Merced County trial binder and trial document requirements

Pre-trial conferences will not be set unless a party, at the Case Management Conference, files a declaration setting forth facts indicating that a pre-trial conference is justified, and the court-assigned Judicial Officer so finds and orders.

This is the closest thing Merced has to an issue conference and it is opt-in. On a construction defect case with a long exhibit list and many parties, ask for it by declaration at the CMC, because the rules provide no other vehicle for pretrial housekeeping in a civil case. The default civil track is CMC, then MSC in the eleventh month, then trial call, then trial.

The parties shall confer before the date assigned for a pretrial conference to reach agreement upon as many matters as possible and shall prepare jointly, or each shall prepare, and submit before the conference, a written statement of the matters agreed upon.

The rule sets no day count. It says only "before the conference" and does not say whether the statement is filed, served or lodged, or with whom. Ask the courtroom clerk when the conference is ordered. Subd. 2(b) adds: "The parties shall be prepared to respond to any inquiry by the Court assigned judicial officer as to the possibility of a settlement of the case."

A settlement conference is required in all civil trial matters. The time, date and place of the mandatory settlement conference will be set at the Case Management Conference and included in the Case Management Conference Order.

This is the anchor conference in Merced civil practice. Confirmed independently: the civil rule set runs rule 3 through rule 4.1 with rules 5 through 15 marked RESERVED, and it contains no final status conference and no trial readiness conference. The only trial readiness conference in the volume is a criminal one at rule 16. Unlimited civil MSCs sit in Courtroom 8 at 9:00 a.m. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday per the direct calendar effective August 10, 2026. MSCs are heard only in the Merced District under rule 1. The rule also states that MSCs are court proceedings whether held in person or by video and may not be photographed or recorded absent a court order.

A trial date may be assigned at either the first or the second Case Management Conference. The date will be in the twelfth (12th) month following the date the complaint was filed. A date for a mandatory settlement conference will also be set in the eleventh (11th) month following the date the complaint was filed.

The first CMC is held no later than 150 days after the initial pleading is filed (same rule, subd. 1(a)). These month figures are the default spacing, not a fixed deadline; the operative dates come out of the case management order. The court's ADR page adds that cases are presumed Category I with a twelve month duration and may be redesignated Category II at eighteen months or Category III at twenty four months on a showing at the CMC, with trial dates set accordingly. That category scheme is on the web page only and appears nowhere in the rules, and whether the eleventh and twelfth month spacing survives a Category II or III designation is not published.

It is mandatory that all parties or counsel shall, at least five (5) court days prior to the scheduled hearing, file with the Clerk of the Superior Court and serve on each party, a mandatory settlement conference statement on Local Form MSC-CV-051 containing the following:

READ THE NEXT ROW BEFORE CALENDARING. The rule says five court days. MSC-CV-051, the mandatory form this rule requires by name, prints six court days on its face and says it is stating the rule. File six. The four content items are quoted in the rule: "1. The names of all parties, including interveners and their representatives; 2. A detailed discussion of all facts and law pertinent to the issues of liability and damages involved in the case; 3. A good faith settlement demand and an itemization of economic and non-economic damages by each plaintiff; 4. A good faith offer of settlement by each defendant." The form asks for more than the rule lists, including the probability of a favorable judgment stated as a percentage, minimum and maximum potential judgment, comparative negligence allocation by party, and itemized damages split between those supported by documentary evidence and those not. Count is court days, not calendar days. Late filing draws $100.00 in sanctions under California Rule of Court 2.30.

SUBMIT THIS DOCUMENT NO LATER THAN SIX (6) COURT DAYS PRIOR TO THE MANDATORY SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE HEARING PER LOCAL RULE 3.6.

This is a live conflict with rule 3.6, subd. D, which says five court days. The form is later in time than the rule's last noted revision, is mandatory use, and purports to state the rule. Nothing published reconciles the two. Six court days satisfies both, so calendar six. The form is captioned SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE STATEMENT - CONFIDENTIAL while the rule directs that it be filed with the clerk and served on each party, which is a second unreconciled point. The form is listed as Mandatory on the court's Local Forms page with revision date 09/20/2023.

