UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

WEST PALM BEACH DIVISION

In re:

Chance & Anthem, LLC,

Debtor.

/

Case No.: 18-16248-MAM

Chapter 7

Robert C. Furr, 

Plaintiff. 

Adv. Proc. No. 19-1298-MAM

v. 

Jeffrey M. Siskind, et al.

Defendants. 

/

Jeffrey M. Siskind, 

Counter-Plaintiff. 

v.

Genovese, Joblove & Battista, P.A., et al.

Counter-Defendants. 

/

Mindy A. Mora, Judge

United States Bankruptcy Court

_____________________________________________________________________________

ORDERED in the Southern District of Florida on May 14, 2020.

Case 19-01298-MAM Doc 326 Filed 05/14/20 Page 1 of 6
2

ORDER SETTING EVIDENTIARY HEARING BY VIDEO CONFERENCE

AND ESTABLISHING RELATED DEADLINES

To expedite and facilitate the evidentiary hearing of plaintiff Robert C. Furr’s 

(“Movant”) Renewed Motion (I) to Strike Certain Affirmative Defenses in Defendant Jeffrey 

Siskind’s Amended Answer and Affirmative Defenses [ECF No. 272] and Alleged 

Counterclaim [ECF No. 273]; (II) for an Order to Show Cause why Jeffrey Siskind Should not 

be Held in Contempt of Court; and (III) for Sanctions (ECF No. 281) (the “Motion”) the Court 

ORDERS as follows:

1. DISCOVERY. All discovery shall be completed not later than seven (7) days 

before the evidentiary hearing. The Court will allow discovery after that date 

only upon a showing of good cause.

2. MEDIATION. Pursuant to Local Rule 9019-2, the Court may order the 

assignment of this contested matter to mediation at any time, upon the request 

of a party or sua sponte.

3. EVIDENTIARY HEARING; SERVICE. The Court will hold an evidentiary 

hearing on the Motion (ECF No. 281) on June 5, 2020 commencing at 10:00 

a.m. The Court has reserved a single court day for this matter. Movant shall 

serve a copy of this Order on all appropriate parties and file a certificate of 

service thereof as required by this Court’s local rules.

4. VIDEO CONFERENCE. The Court is presently closed to in-person hearings 

as a result of the dangers presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. The 

evidentiary hearing will take place by video conference using the services of 

Zoom Video Communications, Inc. The Court will provide a passwordprotected link for the appropriate Zoom video conference to those approved 

parties who have submitted to the Court a notice of intent to participate via 

Zoom in accordance with paragraph 5, below. All counsel and witnesses shall 

conduct a pre-hearing test of Zoom using the same equipment that they intend 

to use during the hearing.

5. PRIOR NOTICE OF INTENT TO PARTICIPATE IN EVIDENTIARY 

HEARING BY VIDEO CONFERENCE; LIMIT ON PARTICIPATION BY 

VIDEO. All parties wishing to participate in the hearing by video conference

shall provide notice to Maria_Romaguera@flsb.uscourts.gov via electronic 

mail no later than 4:00 p.m. prevailing Eastern Time on May 29, 2020. 

The Court will provide to each approved party a password-protected link to the 

appropriate Zoom video conference. If the number of parties wishing to 

participate in the video conference, in the Court’s view, exceeds the number 

which would permit the efficient, stable, and reliable transmission of the 

Case 19-01298-MAM Doc 326 Filed 05/14/20 Page 2 of 6
3

evidentiary hearing by video conference, the Court may require that certain 

parties be permitted to participate in the evidentiary hearing only by 

telephone. The parties are encouraged to limit video conference participation 

only to those who are necessary to the presentation of this matter. Any person 

specifically requesting to participate by telephone will be provided with dial-in 

instructions, which may be used with any telephone equipment. The 

evidentiary hearing scheduled by this order is a public matter. The general 

public is invited to listen to the hearing by telephone. Any person wishing to 

listen to the hearing by telephone may contact Maria Romaguera, at the 

electronic mail address provided in this paragraph, to obtain dial-in 

instructions. 

