IN THE CIRCUIT/COUNTY COURT OF THE NINETEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR ST LUCIE COUNTY, FLORIDA CASE: vs. Plaintiff, Defendant NOTICE TO APPEAR FOR PRETRIAL CONFERENCE/MEDIATION STATE OF FLORIDA - NOTICE TO PLAINTIFF(S) AND DEFENDANT(S): YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that you are required to appear in person or by attorney at the St. Lucie County - South County Annex, located at 250 NW Country Club Drive , Port St Lucie, FL 34986 on _____________________, at _____________am/pm, for a PRETRIAL CONFERENCE. IMPORTANT - READ CAREFULLY THE CASE WILL NOT BE TRIED AT THE PRETRIAL CONFERENCE, BUT MAY BE MEDIATED AT THAT TIME DO NOT BRING WITNESSES. YOU MUST APPEAR IN PERSON OR BY ATTORNEY WHOEVER APPEARS FOR A P ARTY MUS T HAVE FULL AUTHORITY T O SETTLE FOR ALL AMOUNTS FROM ZERO T O T HE AMOUNT OF T HE CLAIM WITHOUT FUR THER CONS ULTATION. F AILURE TO COMP LY M AY R ESULT IN THE IMPOSI TION OF S ANCTIONS, INCLUDING COSTS, ATTORNEY FEES, ENTRY OF JUDGMENT OR DISMISSAL. The defendant(s) must appear in court on the date specified in order to avoid a default judgment. The plaintiff(s) must appear to avoid having the case dismissed for lack of prosecution. A written MOTION or ANSWER to the court by the plaintiff(s) or the defendant(s) shall not excuse the personal appearance of a party or its attorney in the PRETRIAL CONFERENCE/MEDIATION. The date and time of the pretrial conference CANNOT be rescheduled without good cause and prior court approval. Any business entity recognized under Florida law may be represented at any stage of the trial court proceedings by any principal of the business entity who has legal authority to bind the business entity or any employee authorized in writing by a principal of the business entity. A principal is defined as being an officer, member, managing member, or partner of the business entity. Written authorization must be brought to the Pretrial Conference/Mediation. The purpose of the pretrial conference is to record your appearance, to determine if you admit all or part of the claim, to enable the court to determine the nature of the case, and to set the case for trial if the case cannot be resolved at the pretrial conference. You or your attorney should be prepared to confer with the court and to explain briefly the nature of your dispute, state what efforts have been made to settle the dispute, exhibit and documents necessary to prove the case, state the names and addresses or your witnesses, stipulate to the facts that will require no proof and will expedite the trial, and estimate how long it will take to try the case. MEDIATION Mediation may take place during the time scheduled for pretrial conference. Mediation is a process whereby an impartial and neutral third person called a mediator acts to encourage an d f acilitate the re solution of a dispute b etween two or more parties, w ithout prescribing w hat t he r esolution should b e. It i s a n inf ormal a nd nonadversarial process with the objective of helping the disputing parties reach a mutually acceptable and voluntary agreement. In med iation, d ecision mak ing re sts w ith the p arties. Negotiations i n c ounty court me diation a re primarily cond ucted by the p arties. Counsel fo r each pa rty m ay participate. However, pr esence of co unsel is no t r equired. If a f ull ag reement i s no t re ached a t med iation, th e re maining i ssues o f the case w ill b e set f or trial. Mediation communications are confidential and privileged except where disclosures are required or permitted by law. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ If you admit the claim, but desire additional time to pay , you must come and state the circumstances. The court may or may not approve a payment plan and may withhold judgment or execution or levy. RIGHT TO VENUE. The law gives the person or company who has sued you the right to file in any one of several places as listed below. H owever, if you have been sued in any place other than one of these places, you, as the defendant(s), have the right to request that the case be moved to a proper location or venue. A proper location or venue may be one of the following: (1) where the contract was entered into; (2) if the suit is on an unsecured promissory note, where the note is signed o r where th e maker resides; (3) if the su it is to recover p roperty or to fo reclose a lien, where th e p roperty is lo cated; (4) where the event giving rise to the suit occurred; (5) where any one or more of the defendants sued reside; (6) any location agreed to in a contract; (7) in an action for money due, if there is no agreement as to where suit may be filed, where payment is to be made. If you, as the defendant(s), believe the plaintiff(s) has/have not sued in one of these correct places, you must appear on your court date and orally request a transfer, or you must file a WRITTEN request for transfer in affidavit form (sworn to under oath) with the court 7 days prior to your first court date and send a copy to the plaintiff(s) or plaintiff's(s') attorney, if any. A copy of the statement of claim shall be served with this summons. DATED on this _________________________________________ Joseph E. Smith CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT St. Lucie County, Florida BY: Deputy Clerk If you are a person with a disability who needs any accommodation in order to participate in this proceeding, you are entitled, at no cost to you, to the provision of certain assistance. Please contact Corrie Johnson, 250 NW Country Club Drive, Suite 217, Port St. Lucie, FL 34986, 772-807-4370, at least 7 days before your scheduled court appearance, or immediately upon receiving this notification if the time before the scheduled appearance is less than 7 days; if you are hearing or voice impaired, call 711. American LegalNet, Inc. www.FormsWorkFlow.com