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Judge Hooi

The Honorable Michael J. Hooi

Unified Family Court, Division E
  • Edgecomb Courthouse800 E. Twiggs St., Room #429
    Tampa, Florida 33602
    Courtroom #413
  • Judicial Assistant: Denisse Meireles
  • (813) 272-6997
  • famlawdive@fljud13.org
  • Zoom Meeting ID: 917-102-0630
    Password: Not required Court Zoom LinkAdministrative Orders Judicial Biography
Judicial Biography Judge Michael J. Hooi

The Honorable Michael J. Hooi

Michael J. Hooi is a circuit judge in the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit of Florida. He first joined the bench in 2021, when Governor Ron DeSantis appointed him to the Hillsborough County Court.

Before becoming a judge, Hooi practiced at Stichter, Riedel, Blain & Postler, P.A., in Tampa, Florida, where he handled both litigation and transactions. He represented creditors and debtors in corporate and consumer bankruptcies, out-of-court workouts, and alternatives to bankruptcy, and litigated in trial and appellate state and federal courts. He also worked on complex transactions, some of which involved international clients. While in private practice, he was recognized in multiple years by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star, by Best Lawyers as a One to Watch, and by the Florida Supreme Court for exceptional pro bono service.

Judge Hooi began his legal career as a law clerk at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit for Judge Charles R. Wilson after graduating from the University of Florida. While in law school, Hooi was a managing editor of the Florida Law Review, a research assistant for a criminal-procedure treatise, and a teaching assistant for courses in business law, legal research and writing, and appellate advocacy. He also received the Gertrude Brick Award from the law review and interned for Judge Elizabeth A. Kovachevich at the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. He majored in philosophy at Vanderbilt University, where he was an Arts & Science College Scholar.

Judge Hooi is a descendant of Chinese immigrants. His paternal grandfather emigrated with his family from China and served in the U.S. Army during World War II. His mother is a naturalized Chinese-American citizen from Indonesia.

When he is off the bench, Judge Hooi enjoys writing, speaking, and serving the community in legal and nonlegal matters alike. His writings have appeared in publications including Cramdown, The Federal Lawyer, Florida Law Review, and Lawyer. He volunteers at nonprofit organizations and his church, both at the local and state-conference levels. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Tampa.

  • Forms
  • Procedures & Preferences
    Unified Family Court, Division E

Forms

  • 12 Rules of Courtroom Civility Form
  • Civil Cover Sheet
  • Equitable Distribution Worksheet
  • Notice of Hearing Before General Magistrate
  • Motion for Telephonic Hearing
  • Order Directing Supervised Visitation at the CJC and referral to BHP
  • Order of Referral to Behavioral Health Programs
  • Order of Referral to Parenting Coordinator
  • Order Referring Parties to Family Mediation
  • Order- Setting Final Evid Hrg on Atty Fees
  • Order Setting Final Hearing and Pretrial Conference on Post Judgment Relief
  • Order to Pick-Up Minor Child(ren)
  • Parenting Plan
  • Petition by Affidavit for Order to Show Cause for a Violation of a Temporary Injunction for Protection
  • Standing Temporary Order for Family Law Cases
  • Temporary Relief Hearing Memorandum
  • Temporary Relief Cover Sheet/Family Mediation Request
  • Uniform Order Setting Final Hearing and Pretrial Conference

    •     Florida Supreme Court - Forms

  • Florida Approved Supreme Court Forms
  • Income Deduction Order
  • Motion for Referral to General Magistrate, Order of Referral to General Magistrate and Notice of Hearing Before General Magistrate
  • Parenting Plan Parenting Plan | 12.995 Forms A - C
  • Temporary Support | 12.947 Forms A - D

Procedures & Preferences

FAMILY LAW DIVISION E PREFERENCES - please view Administrative Order S-2025-013

Family Law Divisions Judicial Preferences Quick Reference Chart


This Division uses Zoom for virtual appearances. You can access the Zoom courtroom here: https://zoom.us/j/9171020630. The Zoom meeting ID is 917-102-0630. You will not need a password for access. Please include the Zoom link in any notice of virtual hearing you prepare.

The Court will presumptively hear the following by Zoom:

  • An uncontested hearing
  • A nonevidentiary hearing or case-management conference that (1) does not involve a discovery dispute, (2) lasts no more than 30 minutes, and (3) the Court does not require to occur in person
  • An uncontested adoption

Appearing virtually means keeping your camera on during your hearing and displaying both your first and last names. You may use, in addition to—but not a substitute for—your camera, a telephone for audio purposes.

Court personnel may cancel a hearing noticed but is ineligible under the above criteria for virtual appearances.

The court does not usually allow hybrid hearings in which one side appears in person while another appears virtually. So, if the parties and their counsel, if represented, mutually prefer, the court will allow all to appear in person instead. When in doubt, confer with the other side, file a motion, and submit a proposed order in advance. 

