TRIALS
A) Pretrial Orders/Exhibits/Motions in Limine
The Court requires the parties to actually exchange proposed Jury Charges, Motions in Limine, Exhibit Lists, actual exhibits, party/attorney lists, Witness Lists, and deposition excerpts BEFORE the Docket Call. The Trial Coordinator usually conducts the Docket Call by email and if necessary by telephone the Friday that is 10 days before the beginning of the two-week Trial Docket.
Please eliminate duplicate exhibits if possible by agreement. For over-sized exhibits, identify an 8.5 x 11 sized copy as an exhibit. Be prepared to advise Judge Aston of exhibit numbers for which you have no objection. Any exhibit related to a criminal conviction of any witness MUST be shared with opposing counsel NO LATER than Docket Call.
Please work diligently to hone your Motion in Limine to the issues in the case rather than a boilerplate “everything but the kitchen sink” motion. Then work with opposing counsel or pro se parties to narrow those issues by agreement. Prepare video deposition excerpts prior to trial, keeping the length as short as possible. Further, please edit the video depositions to remove long pauses between questions and answers, etc. This will save time in hearings and trial.
B) Depositions
Provide to opposing counsel deposition excerpts for any witness anticipated to testify by deposition PRIOR to the docket call. Opposing counsel must promptly advise of any objections. If objections remain, then the party seeking to exclude the testimony should file a motion to rule on the objections as soon as possible so that the court can promptly rule on the objections prior to Voir Dire. Separately, if there are “form” objections in the deposition transcript that cannot be agreed upon, the party seeking to overrule the objection should file a motion for a ruling on these objections.
C) Time for Trial
Be prepared to advise Judge Aston of a realistic amount of time necessary to present your case in chief and any lengthy cross-examinations.
D) Court’s Charge
Drafts of proposed jury charges should be exchanged PRIOR to the docket call date. Only when actually assigned to trial, the parties should make arrangements with the Trial Coordinator to e-mail their proposed charge to the court in Microsoft Word format so that the court may compile the court’s charge as the trial proceeds.
E) Findings of Fact/Conclusions of Law
In a non-jury trial, proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law MUST be filed prior to trial to enable the court to follow along during trial. Courtesy copies should be filed via e-mail to the Trial Coordinator in Microsoft Word format. These proposed findings and conclusions may, of course, be revised and filed subsequent to the trial as allowed by the TRCP.
F) Jury Panel
If you need a panel of more than 40 jurors, please let the Trial Coordinator know at trial docket call. If you need a panel larger than 60, please advise the Trial Coordinator at least 45 days before trial so that we may reserve the ceremonial courtroom.
G) Voir Dire
After the Voir Dire, individual jurors may be questioned at the bench if necessary to assist the court in deciding a for-cause challenge. If you are going to use a jury questionnaire, let the court coordinator know 30 days before trial. Please work together to prepare a joint questionnaire that is as brief as possible. If there are any questions not agreed on, present the questions to Judge Aston by submission or oral hearing PRIOR to the docket call.
H) Mediation
The court’s standard docket control order requires the parties to complete ADR. If you believe that your case is definitely not appropriate for mediation, file an objection to mediation as soon as practicable and put it on the submission docket. An agreed motion objecting to mediation will almost always be granted. An opposed motion may possibly cause the court to set the matter for oral hearing.
Throughout the pendency of a case, the parties, all counsel, and their agents or representatives shall comply with the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, and the Texas Lawyers’ Creed – A Mandate for Professionalism (as applicable). Counsel are expected to act professionally at all times. Violations of these procedures (or of other orders and/or instructions of the court) are punishable by contempt.
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