San Luis Obispo County trial binder and trial document requirements

A pretrial Status Conference usually will be scheduled 4-6 weeks in advance of trial to discuss the state of trial readiness generally and whether any adjustments need to be made to the schedule for trial or related to the procedures for the Readiness Conference (see below) or trial. The Court will also generally inquire whether additional settlement efforts (e.g. Mandatory Settlement Conference) would be appropriate.

Order is captioned Department P-2 (Effective June 30, 2024), signed by Hon. Michael C. Kelley and dated June 28, 2024, with a 6/28/2024 revision stamp on every page and PDF creation metadata of the same date. I confirmed the file id by listing the Google Drive folder the court itself links, https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/17XOwO-dU-lVqv8V-p4V5sfu79lW_wGqG, from both the Judicial Assignments page (link text Department P2 Standing Case Management Order) and the Civil Division page (link text P2 - Judge Kelley). The folder holds one file, Standing Case Management Order P2.pdf. This status conference is where the MSC gets ordered, so it is the last checkpoint before the readiness document deadlines start running.

Trial Readiness Conferences usually will be set approximately two weeks before trial. Trial counsel and self-represented litigants are ordered to appear in person at the Readiness Conference unless remote appearance has been authorized in advance by the Court.

Literal offset token because the order says approximately. In person appearance is ordered, which is stricter than the county default in Rule 3.04 permitting remote appearance at non evidentiary hearings including trial readiness conferences. Advance authorization is required to appear remotely, so make the request early.

At least two weeks prior to the Readiness Conference, the parties must meet and confer with respect to the readiness documents discussed below and must file and serve copies of these documents at least five (5) calendar days before the conference.

This one sentence is the master deadline for the documents listed at V.C.1 through V.C.11. Calendar days, not court days. The meet and confer obligation starts two weeks out, so the joint drafting has to begin about four weeks before trial. Motions in limine are on a different clock under V.C.2. Two of the eleven items, the juror questionnaire at V.C.4 and the stipulations at V.C.11, are framed as expectations to meet and confer rather than as documents with a stated filing date, so the five day deadline reaches them only by implication.

A trial readiness conference typically is scheduled two weeks before trial. At the readiness conference, trial counsel shall be present either in person or by videoconference, and shall be prepared to discuss the following topics.

Section VI.D.1 states the time estimate shall account for jury selection, in limine motions, the examination of each witness, instruction of the jury, opening statements, and closing argument, and that time limits for all phases of the case will be established and enforced. It also gives the trial day: a jury trial ordinarily will be in session from Monday through Thursday, from 10:30 a.m. to noon and 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Section VI.D.7 says the court is unable to provide an official court reporter at this time, which matters in this county: the Civil Division page states that the court does not provide court reporters in civil matters and that a private reporter must be retained. Section VI.D.8 still refers to Covid-19 measures, one reason to check currency with the department.

The Trial Readiness Conference is typically scheduled several weeks prior to trial. Trial counsel must be personally present or on Zoom at the readiness conference and be prepared to discuss the following topics:

Offset is varies because the order gives no number, unlike Departments 2 and P2, which both say approximately two weeks. Get the date from the court's own setting. Order is 5 pages, dated March 4, 2026, signed by Hon. Tana L. Coates as Presiding Judge, with PDF creation metadata of March 5, 2026. The running footer reads COURTROOM POLICIES - HON. TANA L. COATES. Section V.B.2 describes the trial day: a jury trial will usually be in session from Monday through Thursday from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., with some morning start times after 10:00 a.m., and absent an unusual circumstance the court will not be in trial on Fridays, but jurors may deliberate on Fridays. Section V.B.2.c states the parties must arrange for a court reporter and that remote reporting is prohibited under Government Code section 69959.

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

The only county civil rule that schedules an MSC, and it is a calendaring policy tied to the filing date rather than a rule about what gets lodged for the conference. It runs off the Plan One disposition goal in Rules 9.00(b)(1) and 9.24(a)(1), which presume disposition within 12 months of filing. Rule 9.24 lets the court reassign to Plan Two (18 months) or Plan Three (24 months) for good cause, which moves both dates. Rule 9.15(b) requires each party to file and serve a Case Management Statement fifteen days before the first case management conference, on pain of sanction. Chapter 8, Mandatory Civil Settlement Conferences, reads in its entirety (Repealed 7/1/02), and Rule 9.16, Settlement Conference, is repealed 7/1/01. All three civil departments set the MSC by their own standing order instead, keying it to a status conference before the readiness conference.

Upon filing a Request to Set for Trial, the Court shall set the matter for trial and also order the parties to participate in a Mandatory Settlement Conference set by the Court. The Mandatory Settlement Conference will be conducted electronically (or in person by request) by a neutral settlement conference judge approved by the Court.

