Florida Law Of Civil Procedure ~ Motion To Produce - Motion For Trial
Our daughter is being sued by a collection agency for a debt she does not think she owes.
We had a pretrial hearing this week whereby the plaintiffs attorney was present via telephonic hearing. That is to say, we were in chambers with the Judge, while the plaintiff attorney was on "speaker phone".
The judge asked both parties if we could "settle" the matter before trail. We indicated to the judge that the plaintiff attorney had received on Jan. 7, 2008 a letter requesting them to produce evidence (all documentation) regarding/proving the debt. The judge was also informed that the plaintiff failed to respond. The plaintiff told the judge that they did not have time to "get the evidence file". The judge then asked my daughter if she would like to immediately proceed to trial. We thought it was better to wait for the plaintiff to produce the evidence, so we so no.
It seemed like the judge was trying to steer us toward an immediate trial, but we weren't sure why.
When the judge disconnected the call and we were alone in chambers with him, he told us that the plaintiff probably did not have the evidence to back up their claim and that it was in my daughters best interest to go right to trial. He explained that if we went to trial, under the rules of evidence, the plaintiff would have to produce all their evidence and we would get to see it BEFORE trial. Since he did not believe they had any evidence (the debt is from 1999), my daughter would most likely prevail. He told my daughter she should:
1. Motion the court for a speedy trial
2. Invoke the rules of civil procedure
3. Motion a request for the plaintiff to produce evidence
4. File a request for admissions
At least that's what we took away from it.
Can anyone help us out :
A. What are the specific documents we need to file?
B. Where do we get the forms (Florida Practice Book - Law Library)??
C. Do we have it right? Did we understand the judge?
We have spent hours already in the law library. We know this falls under Florida Statute 95.11 and we think that this is beyond the SOL which would be five years from the breach. We don't think there was a breach but if it did occur it would have been over five years ago.
Thanks in advance for any help.
BTW: to others in similar situations, please know that anyone can go to your local law library where they can be very helpful to you and provide you with a wealth of information and resources.
Florida Statute of Limitations - Contracts Breach
This information is a follow up to my previous post. Please see that question first:
Here is a great resource for others out there. It is FLORIDA LAWS OF CIVIL PROCEDURE and all of Florida Statutes for those who need to reference them. The Florida statute that contracts and SOL is 95.11. And you can do a search to see how tolling applies.
Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes :->2007->Chapter 95 : Online Sunshine
I am a little familiar with West's Law.
Do you know which motions I have to file and in which order?
I am thinking I need to file
1. Motion for trial
2. Motion to produce
I don't know how to invoke the rules of civil procedure but I am guessing that the above does that. And is the motion to produce the same as filing request for admissions? Is it admission of evidence?
1. Motion the court for a speedy trial
2. Invoke the rules of civil procedure
3. Motion a request for the plaintiff to produce evidence
4. File a request for admissions
Here is a great resource for others out there. It is FLORIDA LAWS OF CIVIL PROCEDURE and all of Florida Statutes for those who need to reference them. The Florida statute that contracts and SOL is 95.11. And you can do a search to see how tolling applies.
Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes :->2007->Chapter 95 : Online Sunshine