Tulare County trial binder and trial document requirements

Except for short cause cases, a trial readiness conference shall be heard before the assigned trial judge on the Friday prior to the date set for trial. Trial counsels are required to personally attend this conference.

Literal token friday_before_trial: the rule names a weekday, not a count of days, so the interval varies with the trial day. Personally attend is not the same as in person. It addresses who appears, the attorney who will try the case rather than a covering appearance, and the court runs a remote appearance program under local rule 108 and its remote hearings page. Whether the department takes this conference remotely is not stated in the rule, so ask the department. All three Visalia civil departments (1, 2 and 9) show Readiness Conferences Friday at 8:30 a.m. on the judicial assignments page. This is the only pretrial conference the civil rules attach to the trial date. Rule 611 carries an adoption date of 01/01/09 with no Revised parenthetical, so it has never been amended.

Matters to be considered at the readiness conference include jury instructions, exhibits, motions in limine, witnesses, and such other pre-trial matters as may be determined by the trial judge.

This sentence is the county rule's delegation clause. It names witnesses as a conference topic but imposes no witness list requirement anywhere in the civil rules. Verified: the phrase witness list appears twice in the whole rule book and both are rule 938(b)(1) in Chapter 9, Family Law. Rule 611(a)(4) separately requires that counsel "shall discuss matters to be addressed at the Readiness Conference" during the meet and confer at least five court days before trial.

Settlement conferences are mandatory in every case except trials de novo in small claims cases.

Cited without a subdivision because the sentence sits in unlettered text before subdivision (a). Rule 600(b) confirms the setting point by listing "the setting of a trial date and mandatory settlement conference date" among the things counsel must have authority to agree to at the case management conference. On the judicial assignments page, Visalia Department 2 calendars Settlement Conferences Thursday at 8:30 a.m. and Department 9 calendars them Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. Department 1 lists no settlement conference slot.

Counsel for each party must comply with California Rules of Court, rule 3.1380, and deliver to the civil calendar clerk and all other counsel, no later than 5 court days prior to the conference, a written statement including:

Five court days, which is tighter than the five calendar days in Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.1380(b), and the local rule expressly layers on top of the state rule. Do not e-file it: rule 606 says of these statements that "Since these statements are to be used by the court and counsel solely for the purpose of the settlement conference, they will not be filed in the action." Delivery is to the civil calendar clerk, not to chambers. A specific settlement amount may be included, and nothing in the statement is receivable in evidence. Cited without a subdivision because the chapeau is unlettered.

Contentions as to what counsel believes are the specific material facts. In a personal injury case, copies of the official accident report, all relevant medical reports, and a summary of expected medical testimony with identification of each witness must be attached;

The remaining four required elements are (b) legal and factual contentions set forth with particularity, (c) citation of authority for all legal contentions, (d) an itemized list of special damages, with an Employer's Wage Loss Statement attached if earnings loss is claimed or, if unavailable, a method of computation for claimed loss of earnings, earning capacity or profits, and (e) any other information helpful to the court. Subdivision (a) is the only place in the Tulare civil rules that requires a party to identify witnesses in writing, and it is limited to expected medical testimony in a personal injury case. Verified: witness appears only twice in the entire civil chapters, here and in rule 611(b).

Since any settlement requires the consent of all the interested parties, all interested parties or their representatives with authority to bind the parties must be present in the courtroom.

Unlike rule 611(b), this one does say courtroom, so physical presence is the requirement. The rule defines the standard: "'Full Authority' is defined as authority to pay the last settlement demand." A carrier can be excused only on prior written application and only where it has no California claims office or representative and has an authorized representative with full authority reachable by telephone during the conference. Both conditions, not either. Counsel attending must be completely familiar with the facts and the applicable law.

Counsel should be prepared to respond to the "Settlement Conference Check List" in Appendix 1 of these rules. A statement that the information required is unknown will be cause for imposition of sanctions unless good cause is shown for failure to respond.

This sentence is what converts Appendix 1 from a suggestion into something with teeth. Appendix 1 walks liability point by point, asks counsel to rate liability on a 0 to 100 percent scale (item 2.i), itemize present and future specials (items 3.b and 3.c), estimate the verdict range (item 3.g), and confirm the settlement figure was discussed with the client within one week of the conference (item 3.j). All verified in the appendix text.

Counsel shall prepare a joint binder of documentary exhibits, pre-marked, which the parties agree are admissible. These exhibits will be admitted in evidence at trial by stipulation.