Unlawful detainer only. Rule 32.03 sits in Chapter 32, Emergency Rules, adopted 10/7/2020 and amended effective 1/1/2026, so it survived the pandemic era repeals that took out Rule 32.02. Rule 32.03(a)(2) permits multiple sessions at the settlement judge's request. Rule 32.03(c) routes remote attendance through Local Rule 2.09.

The Court typically will set a mandatory settlement conference at a status conference prior to the trial readiness conference. The Court generally will refer the case to a volunteer settlement officer to conduct the settlement conference.

No date and no interval are stated. The MSC is set case by case at a status conference. Attribution caveat, and it is real. The order is captioned only STANDING CASE MANAGEMENT ORDER, names no department and no judge anywhere in its text, is dated September 24, 2021, and carries no signature block. Its PDF metadata shows creation 9/18/2023 and modification 10/24/2023, which matches the posted filename Standing Case Management Order 091823.pdf. It is attributed to Department 2 and Judge Van Rooyen by the court's own Judicial Assignments page (link text Department 2 Standing Case Management Order) and Civil Division page (link text D2 - Judge van Rooyen), both pointing to the Drive folder https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_yMRCYmtcMOK3xVBVg5UTVkPe9eqKIa3, which holds this one file. Section III.A sets the mediation expectation: mediation should ordinarily take place within 90-120 days of all parties' first appearances.

At the Status Conference prior to the Trial Readiness Conference, the Court will typically order the parties to participate in a Mandatory Settlement Conference (MSC) prior to the Readiness Conference. The Court generally uses the services of volunteer mediators to conduct MSCs. The parties will have input as to the person who will conduct the MSC.

No interval is stated, only the sequence: status conference, then MSC, then readiness conference, then trial. Section III.A separately sets the mediation expectation: mediation will generally be ordered to take place within one year of the first appearances of all parties, but a longer time may be allowed. That is a looser window than Departments 2 and P2, which both use 90 to 120 days from first appearances.

Counsel and any self-represented litigants must provide a joint trial binder for the Court at or prior to the Readiness Conference. The trial binder shall be organized as follows: Tab A: Trial Briefs Tab B: Joint Statement of the Case Tab C: Joint Witness List Tab D: Joint List of Jury Instructions Tab E: Joint and Contested Jury Instructions Tab F: Joint and/or Contested Verdict Forms Tab G: Joint Exhibit List Tab H: Page and Line Designations for Deposition and Former Testimony Tab I: Stipulations Tab J: Motions in Limine (may be placed in a separate binder if necessary due to space limits)

The only true trial binder requirement in San Luis Obispo County, and the only one anywhere in the county's published materials. Joint, singular, one binder for the court, mandatory (must provide). The tab labels run across a page break in the PDF between Tab D and Tab E, which is why the page footer sits between them in raw text; the text is continuous in the order. Delivered at or before the readiness conference, which is roughly two weeks before trial, and every component except the trial brief and the in limine motions is a joint document already filed and served five calendar days earlier. The order says nothing about an electronic binder, a courtesy copy for the clerk, or a copy for opposing counsel. The three set exhibit binder requirement at section V.E.2 is separate and comes later, on the first day of trial.

At least three sets of exhibit binders, tabbed and paginated, are required on the first day of trial: a set each for the Court, clerk, and witness. Counsel must also supply an exhibit binder to each opposing party.

Quotation disclosure. The original sets off the words tabbed and paginated with en dashes (Unicode U+2013, confirmed at the PDF text layer), which house style bars, so the two dashes are rendered here as commas. Nothing else is changed and nothing is dropped. Tabbed and paginated is a substantive requirement, not optional. Three sets is a floor, and the opposing party copies are on top of the three, so in a multi defendant construction case that is one set for the court, one for the clerk, one for the witness stand, and one for every other party. Separate from and later than the joint trial binder under section V.D.

The following documents and things must be filed 5 court days before the date scheduled for trial:A brief statement of the case and the issues to be determined by trial;The estimated time required for the trial;Stipulated facts or admissions of the parties;Any special voir dire questions or requests;A witness list;Motions in limine; andA statement of any unusual evidentiary or legal issues.

Chapter 27 is titled SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY TRIAL RULES and Rule 27.00 says these rules must supplement the California Rules of Court and must apply to all trials conducted in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court. Rule 27.02 as printed carries no history note; the renumbering note sits on the repealed Rule 9.17 in Chapter 9, which reads (Repealed and Renumbered as 27.02 Effective 7/1/01). The seven items carry no numbers and no spacing in the court's own published text. I confirmed that is in the source, not an extraction artifact, by pulling the page three ways: pdftotext -layout, pdftotext -raw, and pymupdf block extraction, all of which return one text block with the same collisions. Cite the subdivision as 27.02(a) and identify the item by its words. Anchor matters here: this deadline runs from the trial date while the department orders run theirs from the readiness conference, so the two packages land on different days.

