Sierra County trial binder and trial document requirements

UPON FILING OF AN AT-ISSUE MEMORANDUM, THE CLERK SHALL PLACE THE MATTER FOR TRIAL READINESS CONFERENCE ON THE NEXT LAW AND MOTION CALENDAR WHICH IS MORE THAN 20 DAYS AFTER RECEIPT OF THE MEMO. PRIOR TO THE TRIAL READINESS CONFERENCE, COUNSEL MAY ARRANGE ACCEPTABLE TRIAL DATES THROUGH THE COURT CLERK. PRETRIAL, SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE, AND TRIAL DATES WILL BE SET AT THE TRIAL READINESS CONFERENCE.

Form is Division General, form number SIE-0001, revision date 7/2017, currently listed on the court's Forms and Filing table. Two reasons to treat it as unconfirmed rather than settled. First, the local rules adopted the Trial Court Delay Reduction Act framework effective 01/01/09, under which rule 3.1 has the clerk set a case management conference automatically 135 days after filing and rule 4.1 gives the trial date to the court, which is a different system from the party-driven at-issue memorandum. Second, the form cross-references "Rule 221, California Rules of Court," which is not a current civil rule number. The same page also sets a counter-deadline worth knowing if you are served with one: "ANY PARTY NOT IN AGREEMENT WITH THIS AT-ISSUE MEMORANDUM MUST, WITHIN 10 DAYS AFTER ITS SERVICE, SERVE AND FILE HIS OWN AT-ISSUE MEMORANDUM." Call (530) 289-3698 before filing or ignoring this form.

The Court will schedule a mandatory settlement conference for all cases.

Verified against the July 1, 2026 PDF. This is the only pretrial conference in the Sierra civil rules that carries a document requirement. Rule 3.8 sits inside Rule 3, Case Management, after the Alternative Dispute Resolution heading that opens rule 3.7, not in Rule 4, Civil Trials. The rules do not say when the conference is set, but local form SIE-0001 says it is set at the trial readiness conference. See the two SIE-0001 rows below.

The parties shall submit a settlement conference brief not to exceed five pages no later than 5:00 p.m. on Friday the week before the settlement conference.

Anchor checked and correct. The deadline runs off the settlement conference date, not the trial date, so do not compute it from trial. The offset is a calendar landmark, not a day count, and the lead time moves with the day of the week the conference sits on: a Wednesday conference gives five days, a Monday conference gives three. This five page brief is the only brief the Sierra civil rules require anywhere. The rule says "submit," not "file" or "lodge," and names no destination. Subdivision (e) amended effective 01/01/23.

A copy of the settlement conference brief shall be served upon the opposing counsel.

The rule states no separate service deadline and no method of service. It does not say whether briefs are exchanged simultaneously or whether any part is confidential to the settlement judge. Since the rule requires service on the other side, do not write one on the assumption the judge alone reads it.

All parties, as well as their agents with authority to settle, will attend the mandatory settlement conference.

No carve out for an insurer, a corporate representative or an out of county party, and no stated procedure for excusing anyone. Read with rule 3.8(d) on telephone appearances.

Telephone appearance generally will not be allowed without prior approval by the Court and will only be allowed under extraordinary circumstances.

Amended effective 01/01/23. The rule names telephone appearances only and does not mention remote video. Rule 1.1(d), amended effective 01/01/24, covers remote video generally and treats the settlement conference as a non-evidentiary hearing for which leave may or may not be required. Plan on appearing in person in Downieville unless the court says otherwise.

Failure of a party to attend, or failure of an agent with authority to attend a settlement conference, may result insanctions imposed by the Court.

Quoted exactly as printed, and I confirmed the run-together "insanctions" is in the court's own PDF, not a transcription slip. The rule reaches attendance only. It sets no sanction for a late or missing settlement conference brief, which falls back to the general sanctions rule 1.2.

IN EVERY CASE A MANDATORY SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE WILL BE SET AT THE TRIAL READINESS CONFERENCE.

This sentence is the practical bridge between rule 3.8(a), which says the court will schedule a settlement conference in every case without saying when, and rule 3.8(e), which hangs the five page brief off that date. It carries the same caveat as the row above: the form is published but no current rule references it, and the 2009 delay reduction rules point to a different sequence. Confirm with the clerk. Do not calendar the brief until the conference date is actually set.

Each separate pleading or form number must be in a separate PDF, unless a pleading consists of a number of forms, such as in a Family Law Judgment.

