Stanislaus County trial binder and trial document requirements

All "general civil cases" are required to have a mandatory settlement conference approximately fifteen (15) days prior to trial. Short cause matters (one day or less) will not ordinarily be set for a settlement conference.

The rule says "approximately," so treat 15 days as the court's target, not an arithmetic deadline. Rule marked "(Rule 3.05 [1/1/19, 7/1/20] amended January 1, 2025)." Division confirmed: Rule 3.05 sits inside RULE 3 CIVIL CASES, and Rule 3.00 defines civil case to exclude criminal, traffic, family law, small claims and probate. Subdivision (A) is only this sentence. The material that follows is unlettered text of Rule 3.05.

The procedures for mandatory settlement conferences set forth in California Rules of Court, rule 3.1380, apply.

Cite this to the unlettered text, not to subdivision (A). In the printed rule this sentence begins at the same left margin as "A." and as the rule number, so it is not inside A.

No later than five court days before the initial date set for the settlement conference, each party must submit to the court and serve on each party a mandatory settlement conference statement containing: (1) A good faith settlement demand; (2) An itemization of economic and noneconomic damages by each plaintiff; (3) A good faith offer of settlement by each defendant; and (4) A statement identifying and discussing in detail all facts and law pertinent to the issues of liability and damages involved in the case as to that party. The settlement conference statement must comply with any additional requirement imposed by local rule.

The deadline is statewide, not local, and the local rule pulls it in by reference. Stanislaus imposes no additional content requirement of its own, so the closing sentence of subdivision (c) adds nothing here. Rule marked "Rule 3.1380 amended effective January 1, 2008." Read from the Judicial Council's own Title 3 PDF.

Pursuant to Local Rule 1.03 and Code of Civil Procedure section 177.5, the court may impose monetary sanctions for the following: 1. Failure to appear at Settlement Conference (per party and attorney or party in pro per); 2. Appearance without a Settlement Conference Statement on file; 3. Appearance with unfiled Settlement Conference Statement or Settlement Conference Statement filed day of the Settlement Conference; and 4. Settlement Conference Statement not timely filed.

Item 1 is assessed per party AND per attorney. Read item 3 together with CRC 3.1380(c): the operative deadline is five court days out, and anything later is exposed.

All electronically filed documents must be in text searchable format and must comply with the formatting and content requirements of the California Rules of Court for electronic documents, including particularly Rules 2.256(b) and 3.1110(f)(4) requiring electronic bookmarks. Parties shall bookmark each heading, subheading and component (including the table of contents, table of authorities, petition, verification, points and authorities, declaration, and proof of service, if included within the document) in the document, as well as any exhibits and/or attachments to the document.

The duty is general to every e-filing. It bites on the trial documents at the Rule 3.09 noon Friday deadline, which is why it is anchored there. Rule 1.14(A)(2)(a) makes e-filing mandatory in civil cases, limited, unlimited and complex. The rule adds: "Compliance with all of the formatting requirements for electronic documents is extremely important for the Court's timely consideration of the documents." Rule marked "(Rule 1.14 [1/1/19, 1/1/20, 1/1/22, 7/1/23, 1/1/24, 7/1/24] amended January 1, 2026)."

The Court may order a party to provide courtesy copies of e-filed documents. The clerk's office will reject unsolicited courtesy copies.

This is the closest the Stanislaus rules come to a binder provision and it runs the other way. If a civil department wants a paper set for trial, the order comes from the department and sets its own terms. Nothing in the rules presets a copy count, tabs or a delivery location. Two adjacent copy rules exist but neither reaches trial documents: Rule 3.00 caps conformed copies ("Unless otherwise required by law, the Clerk's Office will conform a maximum of two (2) copies"), and Standing Order SSC-6-12 requires one extra Public Access Copy of case-initiating pleadings in unlimited civil matters.

Trial days for civil cases are generally Tuesday through Friday. If Monday is a Court holiday, then Wednesday through Friday. No later than 12:00 noon on the Friday (Monday if Friday is a court holiday) prior to trial, the parties shall notify the assigned civil department as to whether the case has settled or will be going to trial. If you cannot reach the assigned civil department, contact the court calendar manager at 209-530-3162. Failure to comply with this rule may result in the trial date being vacated.

The token friday_before_noon means 12:00 noon on the Friday immediately preceding the trial date. Same clock as every Rule 3.09 filing, so the call and the filings land together. The two holiday rules run in opposite directions: this one moves the call FORWARD to Monday, while Rule 3.09 moves the filings BACKWARD to the court day before the holiday. That is what the text says. Rule marked "(1/1/13)."