At least two weeks prior to the readiness conference, the parties shall meet and confer with respect to jury instructions, proposed verdict forms, and time estimates for each witness. 1. Following the meet and confer process, the following documents should be emailed to the Clerk no less than one week prior to the readiness conference:

Verb watch, and this is a correction to how the requirement was originally stated. The meet and confer is mandatory (shall). The transmittal is phrased as should be emailed, not shall be filed, which is how the same order phrases the trial brief and the in limine motions two paragraphs later. Calendar the one week date as a deadline, but do not report it as an order to file. Note the delivery method too: email to the clerk, not filing. The clerk's address is D2clerk@slo.courts.ca.gov per section I.B, which also warns that substantive argument by email is not permitted and that all parties must be copied. The PDF's text layer is an imperfect OCR result that garbles a few words elsewhere in the document (party renders as paiiy at VII.A.3), so verify any passage you intend to quote against the page image.

At least two weeks prior to the readiness conference, the parties must meet and confer with respect to jury instructions, a special verdict form, and time estimates for each witness. 1. Unless otherwise directed by the Court, the following documents should be emailed to Department4@slo.courts.ca.gov no later than one week prior to the readiness conference.

Verb watch, same correction as Department 2. The meet and confer is mandatory (must). The transmittal is phrased as should be emailed. Delivery is by email to the department, not by filing. Three templates are posted and are required by name in section V.A.1: Jury Instruction Template, Jury Verdict Template, Time Estimate Template. I confirmed all three sit in the same public Drive folder as the order, https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ieOU9qm4ApWmi857_NToLzybcbDocdCj, along with a Jury Questionnaire, a Request for Discovery Conference and an Answer to Request for Discovery Conference. The order warns that the jury instruction template is for organizational purposes only and does not reflect the current CACI instructions.

The following documents and things must be filed 5 court days before the date scheduled for trial:A brief statement of the case and the issues to be determined by trial;The estimated time required for the trial;Stipulated facts or admissions of the parties;Any special voir dire questions or requests;A witness list;Motions in limine; andA statement of any unusual evidentiary or legal issues.

Quoted in full rather than with an ellipsis, because the items are one unpunctuated sentence and an elided version does not appear in the source. The county rule says nothing about naming experts, estimating examination time, or excluding impeachment and rebuttal witnesses. All of that comes from the department orders, and Department P2 requires a signed joint witness list rather than a party list. The only other witness list provisions in the rule set are in Chapter 19, family law, at Rule 19.28, which sets a 15 court day deadline and points to Judicial Council form FL-321. Those do not reach a civil trial.

The parties shall work together and file a joint list of all witnesses that each party intends to call, excluding impeachment and rebuttal witnesses. The joint witness list shall identify each witness by name, specify which witnesses are experts, estimate the length of direct examination, cross-examination, and re-direct examination of each, and include a total of the number of hours for examination of each witness and in total for all witness testimony. The parties shall identify all potential witness scheduling issues and special requirements. The counsel and any self-represented litigant shall sign the joint witness list.

A joint list means you cannot file your own and be done. Building it needs the other side, so start it at the two week meet and confer mark. This is on top of the separate party witness list Rule 27.02(a) requires 5 court days before trial. The order's closing sentence says a template for the Joint Witness List is available on the P-2 Website. Treat that as the order's representation, not as confirmed: the Drive folder the court links from both its Judicial Assignments and Civil Division pages holds only the standing order PDF. Ask the P2 clerk for the template.

A joint witness list reflecting the expected time for examination or cross-examination of each witness by each party (a sample template is attached to this order).

The template is the seventh page of the D2 order PDF, a TIME ESTIMATES grid with columns for witness, role, direct, cross and total. Confirmed present: the PDF is 7 pages, six numbered pages of the order plus the template. It is a joint list, so it cannot be built unilaterally. Separate from the party witness list Local Rule 27.02(a) requires 5 court days before trial. Transmittal sits under the should be emailed lead in at VI.A.1.

Time estimates for each witness, in Word format, showing the expected time for direct examination and cross examination utilizing the Time Estimate Template posted on the D4 Website.

This is Department 4's witness list analog. It is a time estimate document rather than a witness list as such, and the order does not call it a witness list or require it to be joint in terms. Section V.B.1 explains the stake: the length of trial will be calculated using the times given for the expected witnesses, and time limits for all phases of the case are typically established and enforced. File the separate Rule 27.02(a) witness list 5 court days before trial regardless.

