Dallas County District Courts Filing Rules

Attorneys answering a case must point out any failure of the filing attorney to make a proper disclosure of related cases.

The answering attorney must point out in the original defensive pleading or a simultaneous filing any failure by the filing attorney to make a proper and accurate related-case disclosure.

Briefs should be incorporated into the motion.

All motions other than default judgment and substitute service require in-person, hybrid, or Zoom hearings.

The attorney answering a filed case must point out in the original defensive pleading or a simultaneous filing any failure of the filing attorney to make a proper and accurate related-case disclosure.

Counsel should have the motion and proposed order on file and then call the court clerk to request a hearing.

Telephone appearances arranged via the Court Coordinator; telephonic hearings only permitted if no evidence or testimony will be presented.

Whenever e-mail or fax communication with the Court is permitted, the permission is limited to that particular incident and all opposing counsel and parties must be copied.

Counsel must email the court coordinator to request a TRO hearing and provide a timeframe; the coordinator will set a date and time for a Zoom hearing.

Requests for oral argument must be submitted to the District Clerk; the Court may grant them upon a showing of good cause.

Parties shall meet and confer on Pre-Trial issues no later than seven (7) days before Trial.

Suggestion of Bankruptcy must be filed within 20 days of receiving notice of another party's bankruptcy petition.

Motions in limine should usually be filed on the day of trial or at the pre-trial conference.

Unless otherwise ordered, parties should exchange all pre-trial materials no later than ten (10) days before trial.

Dispositive motions, including expert challenges, must be heard no later than 30 days before trial unless the scheduling order allows otherwise.

E-filed documents must not be locked.

Judge Frazier prefers motions written in Arial font.

Fonts smaller than 12 point are prohibited.

Exhibits must be marked numerically or with letters before going on the record.

Fonts smaller than 12 point and margins smaller than 1 inch are prohibited.

The return of service shall not be made until 30 days after mailing or until the green card is received back, whichever is earlier.

Copies of the Suggestion of Bankruptcy must be served on all counsel of record.

The return of service shall not be filed until 30 days after mailing or until the process server receives the signed green card back from the post office, whichever is earlier.

Attorneys and parties must work together to send a single consolidated remote-access submission to the Court Reporter, copying all counsel and self-represented parties.

The Suggestion of Bankruptcy must be filed with the clerk of the Court and copies served on all counsel of record.

Jury trials are suspended until May 8, 2020, and previously set jury cases are continued sua sponte and reset on future jury dockets.

Motions to continue a summary judgment hearing require a showing of good cause.

Discovery-based continuance motions must be filed at least 30 days before trial and must detail outstanding discovery efforts.

A continuance or pass will not be granted unless a new date is obtained from the Court.

After one year on file, a case may only be reset upon a written motion for continuance personally approved by the client in writing and granted by the Court.

Deposition portions may be designated confidential on the record or by written notice within 72 hours of receiving the transcript, and should be transcribed separately and marked by the court reporter.

Confidential Material may only be used by counsel for litigation of this case or related actions, and may not be revealed without the claiming party's written consent or a Court order.

Any party may challenge a confidentiality designation by written notice of objection to the claiming party's counsel; challenges to deposition designations may also be made on the record.

For Zoom hearings and bench trials, email all exhibits at least 24 hours prior to the proceedings.

Email courtesy copies of exhibits to 193court@dallascourts.org.

Movant must provide courtesy copies of the motion, response, reply, and proposed orders to the Court no later than 3 business days before the hearing if the pleadings exceed 10 pages including exhibits.

Pleadings, briefs, or exhibits over 5 pages require a paper copy delivered to the Court at least 3 days before the hearing.

For all contested motions, courtesy copies of the motion, any response, and any reply must reach the Court at least two business days before the hearing.

All reports must be entered into the reporting database at card.txcourts.gov, beginning with the September 2016 report.

Plaintiff's attorney must e-file client's affidavit, 18.001 affidavits, and attorney's fees affidavit for default prove-ups.

Exhibits must be submitted electronically to the Court Reporter.

E-file notice of hearing.

Pleadings may not be filed with the Administrator; the Administrator is not a e-filing channel.

The certificate of conference requirement does not apply to dispositive motions, summary judgment motions, default judgments, and other listed motions.

No counsel for a party shall file, nor shall any clerk set for hearing, any motion unless accompanied with a "Certificate of Conference" signed by counsel for movant in one of the forms set out in Rule 2.07(c). b. Prior to the filing of a motion, counsel for the potential movant shall personally attempt to contact counsel for the potential respondent to hold or schedule a conference to resolve the disputed matters. Counsel for the potential movant shall make at least three attempts to contact counsel for the potential respondent. The attempts shall be made during regular business hours on at least two business days.

Parties must diligently confer before bringing discovery disputes to the Court.

Parties must conference in compliance with local rules before filing a discovery motion.

Unliquidated default judgment motions require a prove-up hearing.

Motions and briefs are limited to 25 one-sided pages.

Motions and briefs are limited to 25 one-sided pages.

If a filing exceeds 35 MB, it must be split and the remaining split documents attached to the lead document as an attachment.

For complicated motions, the Court appreciates brief books containing briefs, orders, and highlighted important cases.

Attorneys and parties must collaborate and transmit participant information to the Court Reporter in a single submission.

The Court accepts electronic or courtesy binders delivered before the hearing and requests a proposed order be filed prior to the hearing.

Additional charges apply if exhibits, a word index, or expedited service are selected on the request.

Before a severed claim is assigned a new cause number, plaintiff's attorney must satisfy the Clerk's deposit-for-costs requirement.

Before a severed claim is assigned a new cause number, plaintiff's attorney must satisfy the Clerk's deposit-for-costs requirement.