Trial counsel, parties, and persons with full authority to settle the case must personally attend the conference, unless excused by the Court for good cause shown. If any consent to settle is required for any reason, the party with that authority must be personally present at the conference.

The rule also says: "A representative retained solely for the purpose of attending the settlement conference will not be acceptable," and "only extraordinary circumstances will excuse the non-appearance at the conference of the principals and authorized representative of the insurer." Where a spouse, business partner or other non-party must consent, counsel has to obtain that person's attendance before the conference date. The rule expressly authorizes sanctions: "The Court may impose sanctions in the event of an unexcused absence of principal or insurer."

At the conference each plaintiff or party seeking affirmative relief or recovery shall be prepared to make their minimum request, and each defendant shall be prepared to make their highest offer.

Read with subd. D, which already forces a good faith demand and a good faith offer into the written statement days earlier, and with the form, which asks for a probability of success percentage and a minimum and maximum judgment range. Subd. E adds that a failure to prepare for, appear at, or participate in the conference, absent good cause, "may be considered as an unlawful interference with the proceedings of the Court."

If at the time of the scheduled settlement conference, plaintiff or those parties seeking affirmative relief fail to appear, the Court may order the trial date vacated and/or impose monetary sanctions.

Losing the trial date is the real exposure, not the money. Subd. G reinforces that the date holds: "In the event settlement negotiations are not successful, counsel should expect and be prepared to proceed to trial on the date scheduled. Every effort will be made by the Court to ensure that the case goes to trial on the date scheduled." Subd. I lets the court set a further settlement conference before trial or pull the case off the trial calendar and make the parties obtain new MSC and trial dates.

Static digital images, such as photographs and Power Point style presentations, must be submitted in both electronic and printed format. Other types of media must be submitted in a format compatible with those authorized by the Court.

Rule 2.5 sits in the court-wide rule 2 series ahead of the division rules and its opening paragraph reaches "any hearing, court trial or jury trial." The list of authorized formats is PDF-A and Microsoft Office compatible for documents, and JPEG, GIF, PNG and TIFF for images, plus specified CD and DVD formats. The printed-plus-electronic requirement is the practical trap for a defect case presenting expert photo boards. Paragraph 1 requires that exhibits "contain only the content that is to be viewed and heard by the judge and jury," and paragraph 2 says "the court will not provide an IT staff member to playback and/or review electronic exhibits." The rule sets no deadline for submission.

To the extent possible parties must use instructions promulgated or sponsored by the California Judicial Council.

Special instructions are permitted under subd. B but must carry the authorities relied on, be sequentially numbered, and follow standard CACI format.

At the commencement of trial in all civil jury matters, counsel shall serve upon all other parties participating in the trial and deliver to the trial judge a written request captioned in the action and entitled "Instructions Requested by (name of party)," to which shall be attached an edited copy of all instructions requested, with one instruction per page and a five-inch margin at the top of the page which may, however, include typical CACI headings, which will not be read to the jury.

This is the only trial document the Merced civil rules require to be handed up to the judge, and it is due at the commencement of trial rather than before. The five inch top margin and the one instruction per page rule are real formatting requirements. The CACI heading may stay on the page but will not be read to the jury. Build juror and alternate copies in advance, because the rule puts that burden on the parties at the judge's option. Nothing in the rules covers verdict forms; the word verdict does not appear in the volume.

The following motions in limine are deemed granted. Written motions should not be submitted on these issues: a. Motion excluding evidence of collateral source; b. Motion excluding evidence of, or mention of, insurance coverage; c. Motion excluding offers to settle and/or settlement discussions.

A content rule, not a deadline. Filing these three anyway violates "Written motions should not be submitted on these issues." The rule sits under rule 4, CIVIL JURY TRIALS, so it reaches civil jury trials; by its terms it does not speak to court trials, and nothing published covers in limine practice in a civil court trial.