This is Tulare's trial binder rule and it is two sentences long. It is joint, not per party, and its contents are limited to documentary exhibits with agreed admissibility. The rule publishes no tab scheme, no index requirement, no copy count, no paper or electronic specification, and no delivery date, place or recipient. Verified by sweeping every use of exhibit in the civil chapters: the only three are this subdivision, rule 611(b), and the CEQA rule 709(h). The payoff is the stipulation: what goes in the binder is in evidence without further foundation.

Petitioner must prepare two trial notebooks (one for the judge and one for the research attorney), which must be filed with the designated CEQA department 14 days before the date of the hearing. The trial notebooks must consist of the petition, the answer(s), the briefs, the statement of issues, and any other document(s) agreed upon by the parties.

The rule says 14 days before the date of the hearing; the merits hearing is the trial in a writ proceeding, which is why the trial_date anchor is used. CEQA mandamus only, and this is the only place Tulare specifies the contents, copy count, recipient and filing date of a trial notebook. It is the closest thing the court publishes to a conventional trial binder rule. CEQA petitions must be filed in the Visalia civil clerk's office and assigned to the designated CEQA department for all purposes (rule 709(a)). Rule 709 was last revised 01/01/26.

Additionally, each party must file an exhibit notebook which must contain only the pages of the administrative record to which they have referred in their briefs.

Offset see_rule because the 14 day deadline in the preceding sentence attaches to petitioner's two trial notebooks and the rule states no separate date for the exhibit notebook. This one is per party, unlike the trial notebooks. It also overlaps the separate appendix of excerpts each party lodges with its brief under rule 709(e).

In all civil cases, except short cause cases, counsel for all parties shall meet and confer at least five (5) court days prior to the date set for trial regarding the following:

This chapeau supplies the deadline for all four subdivisions that follow: jury instructions, trial briefs, the joint exhibit binder, and the readiness conference agenda. Calendar it off the trial date, not off the Friday readiness conference, which will usually fall later. The subdivisions state the obligations and the chapeau states the date, so treat the exchange as due by the meet and confer. Neither the rules nor the court's website defines short cause for civil purposes. Departments 1 and 2 calendar short cause matters without defining them; Department 9 does not calendar them at all.

All other proposed exhibits shall be identified, pre-marked, and exchanged.

The rule requires identification, pre-marking and exchange, not a filed or served written exhibit list. Do not borrow rule 938(c)(1), which does require an Exhibit List filed and served 10 calendar days out with an Omnigo Digital Portal alternative, because rule 938 sits in Chapter 9, Family Law Matters, and applies to family law evidentiary hearings. Confirmed by line position: Chapter 9 opens well before rule 938 and Chapter 10, Probate, opens after it. The rule is also silent on who assigns the exhibit numbers as between the parties.

If a jury has been requested, counsel shall prepare and exchange proposed jury instructions. Requests for special instructions not contained in CACI must be accompanied with appropriate citations of cases supporting the request. Counsel shall confer with a view to present joint agreed jury instructions at the readiness conference.

The obligation is to exchange between counsel and to present a joint set at the conference. No rule sets a date for filing or lodging instructions with the clerk, and no rule specifies format, copies or a separate set of disputed instructions. Verified by sweeping every jury instruction reference in the rule book: the only others are rule 112, omitted effective 01/01/09, and rule 808, which is Chapter 8 criminal and uses CALCRIM. Rule 112's omission is confirmed both in the rule text and in the rule modification table, which shows adopted 7/1/00, revised 1/1/07, OMITTED 1/1/09.

If no jury has been requested, counsel shall prepare and exchange trial briefs.

Read the subdivision against 611(a)(1), which is the jury branch. The two are alternatives: jury instructions in a jury case, trial briefs in a court trial. Verified that the phrase trial brief appears three times in the rule book and the other two are the optional family law form FAM-002 in the List of Local Forms. The rule says exchange, not file, and sets no content, length or format specification.

In cases estimated for five or more days of trial, counsel must file and serve at least five court days prior to trial date, all motions expected to be made prior to trial or during trial.

Two things practitioners miss. The rule is triggered by the trial length estimate, so it does not reach a case estimated at four days or fewer, and the rules publish no procedure for those. And it is not limited to motions in limine despite the rule title: it captures all motions expected to be made before or during trial. Check the estimate in the case management order before relying on the carve-out. Separate track for unlawful detainer: Standing Order 01-002 sets pretrial motions in UD actions three to seven days after filing.

The document must be properly captioned, must succinctly state the nature of the motion or evidence question with a citation to appropriate code or case law, and must set forth the specific trial court action requested and the facts relied upon to justify the request. An estimate of the time necessary for the hearing of such motions must be set forth on the caption page covering the motions.

