Superior Court of Fulton County Filing Rules

Boilerplate and rote objections in discovery responses are prohibited.

Discovery and motion filing deadlines are set by a Case Specific Scheduling Order entered at Plea and Arraignment, and re-indicted cases remain bound by the original case's CSSO dates absent good cause and court order.

The Consolidated Pretrial Order must state all theories of liability, legal issues, damages sought, actionable conduct, and affirmative defenses.

All filings must include the email addresses of counsel or pro se parties.

Motions to compel discovery must itemize articulable, case-specific instances of non-compliance; non-specific form motions will not be considered.

The Rule 6.3 pleading requesting oral argument on summary judgment must also be e-mailed to the Staff Attorney.

Counsel must never directly email the Judge.

Parties must copy the opposing party or counsel on all communications with the Court.

The Court must be immediately notified of any problem or dispute that could delay deadlines.

Communications with Chambers must be in writing, emailed to the Litigation Manager, and copied to all counsel unless it is a proper ex parte filing.

Plaintiff expert disclosures are due 90 days before the close of discovery.

Parties must promptly and completely comply with O.C.G.A. § 17-16-4 discovery requirements by the discovery deadline set by the Court in the separate CSSO for each Defendant's case.

Compellable discovery ends six months from when the Response to the Petition is filed or due; requests must be served early enough, and parties may not stipulate to extensions absent court order.

Responses to discovery motions must be filed within one week of the discovery motion.

Each new case is set for a Plea and Arraignment hearing generally no later than one month after the indictment or accusation is filed.

To modify the Case-Specific Scheduling Order, the moving party must email the Staff Attorney, with all parties copied, a proposed Revised Scheduling Order including all proposed deadline extensions and a statement of whether the Court has previously granted extension requests.

All counsel and defendants must appear at the Final Plea Calendar unless the case was previously resolved or appeared on a prior trial calendar, and the Final Plea Calendar date will not be reset absent good cause and express Court authorization.

Court approval is required to modify any deadline, status conference, or hearing date; such requests should be made as early as possible.

Any modification of a deadline or hearing date requires prior Court approval, even if all parties consent.

Requests to extend the Discovery Date deadline must be made by written motion filed by the deadline, with a detailed fact-based explanation, the time needed, and a proposed order.

Electronic service is legally sufficient for pleadings, except the initial complaint and summons.

Written communications sent to the Court must also be sent to counsel of record in the same format, unless a proper ex parte filing.

Petitioner must file proof of service of the initial Petition within 90 days of filing, or the case is dismissed absent proof of diligence and leave of Court; the order must also be served on the opposing party if no answer has been filed.

The Court notifies parties of trial by publication in the South Fulton Neighbor at least 21 days before the first case is called.

The State must provide notice to victims or other interested parties as required by law.

E-filing is mandatory for civil cases filed in Fulton County Superior Court.

Proposed orders must not be filed with the Clerk of Court because they clutter the case index in the Odyssey system.

E-filing is mandatory in Fulton County Superior Court including the Family Division; parties must create an eFileGA account and add a service contact.

E-filing is mandatory in Fulton County Superior Court; all parties should create an eFileGa account.

Court reporters must e-file transcripts and accompanying exhibits; due to eFileGa size limits exhibits are scanned individually and emailed, and oversized or non-paper exhibits may be submitted as a digital photograph.

Because e-filing does not automatically notify the Court, parties should e-mail a copy of any filing they want brought to the Court's attention to the Staff Attorney.

As with all motions, a courtesy copy of any filed motion for an extension of any deadline must be forwarded to Judge Leftridge's chambers by email to Ms. McRae.

Courtesy copies of the listed e-filed motions before Judicial Officer Osby are coordinated with Litigation Manager Cathy Robinson.

Parties filing bond motions must deliver a courtesy copy to opposing counsel and the Litigation Manager to ensure a hearing within 10 days.

Parties filing bond motions must deliver a courtesy copy to opposing counsel and the Litigation Manager.

Documents e-mailed to the Court for review, such as motions and other pleadings, should be sent in PDF format.

Proposed orders for standard procedural motions must be emailed to the Litigation Manager in editable WORD format so the Court can make changes.

For matters before Judge Eaton, it is highly recommended that proposed final orders in Word format be emailed to chambers before trial.

Oversized or non-paper exhibits may be submitted as a digital photograph of the object marked with an exhibit sticker.

Motions, proposed orders, and other submissions must be double-spaced, have margins of at least one inch on all sides, and use type no smaller than 12-point.

Motions and briefs are limited to 25 pages (excluding affidavits, deposition extracts, and exhibits) and reply briefs to 15 pages; over-limit filings without permission may be stricken.

Victim impact statements are limited to two pages and may be read by the victim, victim's family or loved ones, or the prosecutor.

Discovery motions are limited to 10 pages, double spaced.

Victim impact statements must be in writing, on point, directed to the Court, and no longer than three pages.

Motions and briefs are limited to 25 pages unless advance permission is granted, excluding affidavits, deposition extracts, and exhibits.

The Court encourages (but does not require) parties to request discovery, pre-trial, or settlement conferences with specific goals, and will meet in chambers, in court, or by phone.

Parties must confer before the motions hearing date to attempt to narrow or resolve issues by agreement and to discuss plea possibilities versus proceeding to the motions hearing and trial.

Replies and sur-replies require prior Court approval, requested informally by email with an explanation of need.

Opposing responses to non-evidentiary motions are due within 30 days; replies within 15 days of the response; additional briefing requires leave of court requested by email; deadlines may be shortened or extended.

Parties must confer before the motions hearing date to narrow or resolve outstanding motions and discuss the State's offer and plea options.

Filing fees apply to all e-filing transactions.

Filing fees apply to all e-filing transactions.

Filing fees apply to all e-filing transactions.

Filing fees apply to all e-filing transactions unless the filer qualifies as indigent.

Filing fees apply to all e-filing transactions.

Individual submissions of pre-trial order portions are prohibited unless accompanied by written certification of good-faith efforts to consolidate.

Each motion in limine must be a separate document, not combined with other motions.

Do not file omnibus motion packets; file one motion per filing.

Each motion must be filed separately; omnibus motions are prohibited.

Each motion in limine must be a separate document and attachment to the email.

Documents are ordinarily not truly confidential unless they constitute trade secrets, personal identifying information, or personal health information.

Sealed documents must be manually filed in paper with the Clerk along with a sealing order, and a Notice of Filing under Seal must be e-filed (or included with the larger document if the sealed item is an exhibit).

Witness lists e-filed may have lay witnesses' dates of birth and contact information redacted, but that information must still be provided in confidence to opposing counsel.