--- title: "Robert Nichols Scola Jr. | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/robert-nichols-scola-jr" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-09" --- # Robert Nichols Scola Jr. U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida · U.S. District Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida - State: Florida - Role: U.S. District Judge - Service status: senior - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Biography ### Professional career - Judge, District Court, S.D. Florida, 2011-present - Judge, District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2011-present - Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, having assumed senior status on October 31, 2023, and retiring on October 3, 2025 - Adjunct professor, Florida International University College of Law, 2007-2011 - Judge, Circuit Court of Florida, Eleventh Judicial Circuit, 1995-2011 - 1995–2011: Judge, Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida, presiding over criminal, civil, and family cases - Adjunct professor, University of Miami School of Law, 1994-2011 - Assistant state attorney, Dade County, FL, 1980-1986 ### Education - J.D. — Boston College School of Law From 1980 to 1986, he held the role of an Assistant State Attorney in Miami-Dade County (1980) - Brown University — B.A. (1977) ### Additional information - In 2026, Scola joined Coffey Burlington as Of Counsel, applying his over 30 years of judicial experience to mediation and arbitration in areas such as business disputes, complex litigation, health care, insurance, and personal injury - Private practice, Miami, FL, 1986-1995 - He then practiced private law, including criminal defense, from 1986 to 1995 - Born October 30, 1955, Worcester, Massachusetts. - Date of birth: 1955-01-01 - Birth place: Worcester, MA ## Before you appear - Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed. - Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance. - Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding. ## Courtroom Rules ### electronic trial exhibits Scope: courtwide Unless otherwise ordered, Southern District of Florida parties must file electronic versions of documentary exhibits and digital photographs of non-documentary physical exhibits within ten days after a hearing or trial ends. Evidence excerpt: Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, within ten (10) days of the conclusion of a hearing or trial, a party must file and serve in the CM/ECF system (a) an electronic version of each documentary exhibit ... and (b) a digital photograph of each non-documentary physical exhibit... [Local Rules of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida](https://www.flsd.uscourts.gov/sites/flsd/files/25-09-22%202025%20Local%20Rules%20effective%20120125%20-%20FINAL.pdf) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### audiovisual exhibit filing Scope: courtwide The Southern District of Florida's local rules require contraband images, audio, and video recordings that are exempt from CM/ECF filing to be physically filed with the Clerk within ten days after the hearing or trial, unless otherwise ordered. Evidence excerpt: Contraband images, audio recordings, and video recordings, which must be physically filed with the Clerk of the Court within ten (10) days of the conclusion of the hearing or trial, unless otherwise ordered... [Local Rules of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida](https://www.flsd.uscourts.gov/sites/flsd/files/25-09-22%202025%20Local%20Rules%20effective%20120125%20-%20FINAL.pdf) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### civil remote testimony Scope: courtwide In federal district-court civil proceedings, testimony is ordinarily taken in open court; remote contemporaneous testimony requires good cause in compelling circumstances and appropriate safeguards. Evidence excerpt: For good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate safeguards, the court may permit testimony in open court by contemporaneous transmission from a different location. [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### criminal recording and broadcasting Scope: courtwide Federal district courts may not permit courtroom photography or broadcasting during criminal judicial proceedings unless a statute or another federal rule provides an exception. Evidence excerpt: Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom. [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ## Sources - [Official profile](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1393831) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1393831) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1393831) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/2885/robert-nichols-scola-jr/) - [Local Rules of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida](https://www.flsd.uscourts.gov/sites/flsd/files/25-09-22%202025%20Local%20Rules%20effective%20120125%20-%20FINAL.pdf) - [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) - [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/2885/robert-nichols-scola-jr/) - [Wikidata: Robert N. Scola, Jr.](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7347935) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/robert-nichols-scola-jr", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/robert-nichols-scola-jr", "name": "Robert Nichols Scola Jr. | KnowJudges", "description": "Robert Nichols Scola Jr., U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. 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Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-civil-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27. - [Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-8721a344fececced2257fe1d) — Criminal proceedings in United States District Courts; this conservative mapping does not distribute appellate-specific provisions to appellate judges. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-criminal-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27.