This is the closest the Sierra rules come to telling a party how to package trial documents, and it is a filing format rule, not a trial binder rule. Item 3 of the same list rejects phone photographs of documents outright: "Photos of documents by phone or otherwise will be rejected."

Exhibits attached to a pleading must be filed as a part of the PDF containing the pleading.

This governs exhibits to filed papers, for example exhibits to a declaration supporting a motion in limine. It is not a trial exhibit rule. I searched the full rule set for "exhibit" and it appears three times outside the appellate appendix: here, in criminal rule 5.1(c) on tabbing out of state authorities, and in rule 10.6(D) on media request forms. The rules set no deadline for lodging trial exhibits, no requirement to exchange an exhibit list, and no tab, index or copy count.

At the time a Motion is filed in a civil case, it shall be accompanied by a Proposed Order. If there is opposition to the Motion, a Proposed Order on behalf of the opposing party shall accompany the Opposition Memorandum.

Rule 2.1 makes all of Rule 2 applicable: "This Rule applies to all civil Law and Motion proceedings." So rule 2.3 reaches a motion in limine filed as a noticed motion. The rule does not name motions in limine, and the Sierra rules publish no in limine deadline, page limit, numbering convention or hearing procedure. Do not read rule 5.1 into a civil case even though it sets motion timing and requires out of state authorities to be attached and tabbed. Rule 5 is headed CRIMINAL RULES.

The trial date shall be determined by the Court, with due consideration for the convenience of the parties.

Narrowed from the draft, which said flatly that there is no at-issue memorandum requirement and no party-initiated trial setting procedure. Correct as to the rules and wrong as to the court's published paper: local form SIE-0001 describes exactly such a procedure. See the two SIE-0001 rows above. This sentence is the entirety of Rule 4, Civil Trials. Rule 4 has one subdivision, 4.1, one sentence, on page 10. I read the full rule set and nothing else in it addresses civil trial procedure or trial documents.

All counsel, litigants and witnesses are required to be present in court at any evidentiary hearing.

Subdivision (d) amended effective 01/01/23 and again effective 01/01/24. The same subdivision permits remote appearance at selected non-evidentiary hearings such as case management conferences. A trial is an evidentiary hearing, so the default is in person at 100 Courthouse Square, Downieville.

If any counsel, litigant, or witness wishes to appear telephonically or via remote video appearance for an evidentiary hearing or at any selected non-evidentiary hearing, permission must first be granted by the Court upon a finding of good cause.

Three things the rule text alone does not give you. The ex parte route comes from the next sentence of the same subdivision: "Counsel, litigants and witnesses may apply ex parte to the Court for such permission." The service step comes from the court's civil division page: "trials and evidentiary hearings require a form be filed with the Court and served on the other party." And the form number is not in rule 1.1(d), which says only "the Request for Remote Appearance form." That form is SIE-0035, Division General, rev. 9/18/2023, on the current forms table. Rule 1.1(d) sets no lead time for a civil trial. Rule 6.20 sets two court days, but Rule 6 is FAMILY LAW and 6.20 applies only to Domestic Violence Protection Act matters, so do not borrow it. Separately, the court's Calendars page asks parties who want Zoom to email superiorcourt@sierracourt.org at least ten days ahead, phrased as a request rather than a rule.

Parties presenting digital evidence must comply with the court's Digital Evidence Policy.

Adopted 1/1/24. The rule continues "The policy is located on the court's website at www.sierra.courts.ca.gov." This is the closest thing in the Sierra rules to an exhibit handling requirement and the operative content sits outside the rules. I crawled every internal link on the home, civil, ADR, forms, online services, calendars, news and judicial profiles pages and the policy is not linked from any of them. Call the clerk at (530) 289-3698 before trial if you plan to present video, audio, phone photographs, or anything else digital.

Civil Law and Motion matters are heard in Department One generally on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month at 1:30 p.m. and should be calendared accordingly. If counsel believes that the matter to be heard will take more than 10 minutes, counsel should contact the Court at (530- 289-3698) to schedule a longer hearing.

Amended effective 01/01/23. The rule text opens with the lead-in "Law and Motion." before the quoted sentence. The misplaced parenthesis in the phone number is the court's. Practical point for a stack of motions in limine: two hearing days a month and a ten minute default block, so reserve time. Case management conferences share the same slot under rule 3.5.