The first page of each exhibit must be marked with a tab that protrudes from the page, at the bottom.

A filing rule, not a trial exhibit rule, but it reaches any exhibit attached to a document filed under Rule 27.02(a). Rule 5.00(d): Exhibits with multiple pages must be paginated unless paginated in the original. Rule 5.00(g): The court, in its discretion, may disregard any exhibit that does not comply with the above. Rule 5.00(a) incorporates California Rules of Court 2.100 and 3.1110. Rule 5.00 was amended effective 1/1/09, with subdivision (h), a criminal exhibit provision, amended effective 7/1/2026. Trial exhibit marking, exchange and binder requirements are department matters, not Rule 5.00 matters.

The parties shall prepare and file a joint exhibit list organized with columns identifying: (1) the exhibit, (2) which party is offering the exhibit, (3) whether there is a stipulation to authenticity and/or admissibility of the exhibit, (4) the date on which the exhibit was identified, and (5) the date on which the exhibit was admitted. Prior to filing the joint exhibit list, the parties shall meet and confer to determine whether they will stipulate to the authenticity and/or admissibility of each exhibit or whether there are objections to any exhibit.

The subsection continues: If there are stipulations, the parties shall note that in the respective column. If not, the objecting party shall specify all objections in the respective column. The counsel and any self-represented litigants shall sign the joint exhibit list. Objections have to be specified on the list itself, so every exhibit objection in this department is made in writing before the readiness conference. No county local rule requires a civil exhibit list at all, so this is purely a department creature.

The parties are encouraged to agree upon a reasonable exhibit numbering system. The exhibits used in the case-in-chief shall be pre-marked with exhibit labels and exchanged no later than the morning of trial and earlier, if feasible. The use of exhibit books or binders is strongly encouraged.

The loosest exchange deadline in the county: the morning of trial. Compare Department P2, which requires exchange five days before the readiness conference. The binder language here is encouragement only, which is why Department 2 has no trial binder requirement and why the word binder appears nowhere in the county's local rules.

The following items should be submitted to the Clerk on the first day of trial: a. Three copies of each party's exhibit list, with a brief description of each exhibit. b. The original exhibits with the exhibit labels attached to the front of the exhibit, with the case name, case number, and exhibit number. c. One bench copy of each exhibit that can be reproduced, for use by the Court, marked with exhibit numbers (labels are not required).

The closest thing Department 2 has to a binder requirement, and it lands on the first day of trial rather than at the readiness conference. Each party brings its own exhibit list in triplicate, unlike the joint signed exhibit list Department P2 requires. The verb is should, not shall, but treat it as the department's expectation. Section VII.C.4 adds that any object that cannot be folded to 8.5 by 11, such as a model or blowup, should be accompanied by a photograph or photocopy for the court to keep in place of the oversized item.

The parties are encouraged to agree upon a reasonable exhibit numbering system using the format P001 (for plaintiff) and depending upon the amount of exhibits, D100 forward (for defendant). There is an Exhibit Label Template on the Court's website. The specific arrangements for numbering, marking, exchanging and copying exhibits will be discussed in detail at the Trial Readiness Conference.

Curly apostrophe rendered straight. Department 4 sets no exhibit list requirement, no exhibit exchange deadline and no exhibit binder requirement in its standing order. All of it is deferred to the conference. The numbering differs from Department P2, which suggests D001 forward for defendants rather than D100. Generic Exhibit Label and Exhibit List documents sit on the court's Local Forms page under the Courtroom Operations heading, which I confirmed; the only mandatory exhibit list form the court publishes is FL019, which is a Family Law Division form keyed to Local Rule 19.28 and does not reach a civil trial.

Not later than one day after the jury is selected, counsel must meet and confer, face-to-face unless excused by the trial judge. They must separate the proposed jury instructions so as to eliminate redundancy. The proposed instructions must then be separated into two groups. The first group of instructions must consist of those that all parties agree can be given by the court as drafted. The second must consist of those proposed instructions about which counsel disagree and wish to have a court ruling before submission to the jury.

Literal offset token because the trigger is jury selection, which the schema's anchors do not cover. This is the only mandatory jury instruction meet and confer in the county rules and it happens during trial, after the jury is picked, not before. Rule 27.01(a) also sets the source preference: the current editions of CACI and CALCRIM should be used when applicable, with due consideration given to attorney drafted instructions. All three department orders move the real instruction work to before the readiness conference, which supersedes this timing in practice without repealing it. Rule 27.01 was amended 7/1/10.

The court will assign responsibility for preparing "clean" copies of the instructions to be given by the court for delivery to the jury in the jury room. Those "clean" instructions must not indicate which party submitted the proposed instruction nor must they replicate the source of the text, the citation of authority, if any, or the judge's signature.

