Tuolumne County trial binder and trial document requirements

A mandatory settlement conference is scheduled with each trial setting, except for matters on the short-cause trial calendar. An attempt is made to set the conference three (3) to four (4) weeks prior to the trial.

Offset token -28_to_-21_days means the court attempts to set the conference in the window 28 to 21 days before trial. The rule says "An attempt is made," not "shall be set," so the arithmetic is not a deadline. Form TUO-CV-175, par. 1, refers to "the Notice of Settlement Conference and Jury Trial served herein," so trial and MSC are noticed in one document that is case specific and not published. This is the only pretrial conference the civil rules create. Verified independently: the civil division carries no trial readiness conference, no final status conference, and no issue conference.

All persons whose consent is required to effect a binding settlement shall be personally present at the mandatory settlement conference. Any request to the Court to excuse attendance of any such person should be made in writing, no later than five (5) calendar days before the mandatory settlement conference, with copies to all other parties. A person excused from personal attendance by the Court shall be available for telephone communication with counsel at the time set for the mandatory settlement conference.

Five calendar days, stated in the rule. The four categories are subds. (a) through (d), verified. Subd. (a) reads "The attorneys who will handle the trial if the case is not settled; or an attorney in their place who is appraised of the facts and the law and otherwise prepared for the settlement conference." Rule 2.05.0 requires no written settlement conference statement and the court publishes no civil MSC statement form. Verified independently: the phrase "settlement conference statement" returns zero hits in the rule set.

Two (2) court days before trial commences, counsel shall deliver to Department 4 a binder containing copies of the following items: i Pleadings: Each party's operative pleadings (i.e., most recent complaint, cross-complaint, or answer), including attachments thereto. ii Statement of the case. iii Trial briefs from each party . . . iv Index of joint exhibits . . . v Witness lists for the Court's use . . . vi Expert witness disclosures.

This is the trial binder in Tuolumne civil cases and it exists only in this form. Verified independently: the words binder and notebook return zero hits across the entire 73 page rule set. TUO-CV-175 is "Form Adopted for Mandatory Use - Local Rules of the Superior Court of California, County of Tuolumne," but it is drafted as a judge signed order reading "are hereby issued in the above-referenced matter," so the obligation attaches when the judge issues it in your case. The ellipses compress subitems iii, iv and v, each quoted in full in its own row. The form names Department 4. TUO-CV-250 instead points counsel to "the Department 1 Trial Management Order." The court's published department chart shows Department 4 is Judge Campbell's misdemeanor and juvenile calendar and Department 1 is Judge Krieg's felony and juvenile calendar, while the civil calendars sit in Departments 2 and 5. Confirm the delivery department with the courtroom clerk. This binder is separate from the joint exhibit binders and the in limine binder, all three due the same day.

All exhibits to be used at trial, other than those to be used for impeachment or rebuttal, shall be pre-marked for identification. The Court prefers that the parties prepare a joint exhibit binder that contains the exhibits each side intends to use at trial. The exhibits should be designated by numbers and should not be referred to as "plaintiff" or "defense" exhibits. The parties should ensure that no duplicate exhibits are submitted. The parties shall provide three binders of exhibits: the original for the courtroom clerk, a copy to be kept at the witness box, and a copy for the judge. Two (2) court days before the trial commences, the parties also shall provide the Court with a thumb drive containing electronic versions of all joint trial exhibits.

The two court day deadline in this paragraph attaches by its terms only to the thumb drive. The paragraph fixes no delivery date for the three paper sets. In practice they go with everything else two court days out, since the index of joint exhibits is a required tab in the par. 8(b) binder on that date, but the form does not say so. Ask the clerk. Note the joint binder is phrased as a preference ("The Court prefers") while the pre-marking, the numbering and the three sets are phrased as requirements. Local rule 1.03.5 permits colored paper as an exhibit divider so long as the exhibit itself is not printed on it, and bars blue, goldenrod, green, pink and yellow, which are reserved for other uses in the court's files.

Trial briefs shall list all witnesses the counsel preparing the brief intends to call at the trial.

Same clock as the brief. Tuolumne has three separate witness list provisions on three different clocks: inside the trial brief at one court day (this row), standalone to the judge at one court day (rule 2.13.0), and served on the other side at three court days with the exclusion sanction (TUO-CV-175, par. 4). Build to three court days.

