Mono County trial binder and trial document requirements

As to all cases, approximately fourteen (14) days prior to the trial date, a Pretrial Conference will be held before the trial judge in which all matters necessary to be resolved before trial will be before the Court. All trial counsel must be present, along with all principals or clients and claims representatives if ordered by the Court.

Mono does not use the phrases final status conference or trial readiness conference anywhere in its rules. Its term is Pretrial Conference. The rule says approximately fourteen days, so the court sets the date and counsel does not compute it. Rule 4.8 sits in Chapter 4, Civil Case Management, which rule 4.1 applies to general civil cases filed after July 1, 1992, expressly excluding probate, guardianship, conservatorship, family law, juvenile, small claims appeals and other civil petitions such as writs, restraining orders, writ of possession, receivership, release of property from lien and change of name.

A pre-trial conference will be set approximately two weeks prior to trial. Motions in limine shall be heard at the pretrial conference, and not on the day of trial. (see Rule 4.8).

Rule 3.13 is in Chapter 3, General Pretrial Rules, under the document's CIVIL RULES banner. It cross references rule 4.8, so the two rules describe one event. Two weeks and fourteen days are the same deadline stated twice.

Subsequent Conferences and Trial Date. Orders setting further interim status conferences and setting the issue conference/trial date.

This is the only use of the term issue conference in the entire Mono rule set, confirmed by full text search. No rule defines it, sets a date for it, or says what has to be filed for it. Treat it as the court's discretionary label for a pretrial status conference and ask the assigned judge what it means in a given case. The initial Case Management Conference is set within one hundred eighty days of the filing of the original complaint under rule 4.7(A)(2), and rule 4.7 provides that Case Management Conferences shall be conducted pursuant to California Rules of Court, rules 3.720 to 3.730, which carries the state meet and confer duty.

Trial Setting Conference/Settlement Conferences are mandatory for any civil case where jury is demanded.

The rule does not say when this conference is held relative to trial, does not say whether the slash means one combined event or two, and does not tie it to the rule 4.10 mandatory settlement conference machinery. Rule 3.12 adds that following the trial setting conference the clerk shall mail notice of trial unless counsel appeared in court when trial was set.

At least five (5) court days before the conference, counsel for each party will file with the Clerk of this Court, and serve upon all other counsel, a detailed settlement conference statement.

Unlike rule 4.8(B), this rule says expressly who files and that it is served. The confidentiality mechanism is in the same subdivision: The statement will not form a part of the Clerk's file but will be retained by the settlement conference judge following the conference, if a party designates the statement as a confidential statement. The subdivision also allows incorporation by reference of another party's statement.

In every case, the statement will contain a summary of the facts, the harm claimed by plaintiff to have been produced by defendant's conduct and the legal issues involved as well as a proposal for the settlement of the case.

An actual settlement proposal is required, not just a case summary.

In actions seeking damages for injury to person or property, the statement shall contain a detailed summary of all items of claimed damage and a statement that copies of all medical or other bills evidencing some damage have been delivered to opposing counsel.

Reaches property damage cases, not just personal injury, so it applies to a construction defect matter. Rule 4.10.2(D) is the earnings and profit loss companion: When damage for earning or profit loss is claimed, the claimant's statement shall show in detail how the amount of the claimed loss is composed and shall include a statement that copies of all wage statements or other earnings or profit records available to the claimant have been delivered to opposing counsel. The personal injury half of (C) additionally requires the most recent medical report be attached.

At the mandatory settlement conference, each party appearing in an action must be personally present (remote or in-person) or must be immediately accessible by telephone at all times during the conference.

Do not read rule 4.10.1's remote or in-person language as permission to appear remotely. Rule 5.1(D)(1) provides: For evidentiary hearings, settlement conferences, and bench or jury trials, parties must appear in person unless the Court has granted prior express written authorization for a remote appearance. Both rules were amended July 1, 2024 and they sit in tension on the face of the set, so get the written authorization or plan to appear. Two other operative sentences in rule 4.10.1: For every party appearing in the action, counsel who will actually try the case must attend the conference, and In any tort case wherein a party who might be liable for damages has insurance coverage, the insurance company shall have present, or immediately accessible by telephone throughout the entire duration of the conference, a representative who shall be authorized to make all decisions regarding the case. The rule spells out what Department Manager level authority means for a city or a county, which matters in a public entity case.

Counsel and parties are expected to execute an Ex Parte Communication form allowing assigned judge to handle mandatory settlement conference.

