Contra Costa Superior Court Filing Rules

When bond is required, the report must state the controlled personal property’s current value, estimated annual income, net saleable real-property value, and applicable guardianship or conservatorship public benefits and recipient identity.

A request under California Rules of Court Rule 3.1540 for additional questions to be put to jurors must be in writing and lodged at the first appearance for trial.

Each exhibit-list entry should identify only admissible evidence and describe the evidence individually rather than by a collective category.

Every exhibit must indicate stipulated admissibility or list the opposing party’s admissibility objections.

Each witness-list entry should include a brief statement or offer of proof summarizing the witness’s anticipated testimony.

Present and contingent beneficiaries of a trust must receive notice when the trustee is a beneficiary of the will and the trustee is the proposed personal representative.

Objections to discovery or deposition material offered at trial must be served in writing by the Court Day Before Trial Deadline.

Seven days before trial, parties must serve and file a list identifying all non-expert witnesses.

An opposition or other response to a motion in limine must be served at least four calendar days before trial.

The designated video-deposition or transcript portions must be provided in writing to opposing counsel one month before the Issue Conference.

For a probate matter, a court-provided reporter request is timely if received by 4:00 p.m. on the preceding court day.

The parties must file and serve a witness list at least five calendar days before the Issue Conference.

Audio or visual presentations must be tested before use before the jury, and written objections must be submitted to the court at least two court days before trial.

Final designations of interrogatory responses, RFAs, or other discovery materials presented to the jury must be filed no later than the Pretrial Conference.

The court will accept late documents only for good cause, and noncompliance may result in sanctions or a trial delay.

An untimely court-reporter request does not by itself justify a continuance unless good cause is shown.

When parties agree to continue a hearing, they should file the appropriate stipulation and order well before the hearing date.

Reasonable court costs are allowable.

The Court may refuse to consider a pleading that fails to comply with applicable form or page limits.

Each motion-in-limine courtesy-copy binder must contain an index of its papers.

Department 16 prefers electronic or digital copies of referenced pretrial documents, downloaded onto a thumb drive and properly indexed for the Court's access.

The electronic exhibit-list submission must be formatted as a Word document.

Exhibit numbers must not be duplicated across plaintiffs, defendants, or joint exhibits.

Beginning November 27, 2023, electronic filing is permitted but not mandatory in criminal and juvenile delinquency cases.

The Court prefers digital documents, discourages paper documents unless necessary, and may excuse electronic exhibit preparation for parties unable or unskilled in preparing electronic copies.

The exhibit list must be submitted to the court in both hard-copy and electronic Word-document form.

Counsel must electronically file the required exhibit and witness lists by the first day of trial, with only one list required when a stipulated joint list exists.

Required Papers should not be submitted to Department 34 by email unless the Court expressly directs that method.

A review-hearing update must be filed and served at least two weeks before the hearing unless the Court sets a different deadline, and the update may not exceed five pages.

A closing trial brief may not exceed 20 pages unless the court grants leave.

The trial brief must be filed and served and may not exceed 20 pages.

The joint letter brief submitted for a pre-trial discovery conference may not exceed five pages.

Petitions for involuntary medication and related supporting or opposing documents may be filed under seal in an envelope marked “Confidential.”

Juvenile motions must be in writing, be heard before jeopardy, and ordinarily be heard at least five court days after notice unless the Court orders otherwise; the moving party must clear the hearing date with the juvenile court clerk before filing.

At the conclusion of the conference, the parties may resolve the dispute, agree not to object to a court order resolving it, or proceed to a formal discovery motion if no resolution is reached.

The parties must meet and confer about the trial exhibits at the Advance Trial Conference.

A written concern must be signed, include a return address, and be directed to the Court Executive Officer.

Questions about the location of a scheduled Settlement Conference should be directed to the Department 34 clerk in advance.

Parties must notify the court as soon as possible about scheduling problems involving a witness, interpreter, party, or lawyer.

Parties must make an appointment with the Court Clerk at the listed telephone number.

Courtesy copies of remote-appearance requests or oppositions must be filed with the court department.

One courtesy copy of the Other Persons List must be lodged at the first appearance for trial.

The Court accepts courtesy copies of physical-paper exhibit binders, but they are unnecessary when electronic copies are provided on thumb drives.

Courtesy copies of pre-trial motions are generally not required, except as otherwise outlined in the order.

An electronic courtesy copy of the trial brief must be sent to the stated Department 14 email address.

The Court prefers to determine fiduciary and related attorney fees when it reviews the fiduciary’s accountings rather than through separate fee petitions.

Papers for uncontested motions in limine may be omitted from the binders, and such motions may be noted on the binder index.

Parties should not separately submit identical exhibits and should use the same numbering for each identical exhibit, defaulting to Plaintiff's numbering.

All motions in limine are encouraged to be consolidated into one submitted document.