Not less than one (1) court day before trial, two copies of proposed jury instructions, witness lists and proposed voir dire questions shall be submitted to the trial judge by each party.

Rule 2.13.0 sets no content standard for the list. TUO-CV-175, par. 4 and par. 8(b)(v), tightens service to three court days and adds a content standard, expert and non-expert witnesses with a very brief statement of identity. Build to the form.

A list of all witnesses (expert and non-expert) to be called at trial shall be served upon opposing counsel or any unrepresented parties three (3) court days before trial, and three (3) copies of said list shall be presented to the trial judge at the first appearance in the trial department. Witnesses not listed may be excluded at trial.

Service on the other side is three court days out. The three copies go to the judge at the first appearance. This is the strictest of the three Tuolumne witness list provisions, tighter than rules 2.10.0 and 2.13.0, and it is the one with a stated sanction.

Witness lists for the Court's use: The lists shall include a very brief statement of identity (e.g., John Doe - registered nurse present during the surgery; Jane Smith - President of Widget Co.; Billy Jones - pedestrian bystander).

This is the binder tab version of the par. 4 list, on the par. 8(b) two court day clock, with an added content standard. The form's own examples use a hyphen between the name and the description. Nothing limits the description to the kinds of detail in the examples. Keep it to a clause.

Parties shall provide the Court with copies of demands for exchange of experts and the lists disclosing the experts.

Par. 5 states the duty with no date attached. Par. 8(b)(vi) reads in full "Expert witness disclosures." and puts them in the binder due two court days before trial, which is where the offset comes from. The court wants both halves of the exchange, the demand under Code Civ. Proc., section 2034.210 and the resulting designation, not just the designation.

Advance notice of witnesses and exhibits: Counsel shall inform each other and the Court, not later than the close of session each trial day, of the identity and order of each witness to be called by each attorney on the next trial day. Such disclosure shall not be required for impeachment evidence.

A daily obligation once trial starts, not a pretrial filing. Listed because it drives how a trial team stages witnesses. The paragraph heading says witnesses and exhibits but the text speaks only to witnesses. Par. 9(a) is the companion: counsel must have enough witnesses on hand to fill the entirety of each trial day. Par. 9(b) says the court will rarely let a witness be called out of turn absent emergency or exceptional good cause.

Index of joint exhibits: The index shall be in the form found online at http://www.lacourt.org/forms/pdf/LACIV216.pdf. The parties shall submit three (3) copies of the index to the Court at their first appearance.

The offset given here is the par. 8(b) binder date. The three hand-up copies are due later, at the first appearance in the trial department, which the form elsewhere calls the pre-trial conference on the first date of trial. Tuolumne borrows the Los Angeles exhibit list form and prints the lacourt.org URL inside its own mandatory form. The court does not host that form and I did not fetch it, so the LACIV216 number is reported exactly as TUO-CV-175 prints it and is unverified. This is the closest thing Tuolumne has to an exhibit list requirement and it is a joint document, not a per party list. Verified independently: exhibit list, exhibit index and index of exhibits all return zero hits in the rule set.

Admissibility (including authenticity and foundation) of documents, photos, or other writings or things: The parties' agreement shall be reduced to a written stipulation for filing. In the case of objections, counsel should bring copies of the exhibit to the pre-trial conference on the first date of trial and be prepared to argue admissibility.

Par. 8(a)(v) covers models and demonstrative evidence in parallel terms: "Counsel shall show each other or exchange these items, as well as meet and confer about them, on their own time. The parties' agreement shall be reduced to a written stipulation for filing." Offset varies because par. 8(a) attaches no date. This paragraph is where the form locates the pre-trial conference, on the first date of trial, the same occasion the form elsewhere calls the first appearance in the trial department. Par. 17 adds two in-trial rules: nothing is shown to the jury until all other counsel and the court have reviewed it, and no documentary or physical evidence is published until it is marked for identification on the record and received in evidence on the record.

Not less than one (1) court day before trial, two copies of proposed jury instructions, witness lists and proposed voir dire questions shall be submitted to the trial judge by each party.

