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Contra Costa County trial document templates

Not legal advice. Rules checked against the code on August 20, 2026. Verify every date yourself. Read the full disclaimer

Core CCP rules were checked against Westlaw (via CoCounsel legal research) on August 20, 2026. County local rules are paraphrased summaries. Individual department and judge standing orders are included only where the court publishes them and we have read the document, so assume your own department has requirements beyond what you see here. Verify every date against the operative code sections, your court’s rules and your department’s own order before relying on it. Using this site creates no attorney-client relationship.

11 documents, 44 required sections, taken from Superior Court of California, County of Contra Costa’s own published rules and read 2026-09-14. Each one downloads as California pleading paper with this court’s required sections already placed, so the document cannot silently omit one.

A blank template is easy to find anywhere. What is hard to find is which sections this court requires inside the document, because that lives in a local rule nobody indexes. Every heading below is cited to the subdivision it came from, and the rule’s own sentence prints beside it in the reference sheet so you can check your work.

Download these as templates

The reference sheet below carries everything this court requires, each rule quoted from its own text and cited to the subdivision. The pleading paper templates are temporarily down while the line numbering is rebuilt, because the rail did not line up with the body text and a pleading whose lines cannot be cited is worse than no template at all.

Your details optional, blanks print as ruled lines

These stay in this browser. They are not sent anywhere, and the file is built on this machine, so a case name never reaches our server.

  • Exhibit Listeach party, 5 required sections. Dept. 16, exchanged with copies of all potential trial exhibits not less than 10 calendar days before the trial date. The other departments run their own dates, from one month before the Issue Conference in Dept. 32 to the first day of trial in Dept. 10.
    Pleading paper is being corrected
  • Deposition Designationseach party, 3 required sections. Dept. 32, provided in writing to opposing counsel one month before the Issue Conference, with the objection and counter designation meet and confer starting three weeks before and the designations submitted as part of the trial brief
    Pleading paper is being corrected
  • Proposed Written Juror Questionnaireeach party, 3 required sections. served on the other parties no later than 20 court days before the Issue Conference, then submitted with the Issue Conference Statement
    Pleading paper is being corrected
  • Motions in Limineeach party, 10 required sections. in writing, filed and served at least 10 calendar days before the Issue Conference. Motions are numbered consecutively, and a party filing more than five must provide an index.
    Pleading paper is being corrected
  • Witness Listeach party, 3 required sections. Dept. 16, filed and served not less than 10 calendar days before the first day of trial, in accordance with Local Rule 3.11(c)(2)
    Pleading paper is being corrected
  • Trial Briefeach party, 3 required sections. Dept. 32, filed and served 5 court days before the Issue Conference with tabbed sections carrying ten specified items, among them the statement of the case, the motions in limine with the oppositions, the witness list, the exhibit list, the CACI instructions and the proposed verdict form. Dept. 16 sets 7 court days before trial and Dept. 14 sets at least 10 days before trial.
    Pleading paper is being corrected
  • Issue Conference Statementeach party, 6 required sections. filed with the court and served on all parties at least 5 court days before the Issue Conference
    Pleading paper is being corrected
  • Settlement Conference Statementeach party, 1 required sections. lodged with the assigned department at the time the Issue Conference Statement is filed, in the form and content described in Local Rule 3.101
    Pleading paper is being corrected
  • Proposed Jury Instructions and Verdict Formseach party, 3 required sections. Dept. 16, exchanged not less than 7 court days before the trial date and lodged at first appearance for trial. The parties may identify CACI instructions by number, and they draft any special instructions jointly where CACI does not reach. Dept. 32 files them with the trial brief 5 court days before the Issue Conference.
    Pleading paper is being corrected
  • Materials Lodged at First Appearance After the Advance Trial Conferencejointly, 3 required sections. the Advance Trial Conference is held not less than 3 court days before the trial date, in person or by Zoom in Dept. 16, and the materials it produces are lodged at first appearance for trial. The Dept. 16 conference must cover trial exhibits, admissibility stipulations, the joint statement of the case, deposition and discovery excerpts, audio visual presentations, expert stipulations, the trial schedule, the other persons list and jury instructions.
    Pleading paper is being corrected
  • Trial Exhibit Binderseach party, 4 required sections. at first appearance for trial. Dept. 16 requires each party to provide at least three binders of its trial exhibits conforming to the Master Exhibit List, one for the clerk, one for the witness stand and one for the judge.
    Pleading paper is being corrected

Everything this court requires in one editable document, with each rule quoted and cited.

