In addition to the Local Rules of the Civil Courts of Dallas
County, Texas, the parties are directed to take notice of the following court
policies:
The Court
appreciates courtesy copies of motions and briefs received well in advance of
the hearing to allow the Court time to review them prior to the hearing. The can be provided to the Court at the same
time and in the same manner as filing the original papers, provided they are
exact duplicates.
The Court
generally prefers that the parties document agreed matters by Rule 11
Agreements. However, agreed motions for continuances must be filed and comply
with local rules for continuances in cases over one year old or as otherwise
provided. Additionally, Agreed
Judgments must be supported by agreed motions or by some other unambiguous
declaration that all parties are agreeing to the recitals and relief requested
in the Agreed Judgment. Proposed Agreed
Judgments without a joint motion signed by the parties that only have the
simple notation “Agreed,” “Approved,” or “’Agreed’ or ‘Approved’ as to Form”
are not acceptable. All other
uncontested or agreed matters should be presented with a proposed form of order
and should reflect the agreement of all parties either (a) by all parties
signing the joint motion and proposed order as to form and content, or (b) by
personal or authorized signature on the form of the proposed order as to form
and content, and confirmation of the agreed relief by the parties in the
certificate of conference in the motion.
Non-suits and proposed orders for Non-suits which provide for costs to
be paid by the party incurring them cannot be approved without agreement of the
parties. Otherwise, costs must be borne
by the Plaintiff.
The Court will use its best efforts to review all motions
and briefs before any hearing. However, this requires counsel filing the papers
in a timely fashion so that the court has an opportunity to review them prior
to the hearing. The court dislikes
having to take matters under advisement as much as the parties do.
Briefs and Motions containing argument or authorities in
excess of ten pages should have a table of contents and a table of authorities
and begin with a summary of the argument.
ONLY copies of the case or cases which are controlling as to the issue
presented – not of all cases cited, or the standard citations to
well-established principles such as standards of review, etc. – should be
attached and provided to opposing counsel highlighted in the same manner as the
Court’s copy.
Proposed Orders
Counsel should provide a proposed Order which provides the
relief or ruling counsel is requesting from the Court at the time the Motion or
Response is filed.
Permission for participation by counsel in hearings by
telephone must be obtained from the court prior to the hearing, and is
generally limited to instances where no evidence or testimony will be presented
and counsel would have to travel more than one hour to reach court or is
otherwise incapacitated. Arrangements should be made with the Court
Coordinator.
Discovery
disputes, unless otherwise approved, will be heard by having counsel appear in
court at 1:30pm on Friday, typically within 7 to 14 days of filing. The parties will meet and confer, and if a
resolution has not been reached by 1:40pm, the Court will hear argument. The hearing will not be evidentiary or on
the record. Should a record be required
after this hearing or if the parties need more time than is available, an
appropriate date and time will be assigned on the Court’s standard morning
docket. Normally, as many as 10
discovery disputes, with a maximum of 8 cases, will be set on any given
Friday. Clerks shall notify counsel
filing the discovery motion by fax of the Friday hearing, who in turn shall
immediately forward the notice to all other counsel.
Motions for
Default Judgments where damages are un-liquidated will require a prove-up
hearing. Default Judgments that are
liquidated should only be submitted by motion and supporting affidavits, if
any. Default Prove-ups are scheduled
through the Court Clerk for Judge McFarlin’s Friday 9:30 default docket. At the time of scheduling a minor prove-up,
counsel should inform the Court Clerk whether the hearing will require
additional time because an interpreter is needed or because there are multiple
ad litems.
Protective Orders
Protective
Orders for confidentiality purposes should not place undue burden on the
Court’s ability to manage or try the case.
Protective Orders should not recite that the Court retains continuing
jurisdiction. Protective Orders should
not provide for sealing of documents or proceedings unless pursuant to the Court’s
ruling after a hearing pursuant to Rule 76a, Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.
Because
trials are typically set based upon the requested date of the parties,
continuances, whether agreed or not agreed, are not favored, and the parties
should expect to try the case when called.