Rule 2.13.0 is titled "Jury Instructions, Witness Lists, and Requested Voir Dire" and bundles three deliverables under one deadline. Each party submits its own set, two copies, to the judge. The rule says submit to the trial judge and does not say file with the clerk. TUO-CV-175, par. 6, is stricter: service on opposing counsel three court days before trial and submission to the judge at the first appearance in the trial department, with exclusion as the stated sanction. Build to three court days.

Counsel may make their requests by CACI number; however, those instructions shall be submitted fully prepared as set forth in California Rules of Court, rule 2.1055.

Subdivision (a) reads: "The Court will consider proposed instructions submitted by the attorneys for the parties, in addition to those contained in CACI." So special instructions are welcome, but a bare list of CACI numbers does not satisfy the rule.

Parties shall serve proposed jury instructions upon opposing counsel or any unrepresented parties three (3) court days before trial and also submit proposed jury instructions to the trial judge at the first appearance in the trial department. Jury instructions not timely served and presented may be excluded at trial.

Two steps, one clock. Service is three court days out. Submission to the judge is at the first appearance. The exclusion sanction is stated in the form. This displaces the one court day figure in rule 2.13.0 wherever the trial management order issues.

Jury instructions: The parties shall prepare a joint list of the proposed jury instructions on which they agree and those on which they disagree. The jury instructions presented to the Court shall be separated into labeled stacks (i.e., an agreed-upon stack; a stack, if any, of plaintiff's proposed instructions to which defendant objects; and a stack, if any, of defendant's proposed instructions to which plaintiff objects). The parties shall also provide the Court with an electronic version of the proposed jury instructions.

Offset corrected to varies. The form attaches no date to par. 8(a)(ii). The par. 8(a) lead-in sets the timing as "Prior to or during trial--and before addressing the issue with the Court." The earlier draft carried -3_court_days here, imported from the par. 6 service deadline, which is an inference rather than a stated deadline. Practical sequencing is unchanged: the stacks cannot be assembled until instructions have been exchanged under par. 6 at three court days, so plan around that date without treating it as this paragraph's deadline. Format of the electronic version is not specified here, though par. 8(a)(i) specifies Word for the motions and trial briefs. Rule 2.13.0, subd. (b), separately requires CACI requests be submitted fully prepared under California Rules of Court, rule 2.1055.

Verdict: Whether general or special and the proposed form thereof.

Offset varies because the par. 8(a) lead-in sets the timing as prior to or during trial and before addressing the issue with the court, with no fixed date. The verdict form is not a listed tab in the par. 8(b) binder and no local rule requires one to be lodged. In Tuolumne the verdict form obligation is a meet and confer duty, not a filing deadline. Verified independently: the word verdict returns zero hits across the entire rule set.

Statement of the case.

The form gives the tab three words. No content standard, no length limit, no direction whether it is joint or per party. Read against par. 7, which requires a brief joint statement of the facts at the first appearance, the working assumption is that the tab holds the same joint statement. The form does not say so. Confirm with the department. Verified independently: the phrase statement of the case returns zero hits in the rule set.

A brief joint statement outlining the facts of the case shall be presented to the Court by all parties at the first appearance in the trial department.

The event is the first appearance in the trial department, which the form elsewhere calls the pre-trial conference on the first date of trial (pars. 8(a)(iv) and 13). This is a joint document, so the drafting has to be negotiated with the other side well ahead of the trial date. Number of copies is not stated.

Trial briefs are required for all civil court cases. Briefs shall be submitted to the Court and opposing counsel no later than one court day preceding the date set for trial, unless the Court orders submission at an earlier date. Trial briefs shall set forth the issues to be tried and any significant evidentiary problems that are likely to be presented.

Rule 2.10.0 is one unsubdivided paragraph titled "Trial Briefs in Civil Cases." The phrase "all civil court cases" is ambiguous and could be read as civil bench trials only, since rule 2.12.0 is titled "Civil Non-Jury Trials." Do not rely on the narrow reading. TUO-CV-175, par. 8(b)(iii), requires a trial brief from every party in the trial binder for jury trials as well and pulls the practical deadline to two court days. Build to two court days wherever the trial management order issues. The rule sets no page limit, no table of contents or authorities requirement, and no chambers copy count, and no other civil rule supplies them.