What each document has to carry

Exhibit List

Prepared by each party. Served only, except in Dept. 10 where the list is e-filed, Dept. 16, exchanged with copies of all potential trial exhibits not less than 10 calendar days before the trial date. The other departments run their own dates, from one month before the Issue Conference in Dept. 32 to the first day of trial in Dept. 10.. Applies to all civil trials, and in the departments that publish pre-trial orders the list is exchanged separately from the Issue Conference Statement. Contra Costa Dept. 16 Pre-Trial Orders (rev. 2025), section II, para. 3

  1. Dept. 32: exchange, admissibility meet and confer, and the list submitted with the trial brief
    • Exhibit lists exchanged one month before the Issue Conference
    • A meet and confer on admissibility stipulations beginning three weeks before the Issue Conference
    • The list submitted 5 court days before the Issue Conference
    • Each exhibit marked as stipulated to, or the objections to it stated
  2. Dept. 14: pre-marked and numbered exhibits served with the list
    • Trial exhibits and an exhibit list served on the other party 14 days before trial
    • Exhibits pre-marked and numbered, numbers for plaintiff and letters for defendant
    • Exhibits Bates stamped or numbered through some sequential numbering program
    • Exhibit binders brought on the first day of trial rather than originals filed with the clerk
  3. Dept. 34: exchange of exhibits and exhibit list
    • Copies of all potential trial exhibits, including discovery responses, exchanged not less than 7 court days before the trial date
    • An exhibit list exchanged with them
  4. Dept. 10: exhibit list e-filed in the Attachment A format
    • A complete exhibit list in the format identified in Attachment A, e-filed no later than the first day of trial
    • A witness list in the format identified in Attachment B
    • Only one list where the parties stipulate to a joint list
  5. Temporary judge trials in the civil division
    • All exhibits pre-marked
    • An exhibit list given to the temporary judge
    • A witness list given to the temporary judge
    • An opening statement given to the temporary judge

Deposition Designations

Prepared by each party. Served only, Dept. 32, provided in writing to opposing counsel one month before the Issue Conference, with the objection and counter designation meet and confer starting three weeks before and the designations submitted as part of the trial brief. Applies to any trial where a witness will appear by video deposition or by reading of designated testimony. Contra Costa Dept. 32 Instructions for Issue Conference, Trial Briefs section, item [3] (WITNESS LIST)

  1. Complex Litigation sample order: excerpts identified by page and line
    • All excerpts a party may read, identified by page and line in the issue conference statement
    • The original transcript lodged with the court on the first day of trial by any party who intends to read from it
  2. Dept. 10: designations for all affirmative evidence
    • Deposition designations for all affirmative presentation of evidence, including that of testifying party witnesses, unless the parties agree otherwise
    • Final designations no later than the Pretrial Conference
    • Counter designations and objections no later than the first day of trial
  3. Dept. 16: written objections before trial
    • Portions of videotaped or other depositions or discovery to be proffered at trial as to which there are objections, identified at the Advance Trial Conference
    • All objections filed and served in writing at least 2 court days before trial

Proposed Written Juror Questionnaire

Prepared by each party. Filed and served, served on the other parties no later than 20 court days before the Issue Conference, then submitted with the Issue Conference Statement. Applies to jury trials in which a party wants a specific written questionnaire submitted to the jury. Contra Costa Local Rule 3.11(e)(1)

  1. Objections and additional questions
    • Any objection to any question
    • Any additional questions proposed
    • Served on all other parties no later than 15 court days before the Issue Conference
  2. Meet and confer on objections and proposals
    • A meet and confer among all parties to attempt resolution of objections and proposals, no later than 10 court days before the Issue Conference
  3. Submission with the Issue Conference Statement
    • The questionnaire submitted with the Issue Conference Statement
    • Any unresolved questions requiring a ruling by the court clearly identified