6. REMOTE WITNESS TESTIMONY. In accordance with Federal Rule of Civil 

Procedure 43(a) (made applicable by Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 

9017), for good cause and in compelling circumstances a witness may be 

permitted to testify by contemporaneous transmission from a location other 

than the courtroom. The Court finds that the public danger presented by the 

COVID-19 pandemic merits application of this rule with regard to all witnesses 

who may testify in this matter. Each remote witness called to testify or subject 

to cross-examination in this matter shall be permitted to testify by 

contemporaneous transmission from a different location by video conference, 

as provided in this Order.

7. REQUIREMENTS FOR ALLOWANCE OF REMOTE TESTIMONY. As 

additional safeguards for the allowance of remote testimony, the party 

sponsoring each remote witness shall file with the Court, no later than two 

(2) business days prior to the scheduled hearing, a Witness List for 

Remote Evidentiary Hearing containing the following information for each 

potential remote witness:

A. Her or his name and title (if applicable).

B. Matter(s) on which the remote witness will provide testimony.

C. The city, state and country where the remote witness will be located 

while testifying. 

D. The type of place from which the remote witness will testify, such as a 

home or an office. No addresses are required. 

E. Whether anyone will be in the room with the remote witness during 

the testimony and, if so, for each such person, the person’s name, title, 

relationship to the remote witness, and purpose for being present with 

the witness.

F. Whether the remote witness will have access to any documents other 

than exhibits that have been provided to the Court and the parties and,

if so, identifying each such document. 

Case 19-01298-MAM Doc 326 Filed 05/14/20 Page 3 of 6
4

8. SWEARING IN OF REMOTE WITNESSES. The Court will administer the

oath to each remote witness during the video conference and witness testimony 

will have the same effect and be binding upon each remote witness in the same 

manner as if such remote witness was sworn in by the Court in person in open 

court.

9. RESPONSIBILTY FOR REMOTE WITNESSES. The party sponsoring 

each remote witness shall be responsible for ensuring that the remote witness 

has obtained the password-protected link to the video conference, the remote 

witness has obtained all exhibits prior to the hearing, the remote witness has 

registered with Zoom, and the remote witness has the technological capability 

of participate in the video conference hearing via Zoom. 

10. EXCHANGE OF EXHIBITS AND WITNESS LISTS. 

A. Each party shall deliver to each opposing party (but not file with the 

Court), so as to be received no later than 4:00 p.m. four (4) business 

days prior to the evidentiary hearing, the following documents:

(1) A set of pre-marked exhibits (including summaries) intended to 

be offered as evidence at the evidentiary hearing. Each party 

must prepare a separate exhibit register based upon the Local 

Form Exhibit Register (LF-49). All exhibits must include the 

party’s role in the matter or adversary proceeding (i.e., ‘movant” 

or “respondent”) and be sequentially numbered. Movant and 

respondent shall also include a short descriptive name of each 

exhibit, e.g., "mortgage", "note", or "letter dated 

xx/xx/xxxx." Presentation and exchange of exhibits shall 

conform to Local Rule 9070-1.

(2) With regard to any summary the party will offer in evidence at 

the evidentiary hearing, a notice of the location(s) of the books, 

records, and the like, from which each summary has been made, 

and the reasonable times when they may be inspected and 

copied by adverse parties.

(3) A list showing the name and, if not previously provided, the 

address and telephone number of each witness that the party 

may call at the evidentiary hearing other than solely for 

impeachment.

B. Unless otherwise ordered, each party shall file and deliver, so as to be 

received no later than 4:00 p.m. two (2) business days prior to the 

evidentiary hearing, any objection to the admissibility of any 

proposed exhibit, including any deposition transcript or recording 

(audio or video) or any summary. The objection must (i) identify the 

exhibit, (ii) briefly state the grounds for the objection, and (iii) provide 

citations to case law and other authority in support of the objection. An 

Case 19-01298-MAM Doc 326 Filed 05/14/20 Page 4 of 6
5

objection not so made - except for one under Federal Rule of Evidence 

402 or 403 - is waived unless excused by the Court for good cause. 