All other motions in limine shall be filed and served on opposing counsel no later than 4:00 p.m., six (6) Court days prior to the trial call date.

THE ANCHOR IS THE TRIAL CALL DATE, NOT THE FIRST DAY OF EVIDENCE. The offset token is written out because the anchor vocabulary has no trial call token and counting from the trial date would be wrong whenever trial call comes first. The rules never define trial call. The direct calendar effective August 10, 2026 shows Courtroom 8 holding "9:00 Trial Call - Jury Trials / Long Cause Court Trials" on Tuesdays and no ongoing jury trial slots of its own, and rule 1, Court Reporters, subd. 3 warns that "multiple trials are set forth on the same trial call calendar" and that a case may be "assigned to another courtroom," so trial call in Merced reads as an assignment calendar that sends civil jury trials out. Get the trial call date from the case management order or the Courtroom 8 clerk before calendaring, calendar desk (209) 725-4100 extension 3675. Note the 4:00 p.m. cutoff, earlier than the midnight e-filing cutoff in rule 2.

Written opposition to in limine motions, if any, shall be filed and served on opposing counsel no later than 4:00 p.m., three (3) Court days prior to the initial trial call date. Failure to submit written opposition to In Limine motions will not preclude oral opposition to the motions at the time of trial.

The wording shifts inside the same subdivision. The moving deadline runs from "the trial call date," the opposition deadline from "the initial trial call date," so on its face a continued trial call does not restart the opposition clock. The express preservation of oral opposition is unusual and worth relying on when a case is called on short notice. Same anchor caution as the moving-papers row.

Motions in limine shall be prepared in the form prescribed as follows: The title of each in limine motion shall identify the moving party and describe the nature of the motion, and shall be numbered sequentially, indicating the total number of in limine motions submitted by the moving party.

The rule gives its own examples: "Plaintiff JANE DOE'S Motion in Limine to Exclude the Testimony of Joe Expert [No. 1 of 6]." and "Defendant RICHARD ROE'S Opposition to Plaintiff JANE DOE'S Motion in Limine No. 1." The bracketed No. 1 of 6 format means the total has to be fixed before the first one is captioned. The numbering scheme assumes one motion per document, which matches the firm's one document per file practice.

Failure to deposit advance or daily fees as required will be deemed a waiver of trial by jury. The Court, in its discretion, may proceed to trial without a jury, dismiss an empaneled jury, or upon such terms as may be just, proceed with a jury.

The rule sets no local date. Subd. A reads in full: "The deposit of advance jury fees, and of daily fees and mileage, shall be made as required by California Code of Civil Procedure section 631." Calendar the statutory deadline, not a local one.

Before any such expenses are incurred, the Clerk at the trial shall require the depositing parties to advance such sums of money as the Court deems reasonably necessary in order to pay for the anticipated expenses, but in no event less than $125.00 per panel meal.

Budget for this before the first day. If a depositing party will not advance the money on the court's request, the rule says the court "will forthwith consider whether to dismiss the jury and proceed as if no jury had been selected and sworn." Any surplus is returned to the payer.

No jury trials will be scheduled for the week in which the Thanksgiving or Christmas holiday falls.

Relevant when the CMC would otherwise drop a twelfth month trial date into late November or late December, because the date will have to move.

Any equipment required to view and/or listen to electronic exhibits including laptops, projectors, and DVD/CD players is the responsibility of the party who presents the evidence. Some audio-video presentation equipment may be available through the Court upon request, provided the court receives local form #MSC-AD-011, Court Audio-Video Equipment Request Form two (2) court days prior to the scheduled court date and time.

Verified on the court's Local Forms page: MSC-AD-011, IT Courtroom Audio Video Equipment Request, revision date 07/01/2021, listed as Mandatory. The Courtroom Services page says all equipment is subject to availability and judicial approval and that attorneys should bring their own connection accessories. Two court days is a short runway, so file it as soon as the trial call date is confirmed.