If you are scheduling an uncontested matter for hearing, please book it in JAWS under “CMC/UMC” (case-management conference or uniform-motion calendar). Doing so will put your case on a multicase docket. Count on your hearing or case-management conference in your chosen docket timeslot to last no more than five minutes.

Filing Motions. The E-Portal does not automatically notify the division when a party or an attorney representing a party files a motion, pleading, or other paper. Parties and their counsel should prepare their cases with that understanding. In an appropriate situation, the judge will rule on a motion without scheduling a hearing. So, unless the law requires otherwise, the court does not guarantee a hearing on any given motion.

Emergency Motions. One should be cautious about calling a matter an emergency, because improperly doing so is a basis for a sanction. In seeking emergency relief, the moving party should certify that the emergency has not been caused by a lack of due diligence but by circumstances beyond the movant’s control. The motion should further certify that the moving party has not filed it for any improper purpose, such as to harass, delay, or increase the cost of litigation. It should further explain why the matter is an emergency and describe the harm that would occur if the matter is not heard as an emergency. Consider including words to the following effect: “[The moving party] seeks [brief statement of the requested relief] and requires a [specify length] hearing on or before [date] because [explain].”

Before moving for emergency relief involving children, a party or a party’s counsel should carefully study Smith v. Crider, 932 So. 2d 393 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006), and Loudermilk v. Loudermilk, 693 So. 2d 666 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997), including the cases cited on page 668 of that opinion. After receiving a filed emergency motion, a deputy clerk will notify the division, and the judge will enter a handling order. From there, the parties and any counsel may decide what next steps to take based on what the handling order says.

If you have registered your email address with the clerk but have not received the handling order within 48 hours after you file your emergency motion, please email division and attach a copy of your timestamped motion. The judicial assistant will confirm whether the motion reached the division.

If you are representing yourself: Unless you are excused under rule 2.516(b)(1)(D), you must designate your email address with the clerk for service of documents. Click here for a link to the designation form. A case manager helps the court only with prejudgment cases in which both sides are representing themselves. If your case has a manager, you will have his or her contact information. You may not contact the case manager—or any other court personnel—for any legal advice.

All parties and counsel: The division strongly prefers email for communication. Remember that an email to the division or any other court addressee is not the place to litigate your case or seek legal advice, which no court personnel can lawfully provide.  If you are seeking relief, you must file an appropriate document with the clerk. Emailing the division is not a substitute for filing.

If you contact the division, you must include all parties, including any applicable third party, on any communication you send. Please use only the division email address: famlawdive@fljud13.org. Otherwise, due to judicial-ethics considerations, you may not get a response. The communication may also end up filed with the clerk.

Hearing Notice. A hearing notice must include the following in the body in addition to what the applicable law, including rules and administrative orders, requires:

  • The title of the motion to be heard;
  • The date the motion to be heard was filed and docket number if available;
  • The amount of time reserved for the hearing;
  • The hearing location or the link to the Zoom meeting, including the Zoom ID number.

After filing the notice, please email a timestamped copy to the judicial assistant.

Scheduling. If you are representing yourself without counsel, please email the judicial assistant, copying the other side, for help with scheduling. If you are an attorney, please schedule your hearing on the Judicial Automated Workflow System—better known as JAWS. If you need more than 30 minutes, please email the judicial assistant and copy the other side. Only after the judicial assistant confirms the hearing date by email may the moving party or counsel file and serve the hearing notice. Be prepared, if asked to do so, to file a motion explaining why your hearing will require the amount of time you have requested. Either the judge or the judicial assistant may adjust the amount of time your matter is actually set for hearing. If asked, you should be prepared to explain in writing your reasons for requesting the time you have requested. 

Unless the court orders a specific time, the parties must cooperate with one another in scheduling a hearing even if they do not agree that the amount of time requested for the hearing is sufficient, do not agree that the matter is ripe for hearing, or have other legal or procedural objections to the hearing. When a party asks for a hearing, the judicial assistant will offer available times. The parties should try to agree on the schedule. If none of them work for both sides, the judicial assistant may offer additional times. If the parties still can’t agree on a hearing time, the party or attorney rejecting the judicial assistant’s offer should be prepared at the court’s direction to plainly specify the basis for rejecting each offered hearing time. If a scheduling impasse occurs, the judicial assistant may unilaterally schedule the hearing, or the judge may rule on the matter without one if allowed under the applicable law. The goal is to minimize any gamesmanship—real or perceived—in setting a hearing and to help ensure that the parties have fair access to the court. The parties and any counsel should ordinarily reach back out to the judicial assistant only after they have coordinated the hearing date and time.

