Z Divisional Instructions

E-Service

Judge Willis does participate in E-Service. The Court accepts Motions and Notice of Hearings via email in PDF format and proposed Orders in Word Format via OLS. All emails must be sent to opposing counsel and indicate if the opposing objects or agrees to the proposed order. The Court will not accept any filing via email that is more than 15 pages long. If your motion is more than 15 pages you must mail it in.

Hearings

A Defendant's presence is required at ALL HEARINGS unless previously waived by the Court or by Court order and must be scheduled through the Court's Judicial Assistant. Please contact opposing counsel to see if the matter is agreed upon. If the parties still require a hearing, please email CAD-DivisionZ@pbcgov.org and include the case number, the Defendant's name, the type of hearing needed and the amount of time needed.

All special set hearings (evidentiary hearings; hearings requiring testimony) requiring less than 15 minutes are set by emailing CAD-DivisionZ@pbcgov.org to obtain available dates and times for hearing.

Motions requiring more than 15 minutes should be submitted to the Court with a cover letter or an email to the Court's divisional instructions stating how much time is requested for the Motion. The Judge will review and the motion and the judicial assistant will email the parties with available dates. Parties will be given several potential dates in order to coordinate with the other side. Once a date is agreed upon,moving party is to email the Judicial Assistant to set the date on the Judge's calendar. All motions must be filed with the clerk of the court PRIOR to contacting the Judge's office for a hearing date. (Please do not send the original Notice of Hearing or original Motion to the Judge).

Please note that for all notices of Hearing, The American Disability Act Instructional Page must be either attached or included at the end of the notice. (See Divisional Forms and Orders on our webpage).

Emergency Hearings

Requests or Motions for an Emergency Hearing are decided by the Judge. The Movant files a Motion for an Emergency Hearing with the Clerk of the Court. The Clerk will deliver the motion to the Judge's office and the Judge will then review the Motion and determine if it is a "true" emergency and if a hearing is warranted, as defined in Administrative Order 2.004, as follows:

The term "emergency" encompasses the foregoing ex parte applications and other matters of extreme urgency, i.e., matters of life and death or instances of irreparable harm".

Proposed Orders

ALL PROPOSED ORDERS NEED TO BE UPLOADED TO THE OLS Online Services IN WORD FORMAT

All proposed orders shall be submitted to the OLS in word format and shall include as an attachment a cover sheet/letter indicating the date of hearing (if the matter was heard). The proposed Order must be sent to opposing counsel. The names and addresses of all persons receiving conformed copies must appear on the order or final judgment pursuant to Administrative Order 2.306

SUBMIT A PROPOSED ORDER

How Does It Work?

To Submit an Order:

As an example, below are the steps to submit an Order:

  • Log into the 15th Circuit's OLS
    • in OLS, create the appropriate order one of three ways:

    Follow the instructions on the screen to submit the order to the court.

    1. Click on the "Submit Order from Template" button
      • Review the document and make any format adjustments necessary prior to submission.
      • Browse your computer and select, then upload the order;
    2. In OLS, click the "Submit Proposed Order" button;
      • Click "Submit" to send the order to the judge.
      • Follow the instructions on the screen and complete.
    3. If you have previously drafted the order in Word offline, cut and paste the order text into the body of the Generic Order template.
      • Select the Generic Order template, and type in the text of your order; or
    4. Click on the "Submit Order From Template" button;

If you are including a Motion with your Proposed Order, add it as an attachment.   The original Motion must be filed with the Clerk.

Questions and Advice

We cannot give out legal advice on how to proceed with your case. If you have questions of a legal nature, or questions concerning how to proceed, please contact or visit the Self Help Center located on the First Floor, Room 1434 of the North County Government Center/Courthouse or on the Second Floor, Room 1.2500 of the Main Branch Courthouse located at 205 North Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach, FL 33401. In addition, the Palm Beach County Bar Association has available a Lawyer Referral and Information Service by calling 561-687-3266.