Trial Procedures

All parties must be prepared for trial when placed on the trial docket. Generally, all cases placed on the trial docket are reached for trial.

MOTIONS FOR CONTINUANCE

Motions for Continuance must be filed in accordance with Local Rule 3.02 and must comply with Texas Rules of Civil Procedure 251, 252, 253 and/or 254. You may find the Tarrant County Local Rules here. To the extent of any conflict between the local rules and the rules set forth on this site, the rules on this site control.

An Agreed Continuance of the first trial setting in a case less than one year old will generally be granted. Contact the Court Coordinator as soon as possible if you believe you have an Agreed Continuance.

EXPERT WITNESS CHALLENGES

Objections to an expert witness should be filed on the Wednesday before trial so that the Court may conduct a hearing on the objection the Thursday before trial. This rule applies to all cases, whether set on Monday or Wednesday. Expert challenges which are not filed in a timely manner will be considered by the Court at its discretion.

TRIAL DOCUMENTS

Not later than the morning of trial the parties should file with Clerk, exchange and provide the Court:

  1. A Motion in Limine, if applicable (and determine which, if any, items require a Court ruling);

  2. An Exhibit List (and determine which items can be agreed upon and which require a Court ruling);

  3. A Witness List (so that parties may determine that witnesses were properly identified in a timely manner); and

  4. A proposed Jury Charge or proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law.

The proposed Jury Charge should be submitted to Shari Krieger at sjkrieger@tarrantcounty.com, the Court Reporter, not later than noon on the Friday (or noon on the Tuesday for Wednesday trials) by email or brought to trial on a flash drive and tendered to the Court Reporter not later than the beginning of voir dire.


Accessibility Notice: Due to the complexity of the source of the preceding document, it was created from scanned images. If you require assistance in accessing the information, please contact Shari Steen at 817-884-1916.