The identical sentence appears twice, in rule 3.4 and rule 4.10.2(E). The rules do not say why the assigned judge takes the settlement conference, and the number of judicial officers in Mono is not stated anywhere in the rules or on the court's site, so do not assume a reason. The form itself is not among the court's published local forms, is not in Appendix B or Appendix C, and is not on the Court Forms page, so request it from the clerk at civil@mono.courts.ca.gov.

Each attorney attending a mandatory settlement conference has a duty to be thoroughly familiar with the relevant evidence available pertaining to all issues and shall be prepared to discuss all aspects of the case.

Pairs with the sanctions provision at rule 4.10.4, which reaches failure to prepare and failure to participate in good faith, not only failure to appear. That subdivision was renumbered from 4.10.5 effective July 1, 2024 when the old rule 4.10.4 on vacating conferences was repealed, and both numbers still print in the 2024 set.

A "Pretrial Conference Statement" must be filed with the Court five (5) court days prior to the Pretrial Conference. The following shall be included in this statement and will be considered at the conference.

Working date is roughly twenty-one days before trial, since five court days back spans a full calendar week in any ordinary week and the conference is itself about fourteen days out. Count from the Pretrial Conference the court actually sets, never from trial. The rule says filed, not lodged, and does not say served, unlike rule 4.10.2(A) for the settlement conference statement, which says file and serve. The rule does not say who files it, so whether this is one statement per party or a joint statement is not resolved on the face of the rule. There is no local form.

All witness lists, a brief statement of anticipated testimony, an exhibit list, jury instructions, any witness issues, interpreter needs, need for a court reporter, proposed verdict;

The anticipated testimony summary is a real drafting burden and is frequently overlooked. The court reporter item matters because the court does not supply a reporter for a civil trial. Rule 6.1 commits the court only to matters statutorily required, felony criminal and juvenile, and to law and motion calendars if it has sufficient funding, with that determination made on or before August 31 each year. Rule 6.2 provides that where a reporter is not required by rule or statute, the requesting party shall provide and pay for a certified court reporter approved by the court. The Pretrial Conference Statement is where the trial reporter need gets raised.

All witness lists, a brief statement of anticipated testimony, an exhibit list, jury instructions, any witness issues, interpreter needs, need for a court reporter, proposed verdict;

The rule requires a list. It says nothing about pre-marking exhibits, numbering conventions, tabbing, indexing, or exchanging exhibits with opposing counsel. Verified by full text search of the complete consolidated rules: the string mark appears twice, once as bookmarked in rule 5.2(F)(1) and once in the probate inventory rule 9.1(C).

All witness lists, a brief statement of anticipated testimony, an exhibit list, jury instructions, any witness issues, interpreter needs, need for a court reporter, proposed verdict;

New in the July 1, 2024 amendment, and I confirmed it against the superseded standalone Chapter 4 PDF still live on the court's own server at mono.courts.ca.gov/system/files/localrules-rule4.pdf. The old rule 4.8(B)(b) read: All witness lists, a brief statement of anticipated testimony, an exhibit list, and a trial length estimate. No jury instructions, no proposed verdict. Anyone working from that older file, which the court has not taken down, will miss both.

The request for jury instructions shall have a face sheet with the court cause and action number which will also contain a list of CACI (Judicial Council Civil Jury Instructions) and CALCRIM (Judicial Council Criminal Jury Instructions) instructions requested. Such lists shall have two columns: (1) CACI or CALCRIM number; and, (2) the title of the instruction.

Chapter 13, Jury Rules, carries its own banner rather than sitting under CIVIL RULES, but it reaches civil cases: the rule names CACI, the Judicial Council civil jury instructions, in the same sentence as CALCRIM. The timing language is circular as printed: Requested jury instructions shall be delivered to the trial judge at the times provided herein, or at such other times provided herein, or at such other times as my be ordered by the court. Rule 13.3 states no time of its own. Read with rule 4.8(B)(2), the operative deadline is the Pretrial Conference Statement, but the rules do not say so and that reading is an inference. The rule also allows supplemental instructions later: Additional supplementary instructions may be received by the trial judge at such time and on such conditions as may be just. The typo my be ordered is in the published text.

All witness lists, a brief statement of anticipated testimony, an exhibit list, jury instructions, any witness issues, interpreter needs, need for a court reporter, proposed verdict;

Added by the July 1, 2024 amendment; the superseded Chapter 4 PDF on the court's server does not contain it. Read with rule 13.2, which sets the outside deadline at 9:30 a.m. on the first morning of trial, rule 4.8(B)(2) is the earlier deadline in any case that has a Pretrial Conference.