Build two versions of every instruction from the start, an attributed and cited version for the court and a stripped version for the jury room. Rule 27.04(b)(6) imposes the same duty in a summary jury trial: the parties must provide clean copies to be used by the jurors. Department P2 section V.C.7 is the closest department analog, requiring special instructions in a format ready for submission to the jury with the instruction number, title, and text only.

It must be the duty and responsibility of counsel proposing a pattern instruction to complete all blanks contained in it necessary for the purpose of the instruction. Failure to do so must be deemed by the court as sufficient cause to refuse the proposed instruction.

Self executing, and phrased as must be deemed, not may. Department 2 section VI.A.1.a says the same thing in its own words for the pre readiness package: proposed instructions shall be complete in all respects without unfilled blanks or bracketed portions.

Counsel may draft and submit additional proposed instructions. Each must be numbered in consecutive order and indicate the party upon whose behalf it is requested. Failure to cite on any such instruction the authorities relied upon to support giving it must be deemed by the court as sufficient cause to refuse the proposed instruction.

Second self executing refusal in the same rule. Note the tension with the clean copy rule in 27.01(a): the submitted version carries the citation and the party name, the jury room version carries neither.

In all jury trials, counsel must present to the court a document setting forth in the usual manner the title of the court, title and number of the action, and title of the document, namely, "Instructions requested by ______." A copy of the document must be served upon each of the other counsel in the case. The document must list by number the CACI and/or CALCRIM instructions requested by counsel and counsel must attach to the original the (1) instructions so requested that are in print and available; and if such instructions are modified, by the completion of blanks, the deletion of bracketed material, or in any other manner made complete; (2) if the instructions so requested are not locally available, it will be counsel's responsibility to type such instructions; and (3) the additional instructions, if any, as provided in paragraph (c) above.

This is the county's format rule for the instruction submission and it sets no deadline of its own. Rule 27.01(e) supplies the only county timing and it is permissive. All three departments override the format: Departments 2 and 4 take the instructions by email in Word format, and Department P2 requires both a signed joint list and a complete full text set, filed.

Counsel are encouraged to file requested jury instructions and verdict forms at least two court days before the date scheduled for trial.

Permissive on its face. Do not calendar this as the operative deadline. In every civil department the enforceable date is earlier and keyed to the readiness conference: Departments 2 and 4 take the package by email one week before it, and Department P2 requires the instructions and verdict forms filed and served five calendar days before it. This is also the only county rule that mentions verdict forms outside the summary jury trial procedure.

The parties shall jointly prepare and file a list of proposed jury instructions, organized in numerical order, specifying the instructions upon which all sides agree and the contested instructions, if any. The list of proposed jury instructions must include a space by each instruction for the Court to indicate whether the instruction was given. The counsel and any self-represented litigants shall sign the joint list of proposed jury instructions.

The list is a separate deliverable from the instructions themselves, which go behind Tab E under section V.C.7. Two tabs, two documents. The blank column for the court's given or refused notation is easy to miss and is expressly required.

The parties shall prepare a complete set of full-text proposed jury instructions. The parties shall prepare special instructions in a format ready for submission to the jury with the instruction number, title, and text only.

The jury ready formatting requirement tracks the clean copy rule in Local Rule 27.01(a): no party attribution, no source, no citation of authority. Local Rule 27.01(c) separately requires authorities on any special instruction submitted to the court, so the cited version and the jury version have to be built as two files.

One joint set of proposed jury instructions in Word format. Proposed instructions shall be complete in all respects without unfilled "blanks" or "bracketed" portions. Disagreement as to particular instructions may be highlighted by color coding or other method.

One joint set, not competing sets, with disputes marked inside it. The content requirement here is mandatory (shall be complete); the transmittal sits under the should be emailed lead in at VI.A.1. The no blanks requirement duplicates the self executing refusal in Local Rule 27.01(b). Word format matters because the court edits the file.

One joint set of proposed jury instructions, in Word format, using the headings, subheadings and organizational format on the Jury Instruction Template posted on the D4 Website. (Disagreements as to particular instructions can be identified by using different fonts and by noting which party is offering the instruction.)

Template use is directed in form even though the order itself says the template's substance is stale. The posted templates live in the same public Drive folder as the standing order, https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ieOU9qm4ApWmi857_NToLzybcbDocdCj, confirmed by listing the folder. Transmittal sits under the should be emailed lead in at V.A.1.

Counsel are encouraged to file requested jury instructions and verdict forms at least two court days before the date scheduled for trial.