Cases not reached during the week may be carried over to the following
week, particularly if the case is more than a year old. For cases on file for more than one year,
any motion, whether or not agreed to, requesting a continuance of trial must be
signed by all parties requesting such a continuance, as well as by
counsel. The Court may require a
hearing even for agreed motions for cases more than a year old. If a Motion for Continuance has not been
filed in time to get a hearing prior to the trial date, the case will ride the
trial docket until reached – at which time the Motion will be considered. Motions that are not agreed to must comply
with Rule 252 and Local Rule 301. Reset
or continuance for a period of 30 days or less or for less than three months
after the expatriation of the discovery deadline will not otherwise affect any
of the pretrial deadlines unless specifically provided in the Order. All
vacation letters should be in the Court file if they are to be considered for
reset or continuance purposes. Failure to mediate will not be a cause for
delay of a trial setting.
Parties are
required to make announcement regarding their readiness for trial in accordance
with Dallas Civil Court Rule 3.02.
Announcements are to be made during business hours starting at 9:00 am
of the Thursday before the trial date and before Friday at 10:30 am by calling
the Court Coordinator at 214-653-7273.
Please do not ask what number your case is on the docket before
announcing. When making the
announcement, the parties shall provide the following information:
1. Your name, phone number, case number and
party on whose behalf you
are announcing.
2.
Whether
the party is ready, not ready or “ready subject to.” An announcement of “not ready” or “ready subject to” does not
release you from trial.
3.
If,
not ready, or ready subject to, give the reason or reasons why
4.
If
announcing not ready because counsel is in trial or has been called to trial in
another case, provide the style, cause number, and court contact information of
the other case.
5.
If
announcing ready subject to being called to trial in another case, provide the
style, cause number, and court contact information of the other case.
6.
An
estimate of how long it will take to present your case in chief, and an
estimate of how long the entire case will take.
7.
Whether
there are any out-of state parties or counsel that will require more than 24
hour stand-by notice to appear for trial.
Failure of
the Plaintiff to announce for trial will result in the case being placed on the
court’s dismissal docket. Failure to
announce by the defendant will be taken by the court as an announcement of
ready.
Failure of
the Plaintiff to appear for trial when the case has been called will result in
the case being dismissed for want of prosecution pursuant to Rule 165a of the
Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. Failure
of the Defendant to appear may result in a default judgment.
If a case
is not called for the Monday trial docket, the parties will be on standby to be
called to trial during the week. Cases
not reached during the week may be continued over to the following week,
particularly if the case is more than a year old.
Court’s Trial Docket and Rule 166 Pre-trial Matters
Parties who
want a pre-trial conference prior to the day of trial should notify the Court
Coordinator. Be prepared to identify
the matters under Rule 166 that require the Court’s attention, how much time
will be needed and the availability of the parties to visit with the
Judge. After this information is shared
with the Judge, the parties will be notified if and when the pre-trial will
take place.
When
appearing for trial, the court will expect the parties to have met and
conferred regarding:
- Agreements, if any, for stipulated
evidence
- Agreements, if any, for stipulated
exhibits
- Exchange of witness and exhibit
lists
- Agreements regarding Motions In
Limine
- Agreements regarding demonstrative
aids or exhibits for opening statements
- Jury Panel size
- Jury questionnaires, if any
At docket
call for trial, the court requires from each party the following (the court
will appreciate counsel cooperating to provide the materials in a single, three
ring notebook):
- List of witnesses and exhibits
each party expects for their respective case in chief
- Most recent pleading of each party
- Proposed jury questions and
instructions and proposed Judgment (both as a hard copy and on CD that allows
the Court to revise if necessary. The
parties are encouraged to submit a single CD with both parties’ materials.)
- Any pertinent Orders affecting the
trial, including Scheduling Order, interlocutory Orders granting dispositive
relief, Orders on Motions In Limine, etc.
- Trial Briefs, if any
Docket call
should be reserved for only those matters for which the parties could not reach
agreement and that can be resolved in 30 minutes or less.