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Fresno 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.

19 documents, 32 required sections, taken from Superior Court of California, County of Fresno’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.

  • Alternative Dispute Resolution Status Report (TADR-03)not stated, 1 required sections. at least 10 court days before the mandatory settlement conference
    Pleading paper is being corrected
  • Settlement Conference Statementeach party, 1 required sections. no later than five court days before the settlement conference, and preferably at least ten days before it
    Pleading paper is being corrected
  • Transcript of Sound Recordingeach party, 1 required sections. at least two weeks before trial
    Pleading paper is being corrected
  • Joint Statement re Trial Time Limitsjointly, 1 required sections. no less than five days before the trial date or the pretrial conference, whichever comes first
    Pleading paper is being corrected
  • Motions in Limine and Motions for Judgment on the Pleadingseach party, 1 required sections. exchanged at the Rule 2.6.1 meet and confer, at least five days before the trial date
    Pleading paper is being corrected
  • Trial Briefeach party, 1 required sections. exchanged at the Rule 2.6.1 meet and confer, at least five days before the trial date
    Pleading paper is being corrected
  • Joint Neutral Statement of the Casejointly, 2 required sections. prepared at the Rule 2.6.1 meet and confer at least five days before trial, and in Department 501 filed at the same time as the motions in limine
    Pleading paper is being corrected
  • Exhibit Listeach party, 2 required sections. exchanged at the Rule 2.6.1 meet and confer, at least five days before the trial date
    Pleading paper is being corrected
  • Proposed Jury Instructionseach party, 5 required sections. exchanged at the Rule 2.6.1 meet and confer at least five days before trial, and submitted to the trial judge on the first day of trial or at the point the assigned department sets
    Pleading paper is being corrected
  • Appendix of Authoritieseach party, 1 required sections. with the motion or brief that cites the authority
    Pleading paper is being corrected
  • Transcript of Disputed Portions of a Sound Recordingeach party, 1 required sections. no later than three days before trial
    Pleading paper is being corrected
  • Witness Listeach party, 1 required sections. at the Trial Readiness Hearing
    Pleading paper is being corrected
  • Joint List of Prospective Witnesses for Jury Selectionjointly in Departments 501, 503 and 403; in Department 502 the rule says only that counsel provide the list, 4 required sections. before jury selection begins, and in Department 403 at the outset of the pretrial conference
    Pleading paper is being corrected
  • Exhibitseach party, 3 required sections. at the start of trial, and in Department 403 at the outset of the pretrial conference
    Pleading paper is being corrected
  • Proposed Verdict Formseach party, 1 required sections. on the first day of trial under Rule 4.1.9, subject to the assigned department's own verdict form schedule
    Pleading paper is being corrected
  • Depositions Lodged for Trial and Page and Line Designationseach party, 1 required sections. lodged for trial, with the page and line notice given before any deposition testimony is read
    Pleading paper is being corrected
  • Memorandum of Points and Authorities on the Meritseach party, 1 required sections. opening brief at least 45 calendar days before the hearing, opposition at least 25 calendar days before, reply at least 15 calendar days before
    Pleading paper is being corrected
  • Trial Notebookplaintiff, 3 required sections. when the petitioner's opening brief is filed
    Pleading paper is being corrected
  • Appendix of Excerptseach party, 1 required sections. when that party's brief is filed
    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

Alternative Dispute Resolution Status Report (TADR-03)

Prepared by not stated. Filed, at least 10 court days before the mandatory settlement conference. Applies to all civil cases set for a mandatory settlement conference. Fresno County Local Rule 2.4.4

  1. Alternative Dispute Resolution Status Report on the court's designated form
    • The Alternative Dispute Resolution Status Report form designated by the Court, TADR-03
    • Filing at least ten court days before the Mandatory Settlement Conference

Settlement Conference Statement

Prepared by each party. Delivered to the clerk, no later than five court days before the settlement conference, and preferably at least ten days before it. Applies to all civil cases set for a mandatory settlement conference. Fresno County Local Rule 2.5.6(A)