Unilateral Hearing Notice. A party may unilaterally notice a hearing only if the other side fails to cooperate with scheduling. The scheduling party must prepare a hearing notice that is labeled “unilateral” and describes the efforts made—including all means, dates, and times of contact—to reach an agreed hearing date. The court may strike a unilateral hearing notice that does not comply with the above and cancel the hearing.

Amending a Hearing Notice. A party may amend a filed-and-served hearing notice only with the court’s permission. If you need to amend such a notice, please email the judicial assistant and identify the requested changes. Once you have permission to amend, you may file and serve the amended hearing notice.

Cross-noticing a Hearing. A party may cross-notice a hearing only with the court’s permission. To request permission, email the judicial assistant, copying all parties and stating what you would like to have heard. If the court grants permission, file an amended notice of hearing and serve a copy on all other parties or attorneys. Be sure to schedule enough time for all to argue the matters in both the notice and cross-notice. The court may deny without prejudice the relief sought in a cross-notice prepared without prior permission.

Canceling a Hearing. If you no longer need a scheduled hearing, e-file a cancelation notice and email a timestamped copy to the judicial assistant right away so that the judicial assistant can give the time to someone else. You may cancel a hearing that another party set only with the consent of all affected or the court’s permission. You may not cancel a trial or a clerk- or court-scheduled hearing or conference.

Temporary Relief. The time limit for a temporary-relief hearing is one hour.

Reserving Enough Hearing Time. Please be sure to reserve enough hearing time. Both sides will get equal time, and the judge will need some of the reserved time to rule. The court expects focused presentations, and each side should count on having about one-third of the reserved time.

If you have any evidence to present at an evidentiary hearing or trial, please upload your exhibits through the E-Portal before the hearing or trial. Clicking this link will show you how to do that. Please do not upload your trial exhibits to the docket as if you were filing a pleading, motion, or other document with the clerk. They are not supposed to be part of the record until the court admits them at trial. If you follow the instructions above, your uploaded exhibits should end up in the right place. Another important tip: remember to label each exhibit for easy access and submission to the clerk in real time. Some suggested labels are “Petitioner’s Exhibit 1” or “Respondent’s Exhibit 2.” Prefer numbers to letters. Not labeling exhibits causes delays. 

Although the judge will admit electronically uploaded exhibits, the parties should make a binder for use on the witness stand, and, if they so choose, at counsel’s table. Please do not deliver any binders that you may use with witnesses or at counsel’s table in advance without the judge’s or judicial assistant’s prior permission. Instead, have them with you on the date of your hearing or trial. You will need to take any unadmitted paper exhibits back with you at the end of the day of your hearing or trial or they will be recycled.

You may email caselaw or other authorities to famlawdive@fljud13.org before the hearing or trial or have copies of the authorities with you at the hearing to hand to the judge.

Unless the court orders otherwise, the parties must have completed mediation, and all discovery issues must have been resolved before trial. After filing and serving a notice for trial, you may request available pretrial and trial dates by emailing the judicial assistant. Your email must copy all other parties and include the case number and the amount of time requested. Both the pretrial and trial are in-person events.

If a party moves to continue a trial, but there is no agreement to do so, the court may hear the motion at the beginning of the reserve trial time. Please note that substituting counsel, without more, is not generally good cause to continue a trial.

Unless otherwise instructed, you should upload a proposed order or judgment as a PDF through the E-Portal to the division’s queue. You can access the E-Portal from www.fljud13.org. If you run into any issues with uploading into the queue, please contact the JAWS Helpdesk at 813-272-6513. And except as otherwise instructed, you may, but are not required to, submit a copy of your cover letter, proposed order or judgment, and any attachment to the judicial assistant.

If you are an unrepresented litigant in need of submitting a proposed order, you may do so by emailing it to the judicial assistant.

Please include a cover letter with your proposed order, stating whether all parties agree to its form and content and copying all who should receive service. If a party thinks that the proposed order does not accurately state the court’s ruling or otherwise objects to the order, that party should submit a competing order immediately with a cover letter identifying the objections to the proposed order.

When you submit a proposed final order or judgment, please also submit a final disposition form to close your case.

Interpreters and Court Reporters. Cases assigned to this division are “non-due process” cases. This means that if you need an interpreter or a court reporter, unless an applicable rule of law provides otherwise, you must provide your own at your own expense. Follow the links above for more information.

If you need an interpreter, you must follow Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.565. Under that rule, you must: 

  • use a certified, language skilled, provisionally approved, or otherwise registered interpreter; or
  • if you can’t secure the services of an interpreter described in paragraph (1) above, you must complete a written declaration under rule 2.565(d), a copy of which you file with the clerk, serve on all other parties or, if represented, their counsel, and email a copy to the Office of the State Courts Administrator at 565Declarations@flcourts.org.

Failing to comply with this rule may result in a delay of your court proceeding.

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  • Phone: (813) 272-5894
  • Email: publicinfo@fljud13.org
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