Motions in Limine

Prepared by each party. Filed and served, in writing, filed and served at least 10 calendar days before the Issue Conference. Motions are numbered consecutively, and a party filing more than five must provide an index.. Applies to all civil trials, with each trial department setting its own deadline and packaging on top of the county rule. Contra Costa Local Rule 3.11(b)

  1. Topics the parties should not move on
    • No motion in limine on the six topics listed in Local Rule 3.11(b)(1) through (b)(6), which the rule says parties should not submit because each fast track trial department issues those orders on its own motion
  2. Objections to motions in limine
    • Objections filed and served 5 calendar days before the conference
    • A copy lodged with the chambers of the department to which the case is assigned
  3. Complex Litigation sample order: meet and confer, deadline and binder
    • A meet and confer beginning 30 calendar days before the issue conference
    • Motions filed and served no later than 15 calendar days before the issue conference
    • Where a party files more than two motions, a binder containing the motions separated by tabs
    • An index of the motions
  4. Dept. 32: served rather than filed, and tabbed into the trial binder
    • Motions in limine served on the opposing party and not filed, 10 court days before the Issue Conference
    • Answers to motions in limine served 3 court days before the Issue Conference
    • The party's own motions and the oppositions to them in a tabbed section of that party's own trial binder
  5. Dept. 34: filing and opposition deadlines
    • Motions filed and served not less than 10 calendar days before the Issue Conference date
    • Oppositions filed and served not less than 5 calendar days before the Issue Conference
    • Otherwise in accordance with the provisions of Local Rule 3.11
  6. Dept. 16: filing and opposition deadlines
    • Motions filed and served not less than 10 calendar days before the first date of trial
    • Oppositions filed and served not less than 4 calendar days before the first date of trial
  7. Dept. 14: lodged, not filed, in one document with decision lines
    • Motions lodged, not filed
    • All motions on one submitted document
    • A decision line by each requested motion reading Granted, Denied, Modified, Reserved
  8. Dept. 10: oppositions and the moving party's binder
    • Oppositions filed and served at least 7 days before the Pretrial Conference
    • A binder of the motions in limine and the oppositions, prepared by the moving party for each
    • The binder provided immediately after the oppositions are filed
    • Uncontested motions identified on a cover page rather than printed out and included in the binder
  9. Dept. 16: courtesy binder of motions in limine
    • A tabbed binder, with an index, of that party's own filed motions in limine
    • Any oppositions and related filed papers
    • Lodged no later than 4:00 pm two court days before the trial date
  10. Dept. 34: courtesy binder of motions in limine
    • A tabbed binder with an index containing that party's own filed motions in limine
    • Any opposition and related papers
    • Notice to the court of which motions are uncontested
    • Lodged no later than 4:00 pm one court day before the trial date

Witness List

Prepared by each party. Filed and served, Dept. 16, filed and served not less than 10 calendar days before the first day of trial, in accordance with Local Rule 3.11(c)(2). Applies to all civil trials in the departments that publish pre-trial orders, on top of the witness list that Local Rule 3.11(c)(2) puts inside the Issue Conference Statement. Contra Costa Dept. 16 Pre-Trial Orders (rev. 2025), section II, para. 1

  1. Dept. 34: filed before the Issue Conference, courtesy copy at trial
    • A witness list of the witnesses the party actually expects to call at trial, in accordance with Local Rule 3.11(c)(2)
    • Filed and served not less than 5 calendar days before the Issue Conference date
    • A courtesy copy lodged at first appearance for trial
  2. Dept. 10: Attachment B format with time estimates
    • The proposed witness list in the format identified in Attachment B
    • Each witness by last name first
    • The time for each witness stated in minutes
    • For jury trials, deposition designation time, meaning the time to read or play deposition transcripts
    • Exchanged at least 7 days before the Pretrial Conference, with the final version due at the Pretrial Conference
  3. Dept. 14: all non-expert witnesses with an offer of proof
    • A list of all non-expert witnesses, served and filed 7 days before trial
    • A brief offer of proof for each witness