The only other county mention of a verdict form is Rule 27.04(b)(6), inside the summary jury trial procedure, which requires the issues to be set forth in a special verdict form. That applies only where the presiding judge assigns a case to a summary jury trial. Joint verdict form requirements come from the departments: Department 2 section VI.A.1.b, Department 4 section V.A.1.b, Department P2 section V.C.8.

The parties shall prepare and file a joint proposed general verdict form or special verdict form (with interrogatories). If the parties cannot agree on a joint verdict form, each party must separately file a proposed verdict form.

The only department order in the county that says what happens when the parties cannot agree on a verdict form. Departments 2 and 4 handle disagreement by color coding or font differences inside a single submitted document rather than by separate filings.

One set of proposed verdict forms in Word format. Disagreement as to wording or other matters may be highlighted by color coding or other method.

Emailed, not filed, and the transmittal verb in the VI.A.1 lead in is should. Earlier and firmer in practice than the permissive two court day suggestion in Local Rule 27.01(e). Note this subdivision says one set of proposed verdict forms, without the word joint that appears in subdivision (a) for instructions.

One joint proposed verdict form, in Word format, using the correct caption and organizational format on the Jury Verdict Template posted on the D4 Website. (Disagreements as to wording or other matters can be distinguished by using different fonts, and by noting which party is offering the instruction.)

Section V.A calls for a special verdict form specifically, while V.A.1.b says joint proposed verdict form without the qualifier. Build a special verdict form unless the court directs otherwise. The parenthetical in V.A.1.b says instruction where it plainly means verdict form; that wording is the court's, not a transcription error.

The following documents and things must be filed 5 court days before the date scheduled for trial:A brief statement of the case and the issues to be determined by trial;

Separate from, and earlier than, the joint neutral statement of the case read to the jury panel, which is a department requirement. Department 2 section VI.D.4 requires a joint neutral statement. Department P2 section V.C.3 requires a signed joint written statement as Tab B of the trial binder. Department 4 section V.B.4 asks only that the parties agree on a brief neutral statement if relevant. The Rule 27.02(a) statement is a party filing about the issues; the department statement is a joint neutral document for the jury.

For jury trials, the parties shall prepare a joint written statement of the case for the Court to read to the jury or to be incorporated into a prospective juror questionnaire. Counsel and any self-represented litigants shall sign the joint statement.

The signature requirement is real and applies to nearly every joint readiness document in this department. Distinct from the separate statement of the case and issues that Rule 27.02(a) requires each party to file 5 court days before trial.

Counsel shall prepare a joint, neutral statement of the case to be read to the prospective jury panel. In the event juror questionnaires will be used, the questionnaires shall include a joint witness list.

Listed among the topics counsel must be prepared to discuss at the readiness conference, so have it drafted by then even though the order sets no separate filing date. Distinct from the statement of the case and issues each party files under Local Rule 27.02(a) 5 court days before trial.

While not mandatory, trial briefs are helpful to the Court particularly where they succinctly identify: (1) the claims and defenses subject to litigation, (2) the major legal issues (with supporting points and authorities), (3) the relief claimed and the calculation of damages sought, and (4) any other information that may assist the Court at trial.

Quote begins at While not mandatory because the original sets the item label Trial Briefs off with an en dash, which house style bars. Nothing is elided. Tab A of the trial binder is titled Trial Briefs, plural, so the department contemplates a brief from each side rather than a joint one. Contrast Department 2, which makes the trial brief mandatory one week before its readiness conference, and Department 4, which sets no trial brief requirement at all.

Trial briefs shall be filed no less than one week prior to the readiness conference.

Mandatory in this department. Shall be filed, with no content specification and no joint requirement, so each party files its own. Contrast Department P2, where the trial brief is helpful but not mandatory, and Department 4, whose standing order sets no trial brief requirement at all.

If the parties intend to use deposition testimony or former trial testimony in lieu of any witness's live testimony, the parties shall meet and confer and jointly prepare and file a chart with columns for each of the following: (1) the page and line designations of the deposition or former testimony requested for use, (2) objections, (3) counter-designations, (4) any responses thereto, and (5) the Court's rulings. The objecting party shall state specific objections to the designated testimony in the respective column. Counsel and any self-represented litigants shall sign the designations.

Curly apostrophes in the source rendered straight here; wording otherwise unchanged. This is the only deposition designation requirement anywhere in this county. Neither the local rules nor the Department 2 or Department 4 standing orders require designations. If the case is in Paso Robles and any witness will be read in, this chart drives real work and has to start at the two week meet and confer.

Originals of all depositions to be used in the trial are to be lodged with the clerk at the beginning of trial. At the end of the trial, these depositions can be picked up from the clerk, or they can be returned by mail at the party's expense.

All three civil departments impose this in nearly identical words. It is the one trial preparation item that is uniform across the county's civil departments.