A party requesting a jury trial shall submit to the trial judge at the times required by these rule and in no event later than 9:30 a.m. on the first morning of trial every form of special and general verdict and every form of interrogatory which may be required for disposition of the case.

Note the scope: every form of special and general verdict and every form of interrogatory that may be required, not just the party's preferred form. The duty falls on the party requesting the jury. Submitted to the trial judge, not filed with the clerk, which is why this obligation survives the Pretrial Conference Statement. The phrase at the times required by these rule is the published text, typo included, and points back to rule 4.8(B)(2).

A proposed statement of the case to be read to the jury.

Required in every case within rule 4.8's scope, which by its terms applies As to all cases, although a statement read to the jury only has work to do in a jury trial. The rule does not say whether the parties submit competing proposals or one agreed statement.

A statement of facts, law and respective contentions of the parties regarding liability, damages, nature and extent of injuries, any unusual evidentiary or legal issues anticipated at trial, and all matters of fact believed by any party to be appropriate for stipulations;

Mono publishes no separately filed trial brief requirement. The word brief appears exactly once in the forty page consolidated rules, in the phrase a brief statement of anticipated testimony at rule 4.8(B)(2). This subdivision is where the legal argument goes. Note the affirmative duty to identify proposed stipulations, which is easy to miss.

All motions in limine must be in writing and are to be filed and served at least three (3) court days before the conference.

Three court days before the Pretrial Conference, which lands two court days after the Pretrial Conference Statement is due. Filed and served, both. The rule sets no deadline for oppositions to motions in limine, no page limit, and no meet and confer prerequisite.

Motions in limine shall be heard at the pretrial conference, and not on the day of trial.

Mandatory phrasing, shall be heard. Practically the in limine package has to be ready roughly seventeen to nineteen days before trial, seventeen if the conference falls midweek and nineteen if it falls early in the week. Count the three court days back from the conference date the court sets, not from trial. Either way this is earlier than most California counties.

The following documents are excluded from eFiling and must be submitted in paper format:

The listed item at rule 5.2(G)(8) reads in full: Exhibits to be lodged for hearings or trials. Family law carries a duplicate of the same exclusion at rule 5.2(G)(14)(d). This is the only published direction in the Mono rules on how physical trial exhibits reach the court, and it is not a binder rule. It sets no deadline, no copy count, no tabbing or indexing requirement, and does not say which branch to deliver to. Rule 5.2(B) also makes e-filing permissive in Mono, not mandatory, so in-person filing remains available.

All documents equal to or exceeding 10 pages and containing multiple exhibits or sections must be bookmarked with the title of the corresponding exhibit or section.

Rule 5.2(F)(2) adds: All documents submitted electronically must include page numbers. A Pretrial Conference Statement carrying witness lists, an exhibit list, jury instructions, a proposed verdict and a statement of the case will clear ten pages and will need bookmarking. Rule 5.2(F)(3) requires a printed courtesy copy only for summary judgment, summary adjudication and anti-SLAPP motions, not for trial documents. Caveat on effective date: the history line for rule 5.2 reads amended July 1, 2024, effective date TBD, and the court separately announced electronic filing as available in a February 10, 2025 news item.

Cases may be set for trial without a trial setting conference. Trial dates will be selected by the judge assigned to the case, who will consider the nature of the case, the Case Management Statement, the attorney's availability calendar and the condition of the court's calendar.

Practical effect: the Case Management Statement drives the trial date, so the availability dates and the time estimate in it carry real weight. Rule 3.8 also provides: The place of trial will be selected by the court after consideration of the convenience of the witnesses and parties as well as the availability of courtrooms. That matters more here than in most counties, because rule 13.6 draws the venire from Northern Mono County for a Bridgeport trial and from Southern Mono County for a Mammoth Lakes trial, subject to the trial judge's discretion to order a countywide panel. Rule 3.9 routes any change to a trial date through rule 3.10 or a noticed motion under Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.1332.

Relief from operation of these rules must be on prior request to the court.

Short rule, real consequence. There is no stipulation route to extend the Pretrial Conference Statement or the in limine deadline. Rule 3.10 separately provides that a stipulation to change a calendared date does not automatically change it and must aver that the clerk's office approved the proposed date. Sanctions hooks if a deadline is blown: rule 3.3 (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 2.30; Code Civ. Proc., sections 177.5 and 575.2), rule 4.9 (failure to proceed with due diligence or comply with these rules), and rule 4.10.4 for the settlement conference. No Mono rule states an exclusion or preclusion consequence for a witness or exhibit omitted from the Pretrial Conference Statement.