  1. Settlement conference statement, in pleading or letter form
    • A settlement conference statement from each party
    • Pleading or letter form
    • Submission to the ADR Department
    • Service on all parties
    • Submission no later than five court days before the settlement conference, preferably at least ten days before

Transcript of Sound Recording

Prepared by each party. Served only, at least two weeks before trial. Applies to any party intending to offer a sound recording in evidence at trial. Fresno County Local Rule 4.1.10(A)

  1. Transcript and a copy of the recording, served on all other parties
    • A transcript of the sound recording prepared by the offering party
    • A copy of the sound recording itself
    • Service of both on all other parties at least two weeks before trial

Joint Statement re Trial Time Limits

Prepared jointly. Filed, no less than five days before the trial date or the pretrial conference, whichever comes first. Applies to trials in Departments 502 and 503. Fresno Superior Court, General Trial Procedures, Judge Lisa Gamoian, Department 502, and Judge Jon M. Skiles, Department 503, Witnesses and Time Limits

  1. Trial time limits, witness by witness
    • The number of hours each party requests
    • A witness by witness estimate of direct examination time
    • The subject matter of each witness's testimony
    • Total hours estimated for cross examination
    • Filing no less than five days before the trial date or the pretrial conference, whichever date comes first

Motions in Limine and Motions for Judgment on the Pleadings

Prepared by each party. Filed and served, exchanged at the Rule 2.6.1 meet and confer, at least five days before the trial date. Applies to all civil cases except short cause cases. Fresno County Local Rule 2.6.1(A)

  1. Written motions, exchanged with the other parties
    • Each in limine motion in writing
    • Each motion for judgment on the pleadings in writing
    • Exchange of the motions with the other parties

Trial Brief

Prepared by each party. Filed and served, exchanged at the Rule 2.6.1 meet and confer, at least five days before the trial date. Applies to court trials, meaning cases in which no jury has been requested. Fresno County Local Rule 2.6.1(C)

  1. Trial brief prepared and exchanged
    • A trial brief from each party
    • Exchange of the trial briefs with the other parties

Joint Neutral Statement of the Case

Prepared jointly. Filed, prepared at the Rule 2.6.1 meet and confer at least five days before trial, and in Department 501 filed at the same time as the motions in limine. Applies to jury trials only. Fresno County Local Rule 2.6.1(B)

  1. Jointly signed neutral statement of the case
    • One statement of the case, written neutrally
    • Signatures of the parties on that single statement
    • Preparation at the Rule 2.6.1 meet and confer, at least five days before trial
  2. Department 501: filed with the motions in limine, or replaced by a mini opening
    • A short, non-argumentative statement of the case for reading to the jury during jury selection
    • Joint filing at the same time the motions in limine are filed
    • Alternatively, a mini opening of less than five minutes delivered to the panel by counsel

Exhibit List

Prepared by each party. Filed and served, exchanged at the Rule 2.6.1 meet and confer, at least five days before the trial date. Applies to all civil cases except short cause cases. Fresno County Local Rule 2.6.1(D)

  1. Identification and exchange of the proposed exhibit lists
    • Identification of the proposed exhibits
    • A written list of those proposed exhibits
    • Exchange of the lists with the other parties
  2. Department 501: a single joint exhibit list carrying the objections
    • One joint exhibit list prepared by counsel together
    • An accurate description of each exhibit being marked
    • Each objection noted next to the description of the exhibit it concerns
    • The objecting party identified with the objection
    • Submission before the first witness is called

Proposed Jury Instructions

Prepared by each party. Filed and served, exchanged at the Rule 2.6.1 meet and confer at least five days before trial, and submitted to the trial judge on the first day of trial or at the point the assigned department sets. Applies to jury trials only. Fresno County Local Rule 2.6.1(B)