Unless the case is settled or dismissed, the following items must be e-filed no later than noon on the Friday before the date set for trial. The following items shall be served on all other parties no later than noon on the Friday before the date set for trial (if that Friday is a court holiday, then the documents must be e-filed no later than the court day preceding the Friday holiday): f. stipulations on factual or legal issues;

Joint by nature, since a stipulation has two sides. The rule imposes no duty to meet and confer to reach stipulations, only to file whatever stipulations exist.

Unless the case is settled or dismissed, the following items must be e-filed no later than noon on the Friday before the date set for trial. The following items shall be served on all other parties no later than noon on the Friday before the date set for trial (if that Friday is a court holiday, then the documents must be e-filed no later than the court day preceding the Friday holiday): c. witness lists, except impeachment witnesses;

No content requirements are published: no time estimates, no expert designation, no summary of testimony, no order of witnesses. Per party, since the rule says nothing about a joint list.

Unless the case is settled or dismissed, the following items must be e-filed no later than noon on the Friday before the date set for trial. The following items shall be served on all other parties no later than noon on the Friday before the date set for trial (if that Friday is a court holiday, then the documents must be e-filed no later than the court day preceding the Friday holiday): b. exhibit lists, except impeachment exhibits;

The rule requires the LIST, not the exhibits. Read this with the row below on e-filing exclusions: the exhibits themselves cannot be e-filed at all in a Stanislaus civil matter. The rule does not say whether the list is joint or per party, and no joint list is required. No content requirements are published for the list itself.

Unless the case is settled or dismissed, the following items must be e-filed no later than noon on the Friday before the date set for trial. The following items shall be served on all other parties no later than noon on the Friday before the date set for trial (if that Friday is a court holiday, then the documents must be e-filed no later than the court day preceding the Friday holiday): d. jury instructions except for instructions that cannot reasonably be anticipated;

No local format is prescribed: nothing on CACI versus BAJI, clean and annotated versions, editable copies, or a joint set. Do not borrow Rule 4.08, which requires filing by a set time on the first day of trial and is a CRIMINAL rule.

Unless the case is settled or dismissed, the following items must be e-filed no later than noon on the Friday before the date set for trial. The following items shall be served on all other parties no later than noon on the Friday before the date set for trial (if that Friday is a court holiday, then the documents must be e-filed no later than the court day preceding the Friday holiday): e. proposed forms of verdict;

The rule does not specify general versus special verdict and does not require a joint form.

Unless the case is settled or dismissed, the following items must be e-filed no later than noon on the Friday before the date set for trial. The following items shall be served on all other parties no later than noon on the Friday before the date set for trial (if that Friday is a court holiday, then the documents must be e-filed no later than the court day preceding the Friday holiday): g. concise, non-argumentative statement of the case to be read to the jury if jury trial;

Two drafting constraints stated in the text: concise and non-argumentative. No word or page limit, and the rule does not say the statement must be joint. This is the only item in the list expressly conditioned on a jury trial.

Unless the case is settled or dismissed, the following items must be e-filed no later than noon on the Friday before the date set for trial. The following items shall be served on all other parties no later than noon on the Friday before the date set for trial (if that Friday is a court holiday, then the documents must be e-filed no later than the court day preceding the Friday holiday): h. trial briefs, and

Worth flagging on the tab: the trial brief carries the same "must be e-filed" verb as everything else in the list. No page limit, no required contents, no format is published.

Unless the case is settled or dismissed, the following items must be e-filed no later than noon on the Friday before the date set for trial. The following items shall be served on all other parties no later than noon on the Friday before the date set for trial (if that Friday is a court holiday, then the documents must be e-filed no later than the court day preceding the Friday holiday): a. in limine motions;

No separate in limine briefing schedule, page limit, opposition deadline or hearing date is published for civil. Rule 4.06 ("Motions at Trial") does set an in limine procedure, but Rule 4 is CRIMINAL and does not reach a civil trial. Rule 3.09 marked "(Rule 3.09 [1/1/12] amended January 1, 2024)." Drafting note worth knowing: the holiday parenthetical sits inside the SERVICE sentence but speaks about e-filing, so the text is ambiguous whether the service date also moves back. Treat both as moving back and calendar the earlier date.

Unless the case is settled or dismissed, the following items must be e-filed no later than noon on the Friday before the date set for trial. The following items shall be served on all other parties no later than noon on the Friday before the date set for trial (if that Friday is a court holiday, then the documents must be e-filed no later than the court day preceding the Friday holiday): i. proposed jury voir dire.