Originals of all depositions to be used at trial shall be lodged with the Clerk at the beginning of trial.

Quotation limited to the first sentence because the PDF's OCR text layer garbles the word party in the following sentence, rendering it paiiy. Department 2 requires no page and line designations, no objection chart and no counter designations, unlike Department P2.

Originals of all depositions to be used in the trial are to be lodged with the Clerk in Department 4 at the beginning of trial. At the end of the trial, lodged depositions can be picked up from the Court, or they will be returned by mail at the party's expense.

Curly apostrophe rendered straight. Like Department 2, Department 4 requires no page and line designations or objection chart for deposition testimony read at trial. Only Department P2 does.

The following documents and things must be filed 5 court days before the date scheduled for trial:A brief statement of the case and the issues to be determined by trial;The estimated time required for the trial;Stipulated facts or admissions of the parties;Any special voir dire questions or requests;A witness list;Motions in limine; andA statement of any unusual evidentiary or legal issues.

Quoted in full for the same reason as the witness list row. Read this against Rule 27.03(a), which sets the same five court day interval but measures it from the first calendar call rather than from the trial date. The two subdivisions are not reconciled anywhere in the rule set and neither cross references the other. Treat the earlier event as controlling and confirm with the department, because Department 2 and Department P2 both move the in limine date earlier still by keying it to the readiness conference.

In civil jury trials, counsel must make any In Limine motions as follows: (a) The motion to be filed and served by FAX, express mail or personal service, not later than five court days before the first calendar call of the case.

Do not calendar this from the trial date. The anchor field says trial_date only because the schema has no token for a calendar call; the literal offset is what governs. The phrase first calendar call appears exactly once in the 144 page rule set, here, and the civil rules never define a calendar call or say when one is held. The only other uses of calendar call in the rule set are in Chapter 19, family law. Confirm the trigger with the assigned department before relying on it. The fax reference is stale: Chapter 29, Fax Filing, reads in its entirety (Repealed 7/1/15), and Rule 31.06 now requires electronic filing in all limited and unlimited civil cases. Serve and file electronically. Rule 27.03 was amended 7/1/09.

(b) Motion must include: (1) Counsel's best estimate of the time that will be required to properly hear and dispose of the motion(s). (2) The general subject(s) of the motion(s) together with points and/or authorities.

A page break falls between the lead in and item (1) in the published PDF, so a plain text extraction drops the court's running footer between them. The text is contiguous in the rule. The time estimate is a content requirement of the motion itself, not a separate filing. Department P2 adds a captioning rule on top at section V.C.2: each motion's caption must concisely identify the evidence sought to be admitted or excluded, motions must be numbered consecutively, and an opposition must identify the corresponding motion number in its caption.

Unless another schedule is set by the Court, motions in limine are to be filed and served fifteen (15) calendar days prior to the Readiness Conference and oppositions, if any, shall be filed and served seven (7) calendar days before the Readiness Conference.

The earliest in limine deadline in the county and the earliest trial preparation deadline overall. Fifteen calendar days before a conference set about two weeks before trial puts the motions out roughly a month before trial, far ahead of Rule 27.02(a)'s five court days. The order invokes California Rules of Court rule 3.1112(f) as the source of the court's discretion to set in limine timing, and directs counsel to Kelly v. New West Federal Savings (1996) 49 Cal.App.4th 659, 669-677 before filing. Motions in limine go behind Tab J of the trial binder and may go in a separate binder if space requires. The opening clause Unless another schedule is set by the Court means a case specific order can displace this.

Motions in limine shall be filed no less than one week prior to the readiness conference. Opposition to motions in limine shall be filed no less than one court day prior to the readiness conference.

The subsection continues across a page break: Before filing motions in limine, counsel shall confer with the objective of reaching an agreement on as many issues as possible. (See Kelly v. New West Federal Savings (1996) 49 Cal.App.4th 659, 669-677.) Counsel shall advise their clients and witnesses about rulings on motions in limine that pertain to evidentiary issues. Counsel will be held responsible for any violations of rulings on motions in limine. Motions in limine typically will be heard on the first day of trial, unless specially set by the Court. The opposition window is the tightest in the county: one week out for the motion, one court day out for the opposition.

Motions in limine: Prior to filing motions in limine, the parties should confer with the objective of reaching an agreement on as many such motions as possible. (Kelly v. New West Federal Savings (1996) 49 Cal.App.4th 659, 669-677.) The parties are responsible for any violations of rulings on motions in limine.

