UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

Case No. 22-cv-23354-BLOOM/Otazo-Reyes

PALMETTO EKG & ECHO READERS,

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION,

Plaintiff, 

v. 

CIGNA HEALTHCARE OF FLORIDA, 

INC.,

Defendant. 

_________________________/ 

ORDER ON POST-REMOVAL PROCEDURES, AND REQUIRING SCHEDULING 

REPORT AND CERTIFICATES OF INTERESTED PARTIES1

THIS CAUSE is before the Court upon a sua sponte review of the record. Defendant filed 

a Notice of Removal, ECF No. [1] (“Notice”), on October 14, 2022. The Notice is filed pursuant 

to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1441, 1446, seeking removal, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331, of an action filed in 

the County Court of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in and for Miami-Dade County, Florida, entitled 

Palmetto EKG & Echo Readers, Pro. Ass’n v. Cigna Healthcare of Fla., Inc., Case No. 2022-

025489 SP 23 (“State Court Action”). Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1447(a)-(c), Fed. R. Civ. P. 81(c), 

and S.D. Fla. L.R. 7.2, it is ORDERED that:

1. Based on Defendant’s representation in the Notice that it was served with process of the 

State Court Action on September 14, 2022, on or before October 24, 2022, Defendant shall 

answer or otherwise respond to the underlying complaint, unless Defendant has already done so in 

the State Court Action. 

1 The parties must not include Judge Bloom and the assigned U.S. Magistrate Judge as interested parties 

unless they have an interest in the litigation. 

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2. On or before October 31, 2022, the parties shall comply with Local Rule 7.2 to the extent 

there are any motions pending in the State Court Action, and shall separately re-file the motion, 

relevant memoranda of law in support of or opposition to those motions. 

3. Plaintiff may file a motion to remand this case on or before November 14, 2022.

2

Deadlines with respect to such motion will be governed by all relevant Local Rules. 

Joint Scheduling Report

4. By November 7, 2022, the parties shall prepare and file a joint scheduling report, as 

required by Local Rule 16.1. The joint scheduling report and proposed order shall include all 

information required by Local Rule 16.1(b)(2) and (3). In addition, at the time of filing the joint 

scheduling report, the parties, including governmental parties, must file certificates of interested 

parties and corporate disclosure statements that contain a complete list of persons, associated 

persons, firms, partnerships, or corporations that have a financial interest in the outcome of this 

case, including subsidiaries, conglomerates, affiliates, parent corporations, and other identifiable 

legal entities related to a party (to the extent they have not already done so). Throughout the 

pendency of the action, the parties are under a continuing obligation to amend, correct, and update 

the certificates.

Detailed Discovery Schedule: Local Rule 16.1(a) provides for a differentiated case 

management system based on the complexity of each case and the requirement for judicial 

involvement. That system categorizes cases along three case management tracks: expedited, 

standard, or complex. 

• Expedited track cases are relatively non-complex, require 1 to 3 days of trial, and 

2 The Court notes that no party can waive the objection of lack of federal subject-matter jurisdiction; any 

party can exercise the right to secure a remand of an action to state court when there is no federal subjectmatter jurisdiction over the action that has been removed to federal court. See Cotton v. Mass. Mut. Life 

Ins. Co., 402 F.3d 1267, 1280 (11th Cir. 2005) (noting in addition responsibility of court to raise issue of 

jurisdiction sua sponte).

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between 90 and 179 days for discovery from the date of the scheduling order.

• Standard track cases require 3 to 10 days of trial, and between 180 and 269 days 

for discovery from the date of the scheduling order.

• Complex track cases are unusually complex, require over 10 days of trial, and 

between 270 and 365 days for discovery from the date of the scheduling order.

“The following factors [are] considered in evaluating and assigning cases to a particular track: the 

complexity of the case, number of parties, number of expert witnesses, volume of evidence, 

problems locating or preserving evidence, time estimated by the parties for discovery and time 

reasonably required for trial, among other factors.” S.D. Fla. L.R. 16.1(a)(3).

Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(1) allows discovery regarding any nonprivileged matter that is 

relevant to any party’s claim or defense and proportional to the needs of the case, considering the 

importance of the issues at stake in the action, the amount in controversy, the parties’ relative 

access to relevant information, the parties’ resources, the importance of the discovery in resolving 

the issues, and whether the burden or expense of the proposed discovery outweighs its likely 

benefit. The parties shall participate in good faith in developing a detailed discovery plan, 

including any agreed-upon limitation on scope, frequency and the extent of discovery. The parties 

shall include in their scheduling report any unique discovery matters, including any electronically 

stored information that should be preserved and accessed. The parties shall establish a detailed 

schedule for the preservation, disclosure and access of each different type or category of 

electronically stored information. 