Trial briefs from each party: At a minimum, trial briefs should identify the causes of action (or primary defenses) on which the party is proceeding, the causes (or defenses) the party is dismissing, and the relief the party seeks from the litigation. The trial brief also should include a summary of the facts in issue and a brief statement of what the party intends to prove in support of its claims (or defenses). The summaries should be sufficient to allow the Court to rely on them when ruling on the relevance and admissibility of evidence.

This is the operating trial brief standard in a Tuolumne civil jury trial and it beats local rule 2.10.0 on both content and timing. Rule 2.10.0 allows one court day and asks only for issues and evidentiary problems. This form requires two court days and a fuller document. A Word version of each trial brief also goes on the thumb drive that accompanies the motions in limine binder under par. 8(a)(i).

if a party wishes to read deposition testimony (or show video testimony) of a party or due to witness unavailability, counsel shall meet and confer on their own time and come to agreement to the extent possible on what will be read or shown to the jury. The parties' agreement shall be reduced to a written stipulation for filing. This rule does not apply to impeachment of a witness testifying in court.

Quoted from mid-sentence. The paragraph opens with the court's view of the subject, that fighting over deposition excerpts in front of the jury is "a huge and unforgivable waste of juror and court time." The printed form has a stray space before the comma after unavailability, silently closed in the quotation above. Offset varies because par. 8(a) sets no fixed date. The deliverable is a filed written stipulation, not a designation and counter-designation chart, and the form gives no filing deadline. Tuolumne publishes no page and line designation procedure and no objection schedule. Verified independently: the word deposition returns zero hits across the rule set.

Originals of all depositions shall be available upon request on the first day of trial.

Available, not lodged. Nothing is filed. Bring or be able to produce the sealed originals held under Code Civ. Proc., section 2025.550.

In limine motions: Prior to filing motions in limine, counsel shall have met and conferred with opposing counsel to see if a stipulation can be reached on the issue. In addition, counsel should review Kelly v. New West Federal Savings (1996) 49 Cal.App.4th 659, 669-677 and its progeny. Motions are to be filed and served five (5) court days before trial, with oppositions filed and served three (3) court days before trial. The parties shall make a joint list of all motions in limine filed by the parties and shall indicate whether each is opposed or unopposed.

Five court days for the motion, three for the opposition, a two court day turnaround. Calendar backward the moment the trial date is set. The local rules carry no civil motion in limine provision at all. The only in limine rule in the book, rule 7.05.0, sits in the criminal division and the alphabetical index lists it as the sole entry under that heading. The par. 8(a) lead-in requires counsel to meet and confer before raising any par. 8(a) subject with the court, prior to or during trial. The Kelly citation is quoted as the form prints it and was not independently verified in this pass.

The parties shall prepare a joint binder of motions in limine for the Court. The binder shall be indexed and present each motion followed immediately by the corresponding opposition, with tabs indicating each motion and opposition. A thumb drive containing all motions, oppositions, and trial briefs in Word format shall be included with the binder. Two (2) court days before trial, the binder shall be delivered to Department 4.

Joint binder, separate from the par. 8(b) trial binder and the par. 2 exhibit binders, though all three land the same day in the same department. Note the squeeze: oppositions are due three court days before trial and the assembled binder is due two court days before trial, so you get one court day to collate, index and tab. Word format is specified for the thumb drive, not PDF. Number of binder copies is not stated. The form adds that counsel should advise clients and witnesses about evidentiary in limine rulings and that "Counsel will be held responsible for any violations of rulings on motions in limine."

Not less than one (1) court day before trial, two copies of proposed jury instructions, witness lists and proposed voir dire questions shall be submitted to the trial judge by each party.

TUO-CV-175 describes a different mechanic for the same subject. Par. 12 uses a six pack method with six peremptories per side and says counsel "may, with due regard for the foregoing principles, provide the Court and all other counsel with a list of case-specific voir dire areas of examination" for the court to explore first, after which counsel may inquire further. Par. 13 caps each side at 45 minutes for the initial examination of the panel and 6 minutes per six pack replacement, and says more time "must be raised at the pre-trial conference," which the form places on the first date of trial. The par. 12 areas list is permissive. The rule 2.13.0 proposed questions are mandatory.

All long-cause trials will be called on the date set for trial in the courtroom of the department to which it has been assigned. Two calendar days preceding the date set for trial, trial counsel and pro per litigants shall call the department to which the case has been assigned for trial and inform the Court of the status of matter in regard to trial and settlement.