C. No later than 4:00 p.m. two (2) business days prior to the 

evidentiary hearing, the respective parties shall file a bilateral 

stipulation of uncontested facts. Counsel for all parties shall sign the 

stipulation of uncontested facts. The failure of counsel to prepare and 

submit the bilateral stipulation may result in sanctions. THIS 

SUBPARAGRAPH SHALL NOT APPLY IF ONE OF THE 

RESPECTIVE PARTIES IS SELF-REPRESENTED.

11. SUBMISSION OF EXHIBITS TO THE COURT. 

A. No later than three (3) business days prior to the scheduled 

hearing, each party shall provide to the Court a complete set of the 

exhibits provided to opposing counsel pursuant to paragraph 10, above. 

Each party shall contact Maria Romaguera, by electronic mail at

Maria_Romaguera@flsb.uscourts.gov, prior to the deadline, to 

determine how such exhibits should be delivered depending on the 

number and size of exhibits. Methods of delivery may include electronic 

mail or cloud file-sharing. The exhibits so delivered shall constitute the 

official exhibits in this matter. 

B. Each party shall create a separate PDF document for each exhibit, 

labeled with the party’s role in the hearing and the exhibit number as 

required by para. 10(A)(1) of this Order, and present all such exhibits 

in a single folder labeled with the name of the party. Exhibits shall be 

named using the following format: [Party’s Role] [Exhibit Number] –

[short descriptive name]. 

Examples of acceptable file names:

Movant Jane Smith

Movant #1 – Sale Contract 

Movant #2 – Letter dated January 1, 2020

Movant #3 – Letter dated February 1, 2020 

Respondent ABC Bank

Respondent #1 – Mortgage

Respondent #2 – Note

Respondent #3 – State Court Final Judgment

12. COMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL JUDICIARY PRIVACY POLICY. All 

papers submitted to the Court, including exhibits, must comply with the 

federal judiciary privacy policy as referenced under Local Rule 5005-1(A)(2).

Case 19-01298-MAM Doc 326 Filed 05/14/20 Page 5 of 6
6

13. FINAL ARGUMENT. At the conclusion of the evidentiary hearing, in lieu of 

final argument, the Court may request that each party file a proposed 

memorandum opinion with findings of fact and conclusions of law. 

14. SETTLEMENT. If the contested matter is settled, the parties shall submit to 

the Court a stipulation approved by all parties and a motion for approval of the 

same prior to the date of the evidentiary hearing. If a stipulation and motion 

are not submitted to the Court, all parties shall be prepared to proceed with 

the evidentiary hearing. If the contested matter is removed from the calendar 

based upon the announcement of a settlement, the contested matter will not 

be reset for hearing if the parties fail to consummate the settlement. In such 

event, the Court will consider only a motion to enforce the settlement, unless 

the sole reason the settlement is not consummated is that the Court did not 

approve the settlement, in which case the matter will be reset for hearing at a 

later date.

15. SANCTIONS. Failure to appear at the evidentiary hearing or to comply with 

any provision of this order may result in appropriate sanctions, including the 

award of attorney’s fees, striking of papers, exclusion of exhibits or witnesses, 

or the granting or denial of the Motion.

16. CONTINUANCES. Continuances of the evidentiary hearing or any deadlines 

set forth in this order must be requested by written motion. Any request for 

continuance or amendment to this order shall set forth the status of discovery 

and shall state the reasons why the party or parties seek a continuance.

###

Copy to: 

Jesus Suarez, Esq.

Attorney Suarez shall immediately serve this Order upon all interested parties and file a 

certificate of service with the Court that conforms with Local Rule 2002-1(F).

Case 19-01298-MAM Doc 326 Filed 05/14/20 Page 6 of 6