The rule says properly captioned, not separately captioned. It does not require a separate caption for each motion and does not say whether the motions are filed as one document or several. The phrase "the caption page covering the motions" reads as contemplating a single cover document over a set, but Tulare publishes no answer, so ask the department. The time estimate on the caption page is the detail that gets missed.

All documents filed pursuant to these requirements must be filed with the superior court clerk with a separate copy directed to trial court chambers.

A chambers copy obligation independent of anything in the law and motion chapter, and the only chambers copy requirement in the civil rules. Separate conflict to note: rule 703 (Courtesy Copy to Research Attorney) reads "Omitted (7/1/2018)" in the rule book, while the court's Civil Division webpage still tells the bar that rule 703 requires a courtesy copy of all law and motion documents to research_attorney@tulare.courts.ca.gov. Both sources were pulled and they contradict each other. Rule 608(a) stands on its own regardless.

Failure to file and serve these motions at least five court days before trial may be deemed a waiver of the moving party's right to make such motions.

Permissive on its face ("may be deemed"), but it is the only express waiver consequence in the civil chapter and the most concrete risk in Tulare trial preparation.

All requests to determine evidentiary matters pursuant to Evidence Code section 402 which are anticipated to require more than a five (5) minute hearing shall be in writing and shall be scheduled for hearing such that they can be completed no later than the date set for the Readiness Conference.

This is an outer limit, not a filing date. The hearing must be completed by the readiness conference, so the moving papers have to be reserved and noticed well before it. Practical effect: a contested 402 issue must be identified and set weeks out, earlier than the five court day in limine deadline. Rule 301(a)(1) requires the moving party to clear and reserve the date with the calendar clerk.

Supply opposing counsel with copies of all medical reports and your itemization of special damages to date and future special damages at least ten days before settlement conference.

Appendix 1 is incorporated by rule 606(e) and appears in the court's own List of Local Forms, which is headed "(Mandatory Unless Noted Otherwise)." Both confirmed in the rules PDF. It is drafted as a preparation checklist, so whether the ten days is enforced as a hard deadline is not stated. Ten days is not qualified as court days. Treat it as the real outside date on medical records exchange, since rule 606(a) requires the same records attached to the statement five court days out anyway.

When all parties are present at the case management conference and a trial date and settlement conference dates are agreed to by the parties or ordered by the court, such presence is an effective waiver of a separate or formal notice of settlement conference and trial date.

The clerk issues the case management conference date at filing, no less than 120 days out (rule 600(a)(1)). Rule 602 records that the court deliberately eliminated the separate trial setting conference, so the case management conference is the only place trial dates get set. Rule 600(c) makes failure to attend it sanctionable up to waiver of jury trial and waiver of the right to object to an arbitration referral. Under rule 607(d) the parties must also notify the court of any event that would vacate the trial date.

Where there is more than one attorney in a firm, the unavailability of the particular attorney who intends to try the case will not be considered good cause for a continuance unless, (1) trial counsel is designated by giving notice to the court and to all parties within 30 days of the case management conference, or (2) all trial attorneys in the firm are in trial on the assigned trial date.

Literal token +30_days_after_cmc: this is the one civil deadline that runs forward from the case management conference rather than backward from trial, which is why it gets missed. The court states its own posture in rule 607(b): "It is the policy of the court to be extremely strict in granting continuances," and appearances are required on every trial continuance motion so a new date can be set.

THEREFORE, SUCH MOTIONS WILL BE HEARD NO LESS THAN THREE DAYS OR MORE THAN SEVEN DAYS AFTER FILING THE MOTION. (CRC 3.1320.) THIS STANDING ORDER IS APPLICABLE ONLY TO UNLAWFUL DETAINER ACTIONS.

Literal token +3_to_7_days_after_filing: the order states a window, not a single date. The order is printed at pages 117 to 118 of the local rules PDF, inside a STANDING ORDERS section at pages 115 to 121 that carries all eight standing orders reaffirmed effective July 1, 2026. It rests on Code Civ. Proc. section 1167.4 and the summary character of unlawful detainer. Unlawful detainer only. It does not change rule 608(a) in a general civil case, but a UD practitioner calendaring pretrial motions off rule 608(a)'s five court days before trial would be setting them on the wrong track.

Each party filing a brief must prepare and lodge with that brief an appendix of excerpts containing the documents or pages of the administrative record cited in that brief.

CEQA only. Lodged with the brief, so the deadline is the briefing schedule the court sets under rule 709(d), which ordinarily requires briefing completed within 90 days of the later of the record lodging and the request for hearing, with the hearing set to the extent feasible not more than 30 days after briefing closes.