Trial Brief

Prepared by each party. Filed and served, Dept. 32, filed and served 5 court days before the Issue Conference with tabbed sections carrying ten specified items, among them the statement of the case, the motions in limine with the oppositions, the witness list, the exhibit list, the CACI instructions and the proposed verdict form. Dept. 16 sets 7 court days before trial and Dept. 14 sets at least 10 days before trial.. Applies to civil trials in Depts. 14, 16 and 32. The county rules require no trial brief, only the Issue Conference Statement.. Contra Costa Dept. 32 Instructions for Issue Conference (Hon. Joni Hiramoto), Trial Briefs section

  1. Dept. 32: mini opening and opening statement exchanged with the brief materials
    • The mini opening
    • The opening statement
    • Any PowerPoint or electronic presentation proposed for the opening statement
    • Exchanged one month before the Issue Conference, with the objections meet and confer three weeks before
    • Both openings included in the trial brief with the objections stated
  2. Dept. 16: trial brief, 20 page cap
    • A trial brief not to exceed 20 pages
    • Filed and served 7 court days before trial
  3. Dept. 14: trial brief contents
    • A summary of the outstanding issues of fact to be tried
    • Any novel or unique issues of law
    • The contested issues of fact
    • The relief requested
    • No more than 20 pages
    • Served on the other parties and filed with the court at least 10 days before trial
    • An electronic courtesy copy emailed to the department

Issue Conference Statement

Prepared by each party. Filed and served, filed with the court and served on all parties at least 5 court days before the Issue Conference. Applies to all civil trials. In limited civil cases only, local Issue Conference Statement form CV-659(c) is mandatory, and the statement may not exceed 10 pages.. Contra Costa Local Rule 3.11(c)

  1. Statement of the facts, the law and the parties' contentions, Rule 3.11(c)(1)
    • A statement of the facts
    • The law
    • The respective contentions of the parties regarding liability
    • Damages, with specific dollar details
    • The nature and extent of injuries
    • Any unusual evidentiary or legal issues anticipated at trial
    • All matters of fact believed fit for stipulation
  2. Witness list and exhibit list, Rule 3.11(c)(2)
    • A witness list including only those witnesses that the party actually expects to have testify
    • A brief statement of anticipated testimony
    • An exhibit list
  3. Trial length estimate, statement of the case and voir dire, Rule 3.11(c)(3)
    • A trial length estimate
    • A proposed statement of the case to be read to the jury
    • Proposed voir dire questions
  4. Index of proposed jury instructions, Rule 3.11(c)(4)
    • A list (index) of proposed CACI jury instructions, as required by California Rules of Court, rule 2.1055
    • Copies of any proposed special instructions
  5. Dept. 10: when the statement is filed
    • An issue conference statement in accordance with Local Rule 3.11 from each party taking part in the trial
    • Filed 10 calendar days before the issue conference, which the court sets approximately one month before trial
  6. Dept. 10: materials exchanged before the Pretrial Conference
    • A list of all possible non-expert witnesses
    • A list of potential exhibits
    • Proposed stipulations
    • A brief proposed statement of the case
    • Preliminary jury instructions
    • Exchanged at least 14 days before the first Pretrial Conference, email sufficient with confirmation

Settlement Conference Statement

Prepared by each party. Lodged, lodged with the assigned department at the time the Issue Conference Statement is filed, in the form and content described in Local Rule 3.101. Applies to all civil cases other than short causes. Contra Costa Local Rule 3.11(d)

  1. Contents required by Local Rule 3.101(1)
    • A written statement of the facts
    • The law
    • The respective contentions of the parties to prove or disprove the right of recovery
    • The items and amount of special damages
    • The nature and extent of injuries and claimed residuals, documented by medical report where possible
    • Endorsed by the Clerk of the Court and served on all parties 5 court days before the conference

Proposed Jury Instructions and Verdict Forms

Prepared by each party. Lodged, Dept. 16, exchanged not less than 7 court days before the trial date and lodged at first appearance for trial. The parties may identify CACI instructions by number, and they draft any special instructions jointly where CACI does not reach. Dept. 32 files them with the trial brief 5 court days before the Issue Conference.. Applies to jury trials. Contra Costa Dept. 16 Pre-Trial Orders (rev. 2025), section IV, para. 11