Consistent with the differentiated case management system, other relevant local rules (such 

as Local Rule 16.2, regarding mediation), and the twin goals of expeditious and attentive case 

management, the Court anticipates the following scheduling deadlines in the run of cases:

• Selection of a mediator and scheduling of a time, date and place for mediation 

within 30 days of the scheduling order. 

• Deadline to amend pleadings and join parties within 60 days of the scheduling 

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order. 

• Completion of all discovery consistent with the case management track guidelines, 

and 120 days prior to trial. 

• Completion of mediation prior to the deadline for dispositive pre-trial motions. 

• Deadline for dispositive pre-trial motions and Daubert motions (which include

motions to strike experts) 100 days prior to trial. 

• Deadline for submission of joint pre-trial stipulation, proposed jury instructions and 

verdict form, or proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law, as applicable, 40 

days prior to trial.

• Calendar call one week prior to trial. 

Those deadlines are not exhaustive of deadlines which may be set in the scheduling order.

The parties should address their joint scheduling report and their proposed pre-trial 

deadlines both to the differentiated case management system and to the Court’s anticipated 

deadlines. The parties are encouraged to explain their proposed deadlines in light of those 

overarching guidelines, including as to the factors listed in Local Rule 16.1(a)(3). The parties are 

cautioned that if they fail to submit a joint scheduling report by the applicable deadline, the 

Court may unilaterally set this case on a case management track in accordance with Local 

Rule 16.1(a) and calculated as if the scheduling report had been timely filed.

The parties are advised that the failure to comply with any of the procedures contained in 

this Order or the Local Rules may result in the imposition of appropriate sanctions, including,

but not limited to, the dismissal of this action or entry of default.

DONE AND ORDERED in Chambers at Miami, Florida, on October 17, 2022.

_________________________________

BETH BLOOM

UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Copies to: 

Counsel of Record

Case 1:22-cv-23354-BB Document 3 Entered on FLSD Docket 10/17/2022 Page 4 of 6
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

Case No. 22-cv-23354-BLOOM/Otazo-Reyes

PALMETTO EKG & ECHO READERS,

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION,

Plaintiff, 

v. 

CIGNA HEALTHCARE OF FLORIDA, 

INC.,

Defendant. 

_________________________/ 

ELECTION TO JURISDICTION BY A UNITED STATES

MAGISTRATE JUDGE FOR FINAL DISPOSITION OF MOTIONS

In accordance with the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 636(c), the undersigned parties to the 

above-captioned civil matter hereby jointly and voluntarily elect to have a United States Magistrate 

Judge decide the following motions and issue a final order or judgment with respect thereto: 

1. Motions for Costs Yes _____ No _____ 

2. Motions for Attorney’s Fees Yes _____ No _____ 

3. Motions for Sanctions Yes _____ No _____ 

4. Motions to Dismiss Yes _____ No _____ 

5. Motions for Summary Judgment Yes _____ No _____ 

____________ ____________________________________________ 

(Date) (Signature—Plaintiff’s Counsel or Plaintiff if pro se) 

____________ ____________________________________________ 

(Date) (Signature—Defendant’s Counsel or Defendant if pro se) 

Attachment A

Case 1:22-cv-23354-BB Document 3 Entered on FLSD Docket 10/17/2022 Page 5 of 6
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

Case No. 22-cv-23354-BLOOM/Otazo-Reyes

PALMETTO EKG & ECHO READERS,

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION,

Plaintiff, 

v. 

CIGNA HEALTHCARE OF FLORIDA, 

INC.,

Defendant. 

_________________________/ 

MAGISTRATE JUDGE JURISDICTION FOR TRIAL

In accordance with the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 636(c), the undersigned parties to the 

above-captioned civil matter hereby jointly and voluntarily elect to have a United States Magistrate 

Judge conduct any and all further proceedings in the case, including trial, and entry of final 

judgment with respect thereto.

____________ ____________________________________________ 

(Date) (Signature—Plaintiff’s Counsel or Plaintiff if pro se) 

____________ ____________________________________________ 

(Date) (Signature—Defendant’s Counsel or Defendant if pro se) 

Attachment B

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