San Bernardino Superior Court Filing Rules

A Guardianship Questionnaire must be completed, signed, and filed with every probate guardianship petition.

Before the Trial Readiness Conference, counsel must meet and confer and attempt to stipulate to the authentication and admissibility of the exhibits.

The motion must state whether the settlement amount depends on class-member claims and whether any remainder reverts to defendants.

A proposed special verdict form is required when a party requests one.

The joint report must state whether the court should require electronic service, and counsel should advise the court of any preferred web-based electronic service provider.

An attorney making a first appearance in a juvenile matter after the rule's effective date must submit an initial Certification of Competency within 10 days after that appearance.

A motion seeking permission to mention other claims or actions must be served and filed as if the Trial Readiness Conference were the hearing date; an untimely or mid-trial motion requires a showing of good cause.

The enumerated trial documents must be filed at least five court days before trial.

Subsequent joint reports must be filed through the ordinary Clerk's Office process before the conference hearing.

At least five days before the Mandatory Settlement Conference, MSC Briefs containing the four CRC 3.1380 elements must be filed directly in Department S-25 and served on opposing parties.

Reply papers must be filed and served on every party at least two court days before the hearing, subject to the Rule 1650.1 extensions when personal service is not used.

The exhibit flash drive must be provided to both the clerk and the court on the first day of trial.

A motion seeking permission to reference other claims or actions must be served as if the Trial Readiness Conference were the hearing date.

Counsel must advise witnesses of applicable witness rules and the Court's motions-in-limine rulings.

Motions in limine must be filed directly in Department R14, with service completed at least eight days before the Trial Readiness Conference.

Exhibits must be premarked in numerical order and bates stamped at the bottom of every page, with former bates stamps removed.

Correction fluid or tape is prohibited on documents submitted for filing, and the Clerk may refuse such documents unless the Court orders otherwise.

Motions in limine must comply with Local Rule 415.

Parties must bring a three-ring Joint Trial Binder to the Trial Readiness Conference.

All exhibits must be digital and saved on a flash drive containing a table of contents for the court.

Participants should join the conference link five minutes early to discuss narrowing the issues with opposing counsel before the Court joins.

Before the IDC, the parties must meet and confer to impasse by phone or videoconference; the moving party must coordinate the meeting, and the opposing party must respond to a scheduling attempt within three business days.

A party must request an informal discovery conference with the court before filing a discovery motion.

Scheduling an Informal Discovery Conference stays the deadline for filing discovery motions in complex civil matters.

Before filing any discovery motion, the moving party must schedule a telephonic informal discovery conference with all parties and the Court.

Inquiries, disputes, or complaints about the Electronic Filing System may be directed to the Court Executive Office at the stated address.

Before the hearing, the completed reporter stipulation may be emailed to Department S33 at aaroyo@sb-court.org.

The Court Attendant may be contacted by phone at (909) 521-3701.

Anyone with questions should call or email Judicial Assistant Kristen Kosmatka at (909)-708-8851.

Questions may be directed to Judicial Assistant Sherri Scott by phone at (909)-285-3717 or by email at SScott@sb-court.org.

Courtesy copies generally must be delivered within one court day after electronic filing, but reply briefs must be delivered on the day the reply is due.

All courtesy copies must be one-sided and delivered to Department S35.

The Joint Exhibit Binder must include one witness set pre-marked with Court Exhibit tags and two copies for the court.

Courtesy copies of subsequent joint reports should be delivered directly to Department S17 so the department receives them timely.

The Joint Witness List must identify each witness, provide a brief description and time estimate, and include two courtesy copies provided to the clerk.

The court will not consider a continuance request unless all parties stipulate to it, and no additional papers may be filed after a tentative ruling posts.

Illness of a trial attorney or expert witness may support a continuance, but substitution may be considered based on timing, expected duration, case complexity, and substitute availability.

Unless a formal request is made at the Trial Readiness Conference, each party has three minutes for its mini-opening, subject to extension for good cause.

A party objecting to Judicial Reference based on economic hardship must prepare supporting financial documentation or request an extension at the discovery conference.

A continuance of the initial case management conference may be jointly requested by submitting a stipulation and proposed order directly to Department S-17 no later than five court days before the hearing.

A fax received into a computer file is governed as a fax filing and is not considered an electronically filed document.

Self-represented litigants may file ex parte pleadings electronically or directly in the courtroom.

Upon assignment to trial, but not before, the listed trial-readiness items must be submitted electronically with one courtesy copy delivered to the department.

Trial documents may be filed directly in Department S-36 or electronically, but fax filing is prohibited.

The IDC brief must be filed electronically.

An Answer to a Request for Informal Discovery Conference may not exceed two pages and must summarize why the requested relief should be denied.

Disputes exceeding the five-page IDC scope must be addressed across multiple IDC dates.

Mediation briefs are optional, but an elected brief may not exceed 10 pages, including all photos and exhibits.

Counsel should lodge, rather than file, a one-page statement identifying the issues in dispute.

The discovery-issue summary is limited to two pages.

Any provided trial brief must be included in the judge's working binder with the other trial documents.

At the Trial Readiness Conference, the parties must bring a three-ring Joint Trial Binder containing the listed pretrial documents when applicable.

Substantive discovery documents must not be submitted for the conference, although they should be available for reference, preferably electronically.

The parties should jointly submit trial-readiness documents, but may submit individual documents if they cannot agree.

The documents required for the Trial Readiness Conference are encouraged to be submitted jointly.

The superior court clerk must immediately file a received juvenile restitution order without charge, assign a new case number, and seal the new file.

The motion fee must be paid when the hearing reservation is made online.

The court may direct the clerk to seal sexually explicit material pending a further court order unsealing it.

Sealed-document filings must strictly comply with CRC rule 2.551 and the following provisions.