Proposed attorney voir dire questions, submitted in advance. No limit on the number of questions and no format is published.

The following documents CANNOT be accepted via E-Filing at this time: ... Civil Matters ... Administrative Records or other lodged documents ... Exhibits ... Notice of Jury Fees (pursuant to California Rules of Court 3.250)

Rule 1.14(G) is captioned "Documents Not Eligible for E-Filing" and says "For a complete list of documents which cannot be electronically filed, please consult the Court's website at https://www.stanislaus.courts.ca.gov/." The list on that page is therefore incorporated by the rule, not a stray webpage. The ellipses in the quotation stand for the other entries in the Civil Matters column, which are not trial items (abstracts, bonds, writs, subpoenas and the like). The token no_deadline_published means the court publishes the exclusion but no deadline or delivery method for the exhibits, so confirm with the assigned department. Note the jury fees entry too: a CRC 3.250 notice of jury fees also has to come in on paper.

No exhibit shall be received by the Court if the exhibit poses a security, storage, safety, or health risk, except as allowed by the judge in the interests of justice and as authorized by law. ... Prior to bringing any exhibit posing a security, storage, safety or health risk, including firearms and toxic or hazardous materials, into the courthouse or courtroom, the party intending to offer such exhibit shall give written notice to the clerk and the judge, and shall obtain the express advance permission of the judge to do so.

Rule 1.08 is captioned "Toxic and Hazardous Materials; and Firearms (Applies to All Civil and Criminal Cases)," so the civil reach is on the face of the rule. The ellipsis separates subdivision (A) from subdivision (B); both are quoted in full. Rule 1.08(F) adds seven items counsel must give the clerk before hazardous material comes in, including the technical and street names, container types and sizes, who transports and removes it, storage conditions, the spill remedy, and why physical presence is necessary at all. Rule 1.08(C) and (E) let the judge order such an exhibit returned before final determination, with the offering party supplying a photographic substitute. The token before_exhibit_enters_courthouse means the duty attaches before the item comes into the building, not at any calendared date. Rule marked "(Rule 1.08 [7/1/03, 1/1/22] amended January 1, 2024)."

This rule applies to all parties and attorneys who intend to submit electronic exhibits or evidence in any civil, criminal, family, probate, juvenile, or other proceeding. Any exhibit or evidence that is submitted in an electronic or digital format must comply with the following requirements: 1. The exhibit or evidence must be on a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, or Blu-Ray. 2. The CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, or Blu-Ray must be virus-free and not contain any malicious or harmful code. 3. Electronic exhibits or evidence may not be submitted on a writable storage device such as a flash or thumb drive.

Covers photographs, videos, audio recordings, documents "or any other type of electronic data," and it names civil expressly. The rule sets no deadline, hence the token. Plan on having the disc in hand at trial and confirm the handoff with the department. Rule marked "(7/1/24)."

During trial, a party may submit to the Courtroom Clerk and serve by hand any pleadings, as long as the pleadings are also filed electronically before the close of business no later than the following court day.

Operative only once trial has started. It does not relax the Rule 3.09 pretrial deadline, which is e-file and serve by noon Friday.

The Court may, after notice and an opportunity to be heard, impose sanctions on any attorney, party represented by an attorney, or self-represented litigant, who fails to comply with any of the requirements set forth in these Rules or the California Rules of Court.

The rule closes with a parenthetical citation to Code of Civil Procedure section 575.2 and California Rules of Court, rules 2.30 and 5.14, which is left out of the quoted sentence rather than paraphrased. Rule 3.05 and Rule 3.02(E) both invoke Rule 1.03 by name for settlement conference and case management conference failures. Rule 3.09 does not, so a Rule 3.09 default runs through this general provision. Rule 1.14(H) supplies a second hook for the same filings, since they are e-filed: a non-compliant document may be stricken, the hearing continued, or monetary sanctions imposed. Rule marked "(Rule 1.03 [1/1/19] amended January 1, 2025)."

If the parties wish to stipulate to new settlement conference and/or trial dates, the specific dates must be cleared in advance with the clerk of the department. Clearance of said dates does not mean that the stipulation will be approved by the Court.

Practical consequence for the trial document calendar: moving the trial date moves every Rule 3.09 deadline with it, since they all run off "the date set for trial," and it moves the MSC and its five court day statement deadline too. Rule marked "(1/1/13)."