  1. Preparation and exchange at the Rule 2.6.1 meet and confer
    • Proposed jury instructions prepared by each party
    • Exchange of the proposed instructions with the other parties
    • Preparation at least five days before the trial date
  2. Submission to the trial judge, and the instruction set to use
    • Proposed instructions submitted to the trial judge on the first day of trial
    • The latest edition of the Judicial Council of California Civil Jury Instructions (CACI)
  3. Format of each instruction
    • Either a form with a detachable top or a multi-page format
    • The name of the party on whose behalf the instruction is requested, on the detachable top
    • Citation to the supporting authority on the detachable top
    • The requesting party and the authority kept off the portion that goes to the jury
  4. Department 501: timing and the agreed and objected lists
    • Submission before the second week of trial
    • Submission on the second day of trial where the trial is expected to last less than one week
    • A meet and confer on the requested instructions
    • A list of all requested instructions to which there is no objection
    • A separate list of the instructions to which there are objections
  5. Departments 502, 503 and 403: two packets before the first witness
    • Submission before the first witness is called
    • A meet and confer on the requested instructions
    • A packet of all requested instructions to which there is no objection
    • A separate packet of the instructions to which there are objections

Appendix of Authorities

Prepared by each party. Lodged, with the motion or brief that cites the authority. Applies to any paper citing out-of-state authority or authority available only through a Lexis or Westlaw citation, which reaches motions in limine and trial briefs. Fresno County Local Rule 2.2.6

  1. Separately bound appendix of the cited authorities
    • A copy of each out-of-state case, statute or rule cited
    • A copy of each authority cited through a Lexis or Westlaw citation
    • A separately bound appendix
    • Each authority tabbed
    • Each authority indexed as an exhibit

Transcript of Disputed Portions of a Sound Recording

Prepared by each party. Served only, no later than three days before trial. Applies to any party disputing the accuracy of another party's sound recording transcript. Fresno County Local Rule 4.1.10(A)

  1. The disputing party's own transcript
    • The disputing party's own transcript of the sound recording
    • Identification of the disputed portions
    • Service on all other parties no later than three days before trial
    • A meet and confer with the other parties once the dispute is identified

Witness List

Prepared by each party. Brought to the conference, at the Trial Readiness Hearing. Applies to all civil cases except short cause cases. Fresno County Local Rule 2.6.2(D)

  1. Witness list provided to the court at the Trial Readiness Hearing
    • A witness list
    • Delivery of the list to the Court at the Trial Readiness Hearing

Joint List of Prospective Witnesses for Jury Selection

Prepared by jointly in Departments 501, 503 and 403; in Department 502 the rule says only that counsel provide the list. Delivered to the clerk, before jury selection begins, and in Department 403 at the outset of the pretrial conference. Applies to jury trials in Departments 501, 502, 503 and 403. Fresno Superior Court, General Trial Procedures, Judge Culver Kapetan, Department 501, Courtroom Practice

  1. Department 501: joint list to the clerk before jury selection
    • A jointly prepared list of prospective witnesses
    • Delivery to the clerk before jury selection begins
    • A form that can be displayed on the courtroom Elmo machine, or a thumb drive or disc
  2. Department 502: alphabetical list in Excel, with the exhibit list
    • A list of prospective witnesses in alphabetical order
    • Copies to both the clerk and the reporter
    • MS Excel format, for electronic display during jury selection
    • A list of exhibits by number and unique name, also in MS Excel
  3. Department 503: one page, thirty copies
    • A joint alphabetical list of prospective witnesses
    • The list reduced to one side of a single piece of paper
    • Thirty copies for jury selection
  4. Department 403: electronic list at the pretrial conference
    • A jointly prepared list of prospective witnesses
    • Delivery to the court at the outset of the pretrial conference
    • An electronic format the court can manipulate for publication to the jury panel during voir dire

Exhibits

Prepared by each party. Delivered to the clerk, at the start of trial, and in Department 403 at the outset of the pretrial conference. Applies to trials in Departments 501, 502, 503 and 403, each of which fixes the number of sets and the packaging by its own general trial procedures; no local rule sets exhibit packaging for a case in any other department. Fresno Superior Court, General Trial Procedures, Judge Culver Kapetan, Department 501, Exhibits

