{"courtSectionTextID":30,"courtID":23,"title":"Court Procedures","sectionText":"Table of Contents:
  1. Motions
  2. Nonsuits
  3. Deadlines
  4. Dockets
  5. Filing
  6. Temporary Injunctions
  7. Courtroom Equipment
1. Motions

1.1 Agreed/Unopposed Motions and Other No-Hearing Motions
The following motions will be presented to the Judge upon filing and may not need to be set for an oral hearing. If an oral hearing is needed, the Court will contact you. All other motion must be set for either an oral or submission hearing. If an agreed motion is denied without a hearing, you can request a subsequent oral hearing on the motion.

- Motions to Retain
- Motions for Substitute Service
- Motions to Appoint Guardian ad Litem (All other motions to appoint must be set for hearing.)
- Nonsuits
- Plaintiff's Motions to Dismiss
- Agreed/Unopposed Continuances (Exception: All continuances filed in cases older than 2 years must be set for an oral hearing.)
- Motions to Withdraw and Substitute Counsel (Only if the required signatures are present. See below for further information.)
- Motions to Extend TRO
- Agreed Expunctions
- Ex Parte Motions (Please label as ex parte in the title of the motion.)
- Agreed/Unopposed Motions (Please label as such in the title of the motion. Agreed motions must include the signature of counsel for all parties. Unopposed motions must include a certificate of conference.)

1.2 Emergency Motions

When requesting an emergency hearing, please either email the clerk or file a request for emergency hearing into the case file. If the motion itself includes “emergency” in the title, there is no need to file a separate request.

1.3 Continuances

Motions for Continuance should be filed as early as possible. Motions filed after receiving assignment from the trial coordinator will not be looked upon favorably. If counsel has a conflict with another trial setting, the motion for continuance will be held by the Court until the morning of this Court's trial assignment.

1.4 Discovery Motions

Always confer before filing any motion related to discovery and include a certificate of conference. Be sure to attach a copy of the discovery response at issue or state verbatim the request and answer in the body of your motion. Proposed orders should list each discovery issue separately.

1.5 Default Judgments

 All Motions for Default Judgment require either an oral or submission hearing. If you are requesting foreclosure or need to prove up damages, an oral hearing is required. Please contact the clerk and provide a rough time estimate for your hearing.

If the motion is seeking the foreclosure of a lien on real property, the following is also required:

- Notice of the hearing for default judgment must be sent to the defaulting party after service of citation pursuant to Rule 21a of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure and

- If there is a mortgage company that also holds a lien on the subject property, notice of the hearing for default judgment must be sent to the mortgage company.

1.6 Sanctions

 Sanctions should not be requested unless the opponent has violated a previous order. Instead, ask for reimbursement of your costs in the form of attorney fees.

If requesting an oral hearing on your motion for sanctions, please contact the clerk and provide a rough time estimate for the hearing.

1.7 Severances

Motions for Severance may be set on either the submission or the oral hearing docket. The motion must state the basis for the severance. The order of severance must contain the following:

- Style of Case;
- Proposed new case number / example 2006-00000-A;
- Parties to be included in the severed case;
- Each document to be included in the severed case along with the corresponding filed date and/or image number;
- Whether the severed case has a final order, is to remain active, or is to be abated; and
- The party paying for court cost of the severance.

1.8 Special Exceptions

Attach a copy of the pleading you are excepting to (unless the exception is only to the amount of damages sought) or state verbatim the paragraph you except to in the pleading. Proposed orders should list each exception separately.

1.9 Substitute Service / Service by Publication

 All proposed orders for substitute service or service by publication be in the format of the Court’s standard format. Please see the word documents linked below.

295th Standard Order for Substitute Service

295th Standard Order for Service by Publication

1.10 Summary Judgments

If you want an oral hearing on your MSJ, then you must file a notice setting same with your motion.

An MSJ, if set for an oral hearing, must be set 35 days after the motion is filed and before the expiration of 60 days from the date the motion is filed. In other words, the motion must be set between the 35th and 60th day after the filing of the motion.