The tentative ruling will become the order of the Court, and no hearing will be held, unless a party requests an appearance. A party requesting an appearance must advise the department clerk and the opposing party no later than 3:00 p.m. on the court day before the hearing.

Primary source, but the court's published web page rather than a numbered rule, so no subdivision cite exists. Rulings post after 2:00 p.m. on the court day before the hearing, as PDFs by calendar category: Law and Motion, Probate, Case Management Conference, Guardianships. Appearance requests go to (530) 289-3698.

Any pleading and document received by the court by way of the above email address before 4:00 p.m. on any court day must be deemed filed, if accepted, on that court day. Any document that is received electronically after 4:00 p.m. on a court day or on a non-court day must be deemed filed, if accepted on the next court day.

Citation form note, because rule 8.1 has no lettered subdivisions. The rule is an unnumbered lead paragraph followed by its own enumerated list 1 through 6, with sub-items a through f under item 5, so "par. 2" means item 2 of that list. Rule 8.1 adopted effective 01/01/23 and amended effective 07.01.2026. Sierra takes e-filing by plain email, not through a commercial provider. Only one case per email, and the subject line must carry the case name, number and case type. The rule adds that the cutoff "concerns only the method and effective date of filing" and that every other legal deadline still applies. Note it is an hour earlier than the midnight cutoff practitioners expect from CCP 1010.6, so a trial document sent at 4:30 p.m. files the next court day.

eFilings that do not conform to these rules will be rejected.

Rejection is not deemed-filed. Combined with the 4:00 p.m. cutoff, a nonconforming trial document sent late in the day can miss its deadline entirely. Item 4 of the same list also provides that anything a judicial officer has ordered filed in person or by mail must be filed that way.

Upon the initial filing of a civil action or proceeding, other than juvenile, probate, family law domestic violence, or civil harassment, the Clerk shall set the matter for a first case management conference on the case management calendar closest to, but not less than 135 days from the date of filing.

Offset runs forward from the filing date, not backward from trial. Rule 3.3(d) repeats the 135 day figure. One conflict to know about: the court's ADR page says "An initial Case Management Conference will be scheduled within 120 days of filing the Complaint." The rule outranks the web page, so calendar 135, but do not be surprised by a notice that comes earlier. CMCs are heard the second and fourth Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m. under rule 3.5, and rule 3.5 permits appearance in person or remotely.

All parties taking part in a case management conference must submit a completed Case Management Statement before the case management conference pursuant to California Rules of Court rules 3.720 - 3.730 all parties should use Judicial Council form CM-110.

Adopted effective 01/01/09, amended effective 01/01/23. Quoted as printed; the sentence runs two clauses together without punctuation. The local rule sets no lead time of its own and defers to CRC 3.720 through 3.730, which puts the statement at 15 calendar days before the conference under CRC 3.725. The court's own ADR page states the same figure directly: "An original Case Management Conference Statement must be filed with the clerk no later than 15 days before the scheduled Case Management Conference." Outside the settlement conference brief, this is the only pretrial document the rules require by name.

(e) All discovery, other than depositions of expert witnesses, to be completed by 240 days after filing of the complaint.

Offset runs forward from filing. Rule 3.3 is headed PERIODS OF CASE PROGRESSION and opens "In order to dispose of cases within the legislative standards, the Court adopts the following time periods," so it reads as a delay reduction benchmark, not a discovery cutoff order. It does not displace the CCP 2024.020 cutoff tied to the trial date and can run well ahead of it. A party wanting out of the delay reduction rules must move for it under rule 3.2, supported by a declaration of good cause, and rule 3.2 says in terms that "A stipulation does not establish good cause."

If a party or an attorney fails, refuses, or neglects to comply with these rules, the California Rules of Court, or any other rules or statutory requirements, the Court may, after notice and an opportunity to be heard, impose any and all sanctions authorized by law.

This general sanctions rule is the only consequence provision that reaches trial documents, because the Sierra civil rules impose no trial document deadlines of their own to enforce. It carries a notice and hearing requirement on its face, so sanctions are not automatic.

The Court may impose any and all sanctions allowed by law upon any party or counsel who fails to participate in the Case Management Conference or who otherwise impedes the Trial Delay Reduction Rules.

Rule 3.5 requires counsel for each party, and each party not represented by counsel, to attend the case management conference. Unlike rule 1.2, rule 3.6 states no notice and hearing precondition.