  1. Department 501: binders, one numerical series, numbered tabs
    • Exhibits delivered to the court in binders
    • All exhibits marked in numerical order regardless of which party marks them
    • Exhibits separated by tabs showing the exhibit number
  2. Departments 502 and 503: five sets from each proponent
    • Five sets of exhibits from each proponent, or one set where the exhibits are joint
    • An official set
    • A court set
    • A witness set
    • A set for opposing counsel
    • A set for the proponent
  3. Department 403: exchange and submission at the pretrial conference
    • Exhibits exchanged between counsel at the outset of the pretrial conference
    • Exhibits submitted to the clerk at the outset of the pretrial conference
    • Exhibits pre-marked in a single numerical series
    • Multi-page exhibits bound or tabbed, with every page separately numbered
    • Duplicate sets for each counsel, the court, the clerk and the witness

Proposed Verdict Forms

Prepared by each party. Lodged, on the first day of trial under Rule 4.1.9, subject to the assigned department's own verdict form schedule. Applies to jury trials only. Fresno County Local Rule 4.1.9(E)

  1. Proposed verdict forms
    • Proposed verdict forms suitable for use by the jury in the pending case
    • A separate form for each verdict
    • The case caption on each form
    • No identification of the party submitting the form

Depositions Lodged for Trial and Page and Line Designations

Prepared by each party. Lodged, lodged for trial, with the page and line notice given before any deposition testimony is read. Applies to trials in Department 501. Fresno Superior Court, General Trial Procedures, Judge Culver Kapetan, Department 501, Courtroom Practice

  1. Lodging every deposition and giving advance page and line notice
    • All depositions to be used at trial lodged with the clerk
    • Advance notice of each page and line reference intended to be read
    • That notice given to the court and to opposing counsel

Memorandum of Points and Authorities on the Merits

Prepared by each party. Filed, opening brief at least 45 calendar days before the hearing, opposition at least 25 calendar days before, reply at least 15 calendar days before. Applies to CEQA petitions only. Fresno County Local Rule 2.11.5(A)

  1. Merits briefing schedule and page limits
    • An opening memorandum of points and authorities filed at least forty-five calendar days before the hearing date
    • An opposition filed at least twenty-five calendar days before the hearing date
    • A reply filed at least fifteen calendar days before the hearing date
    • Compliance with the page limits Rule 2.11.5(A) sets

Trial Notebook

Prepared by plaintiff. Delivered to the clerk, when the petitioner's opening brief is filed. Applies to CEQA petitions only. Fresno County Local Rule 2.11.6(B)

  1. Contents of the notebook
    • The petition
    • All answers
    • The opening brief
    • Any motions set to be heard at trial
    • The statement of issues
    • Submission at the time the opening brief is filed
  2. Physical form of the notebook
    • A table of contents
    • Tabbed sections consistent with the table of contents
    • An index of the documents in the notebook referencing page numbers
    • Pages numbered sequentially in the lower right hand corner
    • A D-ring binder no more than three inches thick
  3. Delivery: neither lodged nor filed
    • No lodging and no filing of the notebook or of the appendix of excerpts
    • A call from the preparing party to the Research Department Office Assistant at (559) 457-4945
    • Delivery of both items arranged through that call

Appendix of Excerpts

Prepared by each party. Delivered to the clerk, when that party's brief is filed. Applies to CEQA petitions only. Fresno County Local Rule 2.11.6(C)

  1. Excerpts of the record cited in that party's brief
    • A separate hard copy appendix of excerpts from each party that files a brief
    • The documents or pages of the record of proceedings cited in that party's brief
    • Submission at the time that party's brief is filed

Start with the joint documents

3 of these are prepared jointly: Joint Statement re Trial Time Limits; Joint Neutral Statement of the Case; Joint List of Prospective Witnesses for Jury Selection. 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 trial readiness hearing, which the court sets, and counting back from trial instead is the commonest way one gets missed. The full rule list for Fresno 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 · Fresno trial binder rules · Trial countdown calculator