If no oral hearing notice is filed by the movant, the Court will automatically place the motion on the submission docket on the first Monday after the expiration of 35 days.

A written notice withdrawing the MSJ must be filed before the motion can be reset.

If a written notice withdrawing the motion is not received prior to resetting the MSJ, the MSJ will be denied.

If the movant wishes to extend the setting deadline to 90 days, a rule 11 agreement must be filed into the case file.


1.11 Withdraw and Substitute Counsel

SUBSTITUTE COUNSEL

Both the withdrawing and substituting attorneys' signatures must be present on the Motion to Substitute or, alternatively, it must be set for a hearing. Either submission or oral would suffice. If you have included the required signatures on the motion and filed a proposed order, it will be present to the Judge without the need for a hearing.

WITHDRAW COUNSEL

Both the withdrawing attorney's and the party's signature must be present on a Motion to Withdraw or, alternatively, it must be set for a hearing. Either submission or oral would suffice. If you have included the required signatures on the motion and filed a proposed order, it will be presented to the Judge without the need for a hearing.

2. Nonsuits

Nonsuits are presented to the Judge upon filing without need for a hearing with the exception of cases involving minors. These must be set for an oral hearing. If the minor has reached the age of majority, an affidavit stating so must be filed with the nonsuit and a hearing is not required.

3. Deadlines

The oral Monday dockets close the Wednesday before at 12:00 pm noon. Your notice must be filed by this date. For emergency hearings, see above. 

Any responses, replies, sur-replies, etc. filed after the Thursday before at 11:00 am for a Monday oral hearing are unlikely to be considered by the Court prior to the hearing. The Court prepares diligently on Friday for the Monday docket.

4. Dockets

4.1 Submission

The submission docket is every Monday at 8:00 am with at least a ten-day notice. There is no need to reserve a date with the clerk for the submission docket. Simply choose an appropriate date and file your notice.

This is a no-appearance docket.

4.2 Oral 

Any party requesting an oral hearing should call or email the court clerk for a date and time. If a hearing is expected to take over 15 to 20 minutes, you should inform the clerk of your rough time estimate. The clerk will reserve a time for your hearing. This hearing will not be set on the Court’s docket until a notice of hearing is filed and accepted.

All notices must include the date and time of the hearing, the date that the motion(s) was filed, and the motion(s) to be heard. A party who sets a hearing and subsequently passes that hearing MUST notify all parties involved including the court.

All oral hearings are in-person.

4.3 Trial

See Trial Procedures


4.4 Dismissal for Want of Prosecution (DWOP)

The Dismissal for Want of Prosecution (DWOP) docket is a no-appearance docket. Please have any related motions, agreed orders, or nonsuits/dismissals on file prior to your DWOP date.

5. Filing

5.1 Proposed Orders

 Motions seeking a ruling should be filed with a corresponding proposed order. Responses should also be filed with a corresponding proposed order.

Proposed orders on motions to compel and special exceptions should delineate each item. 

5.2 Document Separation

All motions/responses/replies must be filed in a stand-alone document. All exhibits, proposed orders, and other attachments should also be in their own documents. However, they may all be filed in the same envelope with the motion/response/reply as the lead document.

5.3 Naming Pleadings

When filing documents, the exact name as it appears on the pleading is to be used. The name of the pleading appears on the search results or summary page for the case. To simplify the search results page, please limit the title of documents to no more than 10 words, unless additional words are absolutely necessary.

5.4 eFile Help Desk Contact Information

For assistance with the technical aspect of efile support at 855-839-3453 or efiling@hcdistrictclerk.com. For eFileTexas specifically, you can contact support@efiletexas.gov.

6. Temporary Injunctions

 Please contact the court clerk before your scheduled hearing. It is imperative that we know whether or not you are ready to proceed with the hearing and how long the hearing will take. If it is lengthy, we may need to reschedule your hearing (because of other hearings or trial) and extend the TRO until the court is available. Do not bring your witnesses to court until you have spoken to the court clerk!

7. Courtroom Equipment

Please see Courtroom Equipment

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