement.
c. Form of Certificate of Conferral. The certificate of conferral should be
substantially in the following form:
Certificate of Conferral Prior to Filing
“I certify that prior to filing this motion, I attempted to resolve the matter by
discussing the relief requested in this motion by [date and method of
communication (select one of the following: in person, telephone, or video
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conference)] with the opposing party or counsel and [the opposing party or
counsel did not agree to that the motion could be resolved without the necessity of
a hearing] OR [the opposing party or counsel did not respond and (describe with
particularity all of the efforts undertaken to accomplish dialogue with the
opposing party or opposing party’s counsel prior to filing the motion)].”
10. Discovery Provisions.
a. Fact Discovery.
i. All discovery must be served in time for a timely response to be received
prior to the deadline for completion of fact discovery.
ii. All non-expert witness depositions must occur prior to the deadline for
completion of fact discovery.
iii. Failure to timely complete discovery by the deadline for completion of
fact discovery may result in, among other things, exclusion of evidence or
other sanctions, or both.
b. Expert Discovery.
i. Expert disclosure must occur by the deadline indicated below.
ii. Contemporaneous with disclosure of each expert, the disclosing party
must provide to all other parties:
1. No less than five proposed deposition dates, all of which must be
prior to the deadline to complete expert discovery; and
2. For each expert:
a. Identify the expert’s area of expertise;
b. Identify the subject matter on which the expert is expected
to testify;
c. Summarize the substance of the facts and opinions to which
the expert is expected to testify; and
d. Summarize the grounds for each opinion.
iii. The court may preclude an expert from testifying outside of the disclosed
opinions.
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iv. All expert witness depositions must be conducted prior to the deadline for
completion of expert discovery.
v. It is the responsibility of counsel to select experts who:
1. Are prepared to make themselves available for deposition within
the expert discovery period; and
2. Are prepared to respond promptly to requests for deposition dates.
vi. If an expert cannot be deposed prior to the deadline for completion of
expert discovery despite timely and reasonable efforts of opposing counsel
to secure deposition dates, that expert’s testimony may be excluded at
trial.
11. Deadlines. The deadlines set forth below are ESTABLISHED and will GOVERN this case
and will be strictly enforced by the Court. Counsel and any self-represented parties are
DIRECTED to review, calendar, and abide by them:
Action or Event Date
Complaint filing date. 02/28/2024
Deadline for service of complaint. 6/27/2024
[120 days after filing of complaint; see Rule 1.070(j), Fla. R.
Civ. P.]
Deadline for adding parties. 7/29/2024
[150 days after filing of complaint; subject to Rule 1.210,
Fla. R. Civ. P.]
Deadline for service under extensions. 8/26/2024
[180 days after filing of complaint; see Rule 1.070(j), Fla. R.
Civ. P.]
Court-Ordered Case Management Conference. 09/24/2024
NOTE: This hearing will be conducted remotely. Please At
see paragraph 6(b) for connection instructions.
9:00 AM
[210 days after filing of complaint.]
Deadline for completion of fact discovery. 11/25/2024
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[270 days after filing of complaint.]
Deadline for filing motion to compel discovery.
12/9/2024
[284 days after filing of complaint.]
Plaintiff’s expert disclosure deadline. 12/26/2024
[300 days after filing of complaint.]
Defendant’s expert disclosure deadline. 1/23/2025
[330 days after filing of complaint.]
Rebuttal expert disclosure deadline. 2/6/2025
[344 days after filing of complaint.]
Deadline for completion of compulsory medical exam, if
applicable and requested (“CME”).
3/24/2025
[390 days after filing of complaint; subject to Rule
1.360(1)(A), Fla. R. Civ. P.]
Deadline for completion of mediation or non-binding
arbitration. 4/23/2025
[420 days after filing of complaint.]
Deadline for completion of expert discovery.
4/23/2025
[420 days after filing of complaint.]
Month and year of the projected trial term.
[540 days after filing of complaint; see Florida Rule of
General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.250(a)(1)(B); August, 2025
firm trial date will be set by entry of a Uniform Order
Setting Trial & Pretrial (Revised April 30, 2021).]
ENTERED by the undersigned judge on the date imprinted below.
24-CA-001768 2/29/2024 1:14:13 PM
24-CA-001768 2/29/2024 1:14:13 PM
Paul L Huey, Circuit Judge
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