Read in full, the Department 4 order sets no in limine filing date. It lists motions in limine only as a topic for the readiness conference. So in Department 4 the governing deadline is the county rule, and the county rule gives two inconsistent answers: 5 court days before the trial date under Local Rule 27.02(a), or five court days before the first calendar call under Local Rule 27.03(a). Confirm the date with the department rather than assuming. Note on wording: this subsection says the parties are responsible, not that counsel will be held responsible. The phrase will be held responsible belongs to Department 2 (VI.C) and Department P2 (V.E.3) and appears nowhere in the Department 4 order. Section VII.A adds that the court generally hears in limine motions at the beginning of trial and that jury selection ordinarily begins after motions in limine are heard on the first day of trial.

Jury fees, as provided by CCP 631 et seq., must be deposited with the Clerk of the Court by the party demanding the jury (except for eminent domain cases) after the case has been set for trial at the pretrial or trial setting conference and not later than 25 days prior to the date of trial.

Chapter 16 is Jury Services and the subdivision applies expressly to civil cases: Rule 16.06(a) says at no time shall the members of the jury be informed as to which party is paying fees, mileage, or other costs for civil cases. Verify the deposit date against CCP 631 as currently written before relying on the 25 day figure; I did not pull the section text in this pass. Rule 16.06 was last amended 1/1/09 and its trigger is the pretrial or trial setting conference, a proceeding the civil rules no longer provide for since Rule 9.23 was repealed in 2001. Rule 16.06(a)(2) is the forfeiture provision: if the case settles, the jury is waived, the case goes off calendar, or the demanding party moves to continue, none of the deposit is refunded where the court finds there was insufficient time to notify the jurors. All three departments direct the parties to contact the Jury Commissioner on the first day of trial to arrange payment.

Depositions and exhibit packages will be received and retained without filing by the clerk of the court. Counsel submitting such documents must indicate in the caption or on the face page if they are to be returned or in the alternative destroyed when the motion has been resolved. Counsel submitting such documents must include a postage prepaid self-addressed envelope with which to return the exhibits.

Rule 5.00(f): Copies and/or portions of depositions, interrogatories or transcripts must not be filed or received except as provided for in Rule 7.04. Rule 7.04 holds the retained package for the review period after a contested ruling, not to exceed 61 days, and longer if review is sought. Any party may move orally at the hearing to file the exhibits, and on good cause that motion will be granted. Distinguish this from trial: all three departments require the originals of every deposition to be used at trial to be lodged with the clerk at the start of trial. Rule 7.04 was amended effective 1/1/2024.

The Court has found that a juror questionnaire that covers basic background information as well as some case or issue specific questions can expedite voir dire. The parties are expected to meet and confer about such questions and to submit a joint proposed questionnaire for discussion at the Readiness Conference.

Quote begins after the item label Juror Questionnaires, which the original sets off with an en dash. Offset is see_rule rather than five days: the subsection says submit for discussion at the Readiness Conference, and the questionnaire is not one of the ten enumerated binder tabs, so whether the V.C five day filing deadline reaches it is not stated. Have it ready by the five day mark to be safe. Department 4 uses its own posted Jury Questionnaire form instead. Department 2 handles questionnaires at the conference under section VI.D.4 and requires that any questionnaire used include a joint witness list.

The Court expects the parties to meet and confer prior to the Readiness Conference concerning potential stipulations regarding facts and issues to facilitate focusing trial time on matters that are legitimately in dispute.

Quote begins after the item label Stipulations Concerning Facts and Issues, which the original sets off with an en dash. Offset corrected to see_rule: this subsection states an expectation to meet and confer before the conference and names no document with a filing date, so the five calendar day deadline in the V.C lead in reaches it only by implication. Have the written stipulations done by the five day mark anyway, since Tab I of the binder is due at or before the conference. Local Rule 27.02(a) separately requires stipulated facts or admissions filed 5 court days before trial, so in Paso Robles the stipulations get done twice on two different clocks. Section V.E.2 adds the suggestion that the parties consider waiving authentication and foundation for all trial exhibits unless authentication is genuinely at issue, without waiving other trial objections.

The parties are encouraged to agree upon an exhibit numbering system using the format P001 forward for plaintiff and D001 forward for defendant(s). Exhibits a party reasonably anticipates using in that party's case-in-chief shall be pre-marked and exchanged at least five (5) days prior to the Readiness Conference and lodged with the Court on the first day of trial.

Curly apostrophe in the source rendered straight. Exchange of marked exhibits five days before the readiness conference is the earliest exhibit exchange in the county. Compare Department 2, which permits exchange as late as the morning of trial. The same subsection says the court expects exhibits to be moved into evidence as soon as the foundation is laid, and that oversized items that cannot be folded to 8.5 by 11 should be accompanied by a photograph or photocopy for the court to keep in place of the original. Note the numbering differs from Department 4, which suggests D100 forward for defendants.