This phone call is the functional substitute for a civil trial readiness conference in Tuolumne. No hearing, no filing. Rule 2.09.0 has no subdivisions. Calendar days, not court days. Department direct lines published on the tentative rulings page: Dept. 1 (209) 588-2316, Dept. 2 (209) 588-2382, Dept. 3 (209) 588-2383. No direct numbers are published for Departments 4 and 5. Main civil line (209) 533-5555.

The Court strongly urges that cases set for jury trial be settled, if at all possible, no later than 1:00 p.m. of the court day preceding the trial date. If a case is settled and the department which has been assigned the case is not notified by 4:00 p.m. of the court day preceding the date set for trial, the parties will be assessed the cost of the entire jury panel summoned in such proportion as the Court deems just unless good cause is shown. Attorneys shall, during the week preceding the date fixed for trial of any of their cases, keep the Court advised as to the likelihood of settlement and any other factors, which affect the readiness of the case.

Two times on the same day. The 1:00 p.m. figure is a request. The 4:00 p.m. figure carries the jury panel cost, apportioned as the court deems just and excused on good cause. Rule 2.08.0 has no subdivisions.

Jury Deposit: In civil cases, other than unlawful detainer actions, the first days jury fee deposit of $150 must be received by the clerk's office no later than twenty-five (25) days prior to trial. In unlawful detainer actions, the first day's jury fee deposit of $150 must be received by the clerk's office no later than five (5) days prior to trial.

Received by the clerk's office, not mailed or filed, so build in transit time. Not stated as court days. Rule 2.11.0, subd. (a), adds that jury trials are set by the assigned department except in unlawful detainer, which is set by filing an at-issue memorandum (local form TUO-CV-150). Rule 2.07.0 separately provides that a jury demand is deemed made by plaintiff absent a written or in-open-court waiver, that plaintiff carries the deposit, and that under Code Civ. Proc., section 631, subd. (f)(5), failure to timely deposit waives jury trial and no jury will be impaneled.

A party requesting court reporter services from the Court for a civil matter shall file the request pursuant to California Rules of Court, rule 2.956 using local form TUO-CS-150. . . . The request shall be filed as soon as practicable in order to maximize the time available to the Court to arrange court reporter services. For civil trials, the request shall be filed no later than 10 court days prior to the commencement of trial. If the Court is unable to arrange court reporter services in the time between the filing of the request and the commencement of the proceedings for which court reporter services are requested, the proceedings may be continued to a different date in order to allow the Court additional time to arrange court reporter services.

The ellipsis skips the fee waiver sentence, which gives a party with a Gov. Code section 68631 waiver an official reporter at no charge. Subdivision (a) states flatly: "The Court does not normally have the services of official court reporters available for civil trials or civil law-and-motion matters," and its standing department assignments are all criminal or juvenile. TUO-CV-175, par. 1, repeats the point and cross-references this subdivision. A late request can move your trial date, which is the sharpest edge here. TUO-CS-150 is mandatory, revised March 1, 2024. Separately, the court's court reporter web page sets per diem deposits of $400 pro rata for a hearing over one hour and $800 pro rata for one over four hours, payable at the civil division with the TUO-CS-150. That figure is on a web page, not in the rules, so confirm it with the clerk.

When cases are set for trial, counsel shall obtain the Department 1 Trial Management Order from the Court.

This is the delegation point and the single most important practice step in this county. The binder rules, the in limine schedule and the witness and instruction deadlines all live in a trial management order, and this standing order puts the burden on counsel to go get it. Unresolved conflict: TUO-CV-250 names a Department 1 trial management order while the published TUO-CV-175 names Department 4 as the binder delivery point, and no Department 1 specific order is posted anywhere on the site. The court's published department chart adds context both ways. Department 1 is Judge Krieg's felony and juvenile calendar, Department 4 is Judge Campbell's misdemeanor and juvenile calendar, and the regular civil calendars sit with Judge Carrillo in Department 2 and Commissioner Moiseyev in Department 5. So neither reference matches a standing civil department. Ask the clerk. TUO-CV-250 is also styled for cases assigned to Hon. Kevin M. Seibert, who does not appear on the court's current published bench roster, so its continuing force is uncertain even though it is still posted as a mandatory form revised January 3, 2023.