Superior Court of Fulton County Filing Rules

Counsel may use electronic devices for voir dire questions but must bring a paper copy of all anticipated general and individual voir dire questions to court as a backup in case electronic use interferes with jury selection.

Petitions to Withdraw must comply with U.S.C.R. 4.3 and state that written notice was given, ten days have expired, no objection exists, or withdrawal is with client's consent.

Expert notice must include a meaningful summary of the expert's testimony and the expert's qualifications.

Discovery extension requests must include current and proposed deadlines, discovery conducted, requested extension, and a schedule of outstanding discovery.

Proposed voir dire questions must be filed with the Clerk of Court, and parties need only submit additional questions beyond the Court's general ones.

Parties must email a fully consolidated pre-trial order to Senior Staff Attorney Elizabeth Suh by the scheduling order deadline.

Counsel should avoid telephoning chambers except in exceptional circumstances.

Parties should not contact various chambers staff seeking a different answer, except for conflict letters per Section 4.

The Court must be immediately notified of any problem or dispute that could delay deadlines.

Matters pending before Judicial Officer Ashley Baker Osby are handled by Litigation Manager Cathy Robinson.

Parties must notify the GAL of a desire for a Report no later than 45 days before the hearing or final trial date.

Opposing parties may file a response within 30 days of the initial motion for non-evidentiary motions.

Untimely motions improperly cast as motions in limine will not be permitted after the Motions Due Date deadline absent a showing of just cause.

Motions to compel discovery must be filed immediately after the discovery deadline passes and no later than the motion filing deadline.

If no motions requiring a hearing are timely filed with courtesy copies received in Chambers, the case will not be placed on the Motions Hearing Calendar or afforded a hearing.

Requests for continuances must be in writing and are granted only for legal excuses.

The Court will entertain a continuance of sentencing on good cause shown by either party.

Requests for extension of the discovery deadline must be a written motion filed by the deadline, including a detailed factual explanation, time needed, and a proposed order.

Continuances are granted only upon a showing of good cause.

Requests to extend discovery deadlines are granted only when exigent circumstances exist.

Even when delivering courtesy copies, parties must still separately and timely serve and file the motion or other related filing with the Clerk's office.

Proof of service of the initial petition must be filed within 60 days of case filing, or dismissal may result unless diligence is shown and court leave granted.

Each party must submit and serve mandatory discovery documents by the 30-Day Status Conference; willful failure may result in dismissal.

Bond motions must be served on the State.

Parties must exchange mandatory discovery at or before the 30-Day Status Conference.

E-filing is mandatory for all civil cases except specified case types and pleadings.

Exhibits must be scanned individually and emailed to the court reporter due to eFileGa size limits.

All transcripts and accompanying exhibits must be e-filed by the court reporter.

All bond motions must be filed with the Office of the Clerk of the Superior Court.

Parties must provide exhibits in digital form.

For Judge Benton cases, physical copies of trial exhibits must be delivered to the Court 24 hours before trial unless the Court directs otherwise.

Motions requiring a hearing must be timely filed with emailed courtesy copies received by Litigation Manager Seneca McRae, or the motions will not appear on the hearing calendar and will not be heard.

Courtesy copies of the listed e-filed motions before Judicial Officer Osby are coordinated with Litigation Manager Cathy Robinson.

Courtesy copies of any motion or pleading requiring the Court's attention, including exhibits, must be emailed directly to Chambers.

Email copies of every motion and notice to chambers in addition to e-filing.

PATTERN jury charges must be listed on a single cover page, numbered and identified by title and paragraph, with only the charge name and paragraph number submitted and no charge text.

Motions, proposed orders, and other submissions must be double-spaced, except in block quotations and footnotes.

Motions and pleadings e-mailed to the Court must be in PDF format.

Proposed orders must be in Microsoft Word format.

Proposed orders should be emailed to the staff attorney in Microsoft Word format.

Each side is limited to 15 non-pattern jury charges unless written leave to file more is obtained from the Court.

Responses to discovery motions are limited to 10 pages.

Responses to discovery motions are limited to 10 pages, double spaced.

Briefs and responsive briefs are limited to 25 pages, excluding exhibits, unless the Court grants written permission to exceed.

Briefs and responsive briefs are limited to 25 pages (excluding exhibits), unless written permission is obtained; exceeding may be requested informally by email.

Parties must confer before the motions hearing date to attempt to narrow or resolve issues by agreement and to discuss plea possibilities versus proceeding to the motions hearing and trial.

The Court may sua sponte appoint a Special Master for frequent discovery disputes, with costs apportioned among parties.

Parties must confer before the Motions Hearing Date to narrow or resolve outstanding motions and discuss the State's offer and the Defendant's plea or trial decision.

The Court encourages (but does not require) parties to request discovery, pre-trial, or settlement conferences with specific goals, and will meet in chambers, in court, or by phone.

Parties must confer before the Motions Hearing Date to determine whether outstanding motions can be narrowed or resolved and to discuss the State's offer and the defendant's desired course.

Usage and convenience fees for eFileGA are waived for self-represented litigants filing at a public access terminal.

Filing fees apply to all e-filing transactions.

Filing fees apply to all e-filing transactions.

Filing fees apply to all e-filing transactions.

Filing fees apply to all e-filing transactions unless the filer qualifies as indigent.

Omnibus and generalized motions are prohibited and will be denied as vague and dilatory.

Individual submissions of pre-trial order portions are prohibited unless accompanied by written certification of good-faith efforts to consolidate.

Each motion must be filed separately; omnibus motions are prohibited.

Each motion in limine must be a separate document and attachment to the email.

Each motion in limine must be a separate document, not combined with other motions.

Sealed documents must be manually filed in paper with the Clerk along with a sealing order, and a Notice of Filing under Seal must be e-filed (or included with the larger document if the sealed item is an exhibit).

Witness lists e-filed may have lay witnesses' dates of birth and contact information redacted, but that information must still be provided in confidence to opposing counsel.

Documents are ordinarily not truly confidential unless they constitute trade secrets, personal identifying information, or personal health information.