No exhibit or evidence on file with the clerk in any civil or criminal case shall be taken from the clerk's office or courtroom.

Plan on leaving originals with the court. Post-trial, rule 3.1, subd. G disposes of retained civil exhibits under Code of Civil Procedure sections 1952 through 1952.3.

A party in any type of civil case must file a statement prior to the Case Management Conference date indicating whether the party requests the presence of an official court reporter.

THE DRAFT MISSED THIS ENTIRELY, and it is a mandatory civil filing. The anchor is the CMC date, which the anchor vocabulary has no token for, so court_order is used and the real anchor is stated here. No day count is given, only "prior to the Case Management Conference date," so file it with the CM-110. Rule 1, Court Reporters, subd. 1(b) is why it matters: "The following matters are NOT REPORTED and an official transcript is NOT available: family law, small claims, civil, trials de novo, misdemeanors, traffic, and mandatory/voluntary expedited jury trials." The same subdivision 3 also warns that where "multiple trials are set forth on the same trial call calendar" and the case is assigned out to a courtroom with no regularly assigned reporter, arranging the pro tempore reporter falls on the party. No record means no appeal, so this is the sleeper item in a Merced civil trial.

Any evidence to be offered should be submitted to the appropriate clerk's office in advance of the hearing.

Permissive, and it sets no day count, so it does not become a hard deadline. It is included because it is the only published civil provision touching advance submission of evidence and because the draft's negative on exhibit lodging did not account for it. Subd. 4(c) is the reason it can reach a trial: "Each judicial officer may, on their own motion, order that a trial or evidentiary hearing, at which witnesses will be sworn and testimony received, will be conducted remotely." Rule 2.2 supersedes all other court rules and directives on remote appearances, and the July 1, 2026 edition removed CourtCall from it, so the CourtCall instructions still posted on the court's ADR page are stale.

All parties or their counsel of record must file and serve a Case Management Statement using the mandatory Case Management Statement Form (CM-110). Such statement must be filed no later than 15 calendar days before the date set for the case management conference or review as specified in California Rules of Court, rule 3.725.

The anchor is the CMC date, which the anchor vocabulary has no token for, so court_order is used and the real anchor is stated here. This matters to trial preparation because the CMC is where the trial date, the MSC date and any discretionary pre-trial conference all get set. Calendar days, not court days. Late filing draws $25.00 in sanctions under California Rule of Court 2.30. Calendar conflict to resolve before appearing: the direct calendar effective August 10, 2026 puts Courtroom 8 CMCs on Monday at 10:00 a.m., while the court's ADR page still says "All CMC's are scheduled on Thursdays at 9:30 am." The direct calendar is the newer document.

To promote the efficient administration of justice, the Court maintains a direct calendar system with cases generally assigned to one courtroom for all purposes including trial.

Verified on the court's Judicial Assignments table: CR 8 is Unlimited Civil, Judge Stephanie Jamieson. The parallel rule 1 provision adds that "The assigned judge will be reflected on the first paper filed in any action" and that any judicial officer sitting in Los Banos may re-assign cases for all purposes. Because one judge holds the case from filing through trial, that judge's expectations for trial documents will be known well before trial, and the CMC Findings and Order is where they would appear.

The following actions and proceedings shall be heard only in the Merced District: 1. Contested probate, conservatorships, guardianships; 2. Juvenile Dependency; 3. Civil Case Management; 4. Mandatory Settlement Conferences; 5. Jury Trials; 6. Adoptions; 7. Drug Court.

For an unlimited civil case the CMC, the MSC and the jury trial all happen in Merced. Unlimited civil sits in Courtroom 8 at the Old Main Courthouse, 627 W. 21st Street, civil clerk (209) 725-4111. Limited civil and small claims sit in Courtroom 9 in Merced and in Courtroom 12 at the Robert Falasco Justice Center in Los Banos, 1159 G Street. Venue within the county is governed by the preceding paragraph of rule 1.