  1. Dept. 32: instruction list, printed text and verdict form
    • A numbered list of requested CACI instructions
    • The full printed text of the requested instructions in hard copy
    • A Word version of the instructions
    • A proposed verdict form in hard copy
    • A proposed verdict form in an electronic Word version
  2. Complex Litigation sample order: verdict form attached to the issue conference statement
    • A proposed verdict form attached by each side to its issue conference statement
    • Proposed jury instructions from plaintiff only
    • For standard unmodified CACI instructions, the California Rules of Court, rule 2.1055(b)(3) index rather than copies
  3. Dept. 16: lodging in two sets at first appearance
    • A list of proposed jury instructions and jury verdict forms
    • Copies of the proposed instructions and verdict forms
    • Two sets, agreed and disputed
    • Each party's authorities noted on the contested instructions

Materials Lodged at First Appearance After the Advance Trial Conference

Prepared jointly. Lodged, the Advance Trial Conference is held not less than 3 court days before the trial date, in person or by Zoom in Dept. 16, and the materials it produces are lodged at first appearance for trial. The Dept. 16 conference must cover trial exhibits, admissibility stipulations, the joint statement of the case, deposition and discovery excerpts, audio visual presentations, expert stipulations, the trial schedule, the other persons list and jury instructions.. Applies to civil trials in Depts. 16 and 34. Contra Costa Dept. 16 Pre-Trial Orders (rev. 2025), section III, para. 10

  1. Joint statement of the case to be read to the jury
    • A meet and confer on a joint statement of the case to be read to the jury
    • A draft of the statement lodged at first appearance for trial
    • Any disagreements highlighted in the draft
  2. Binder of expert designations and declarations
    • A meet and confer on stipulations regarding the qualification of any expert
    • A binder with all expert designations and declarations
    • Lodged at first appearance for trial
  3. Dept. 34: everything lodged after the conference
    • The written stipulations
    • The joint statement of the case
    • The expert designation binder
    • The proposed trial schedule
    • The other persons list
    • Two sets of jury instructions and verdict forms

Trial Exhibit Binders

Prepared by each party. Lodged, at first appearance for trial. Dept. 16 requires each party to provide at least three binders of its trial exhibits conforming to the Master Exhibit List, one for the clerk, one for the witness stand and one for the judge.. Applies to civil trials in the departments that require exhibit binders. No county rule requires a trial binder or trial notebook.. Contra Costa Dept. 16 Pre-Trial Orders (rev. 2025), section III, para. 10(a)

  1. Dept. 16: electronic copies preferred over paper
    • Electronic or digital copies downloaded to a USB solid state device, which the department prefers
    • An indexed thumb drive satisfies the word binder wherever the order uses it
    • No CDs and no DVDs
  2. Dept. 34: four binders
    • At least four binders with copies of that party's trial exhibits
    • One for the court, one for the witness stand and one for each side
    • Copies conforming to the Master Exhibit List
    • Provided at first appearance for trial
  3. Dept. 10: unified numbering and bench and witness sets
    • Unified consecutive exhibit numbering across all parties, with no duplicate numbers
    • A bench set
    • A witness set
    • Counsel copies
    • All exhibits in one or more binders with appropriate tabs if there are more than a small number
  4. Complex Litigation sample order: two sets with labeled spines
    • Two sets of exhibit binders, one for use by the witnesses and one for use by the court
    • The range of exhibit numbers contained in each binder identified on its spine
    • Room left in each binder for later additions

Start with the joint documents

One of these is prepared jointly: Materials Lodged at First Appearance After the Advance Trial Conference. A joint document needs a meet and confer before it can be filed, so it sets the real deadline even though the filing date is the same as everything else.

When each one is due

Most of these do not run off the trial date. They run off the issue conference, which the court sets, and counting back from trial instead is the commonest way one gets missed. The full rule list for Contra Costa County carries every rule with its quoted text, and the trial countdown calculator computes the statewide CCP chain.

How these were built

Every rule was researched from the court’s own published text, then checked a second time by a reader told to assume a rule had been invented. Grouping those rules into the documents a court actually wants was a further pass, and an adversarial check corrected it: the commonest error was a document whose contents the first pass left empty while the rule enumerated them. Templates are generated in your browser, so nothing you type is sent anywhere. See methodology.

Related: All courts with templates · Contra Costa trial binder rules · Trial countdown calculator