Southern District of Texas Local Rules and Judge Filing Requirements

Opposed motions must include or be accompanied by legal authority.

Proof of service for these rules must be filed with the U.S. District Clerk.

All appendices must include a table of contents.

Motions must include a certificate of conference, certificate of service, and a proposed order.

Counsel must file a Joint Discovery and Case Management Plan using Appendix C form at least 3 business days before the Initial Pretrial Conference.

Ex parte communications with the Court are prohibited; all written communications must be copied to all interested parties.

Inquiries for Judge Brown's cases go to case manager George Cardenas via phone or email.

Parties must advise the Court by letter if a pending motion requires expedited resolution.

All filing questions must be directed to the Office of the Clerk.

Counsel must contact Case Manager Sandra Espinoza at (956) 982-9685 for emergency matters.

Correspondence is prohibited from electronic filing.

Joint Discovery/Case Management Plan must be in the form on Judge Brown’s homepage and filed 10 days before the Rule 16 conference.

Conventionally filed (non-electronic) appendices must be tabbed at the right margin.

All exhibits must be provided to the Court and opposing counsel in tabbed, indexed binders.

Exhibit copies provided to the Court must be formatted in a properly tabbed and indexed notebook.

Ex parte restraining order applications will not be considered by the Court unless all FRCP 65(b) requirements are satisfied.

Motion responses due 21 days after filing; replies due 7 days after response.

Counsel must confer with opposing counsel on all motions to reach agreement on requested relief.

Motions to withdraw guilty/nolo pleas must be filed within 14 days of plea hearing; objections to Magistrate Judge’s R&R must be filed within 14 days of R&R execution; hearing must be scheduled within 30 days of filing.

Ex parte restraining order applications are only permitted if they meet Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(b) requirements.

Discovery deadline extensions may be made by written party agreement without court involvement; agreements need not be filed.

Extensions of discovery/expert deadlines not affecting dispositive/docket-call dates don't need court approval; extensions affecting those dates require a motion.

Continuance motions must be filed at least 3 business days before the controlling deadline, with good cause required for same-day filings.

Joint and unopposed motions for continuance are granted only at the Court’s discretion.

Extension requests for scheduling order deadlines should be made before the deadline expires; late requests are disfavored.

Motions to consolidate must be filed in the oldest case with a courtesy copy to each affected court.

Parties should submit two tabbed binders of pretrial filings and two tabbed binders of exhibits to the court.

Urgent documents (including letters) may be sent to Chambers via mail, email, or hand delivery with copies to all parties; service copies must be sent to counsel simultaneously with or before court transmission in the same method.

Counsel must send a courtesy copy of emergency motions directly to chambers.

Courtesy copies of urgent documents may be sent to the Case Manager at the time of filing with the Clerk.

The court holds docket call on the last Friday of each month.

Filings with 50 or more pages (including attachments) must submit a hard copy to the District Clerk’s Office within 7 days of electronic filing.

Pro Hac Vice motions and Notices of Appearance must be filed at least 7 days before counsel's planned appearance.

Motions for reinstatement after settlement-related dismissal must be filed within 90 calendar days with proof of settlement approval inability.

Joint discovery/case management plans must be filed at least 10 days before the scheduling conference.

Motions and responses limited to 30 pages; replies limited to 15 pages absent leave of court.

Memoranda of law are limited to 25 pages, 12-point font, double-spaced, with 1-inch margins without court leave.

Briefs and legal memoranda are limited to 30 pages excluding exhibits; leave of court required to exceed.

Supplemental briefing requested by the Court is limited to ten pages.

Briefs and memoranda are limited to 25 pages without leave of court.

Parties represented by counsel must file Form JS44c with all original pleadings.

Motions to seal and their exhibits should be filed as a single combined document.

Required pretrial attachments must be filed as separate documents, prohibiting bundling.

Briefs are required to be filed together with or incorporated within a motion, response, or reply.

Form O-1 (proposed order) must be submitted with the motion.

Parties must provide a copy of the scheduling order to any new parties joined.

The attached cover page must be served with the summons and complaint or notice of removal.

Plaintiff must serve Court Procedures and Practices with initial complaint documents; proof of service must be filed with the Clerk.

Plaintiffs must serve the Order for Conference and Disclosure of Interested Parties on defendants along with the summons and complaint.

Attached court materials must be served with summons and complaint or removal papers.

Parties filing a civil action they wish to seal must submit an application to the clerk with complaint and materials in a sealed envelope marked 'sealed exhibit'.

Pleadings, motions, or exhibits filed under seal must be accompanied by a motion to seal.

Pleadings with personal data identifiers must comply with S.D. Texas General Order #2004-11 on personal privacy protection.

Presentence Investigation Reports (PSR) are sealed documents and must not contain information excluded by Fed. R. Crim. P. 32(d)(3).

Documents subject to confidential treatment or disclosing Confidential Information must be filed under seal, kept sealed until court order, with only confidential parts sealed if possible.

All pleadings must be electronically filed through ECF following Administrative Procedures for Electronic Filing; FAQs available from District Clerk’s Office.

All parties must file documents electronically through the CM/ECF system per Local Rule 5.1.

All parties are expected to file documents via CM/ECF; counsel must register to use the system.

Electronic filing is required in most cases, and counsel must register for the CM/ECF system.

All parties must electronically file all documents through the CM/ECF system, following local administrative procedures.

Young lawyers (practicing less than 7 years) are encouraged to conduct hearings, especially for motions they drafted or contributed to.

Young lawyers (fewer than 7 years experience) are encouraged to conduct hearings, with priority for those who drafted or contributed to the underlying motion/response.

Junior lawyers (less than 5-7 years experience) are encouraged to have primary speaking roles, increasing likelihood of oral argument.

Junior lawyers (licensed fewer than 7 years) should be given speaking roles for motions/responses they drafted or witnesses they prepared.

Lawyers with less than 7 years of experience are young lawyers; court encourages them to have primary speaking roles and considers this when granting oral argument requests.