Western District of Texas Local Rules and Judge Filing Requirements

Unnecessary discovery or delay may result in sanctions.

Defendant must serve preliminary invalidity contentions 7 weeks after CMC with specific content requirements.

Preliminary/ intermediate status conferences after scheduling order; final pretrial conference 10 days before trial

Objections to exhibits must be disclosed with grounds 7 days before trial; undisclosed objections waived unless good cause shown.

If the parties use the pretrial checklist, both counsel must sign it and file it.

Parties should direct inquiries to the Court’s law clerk by email, which is the preferred contact method.

Notify law clerk immediately when contested motion is resolved

Agreed modifications approved at case start; multiple requests require hearing with good cause.

Notify Sylvia Ann Fernandez before hearing/trial about needed equipment

Parties must notify court ahead of time when using deposition testimony by agreement without witness unavailability.

Proposed jury instructions with disputes must be submitted in editable form with disputed text color-coded red and blue.

Each volume of a multi-volume appendix must have a cover page, a table of contents covering the entire appendix, and items preceded by slip sheets.

Only water bottles permitted at counsel table; no other beverages allowed.

Court accepts electronic trial exhibits for JERS system.

There is no automatic overall limit on participating attorneys, but only one attorney may examine a given witness and make cross-examination objections for that witness.

For disputes about extensions of time and similar procedural issues, the Court prefers use of this discovery-dispute procedure.

Trial date modification requests must be in writing with opposing counsel conference required.

Stipulated extensions are not permitted.

In criminal cases, parties may stipulate to extensions of time that do not affect other pretrial dates, filing the stipulation with the court instead of a motion and order.

Case dismissal for want of prosecution after 90 days without service.

Case-management motions under Local Rule CV-7 are subject to a 10-page limit, including listed examples such as stay, continuance, and amendment motions.

Defendant's opening brief page limit is 20 pages for 1–2 patents, 30 pages for 3–5 patents, and 30 pages plus 5 pages per patent over 5, capped at 45 pages.

Replies to dispositive motions limited to 10 pages.

Opening statements in criminal cases are typically limited to 20-30 minutes.

Opening statements in criminal cases typically given 15-20 minutes depending on case complexity.

Coordinate expedited criminal hearing motions with Courtroom Deputy Virginia Cabrera.

Meet and confer required before dismissing indirect/willful infringement claims.

The court does not accept briefing beyond motion, response, and reply.

Scheduling matters in civil cases must be requested by motion.

Before seeking dismissal of indirect or willful infringement claims before fact discovery, a party must meet and confer about dismissing the allegations without prejudice.

After the filing deadline, a movant must show good cause for delay and seek leave of court.

Unless the Court orders otherwise, discovery must be completed within six months after the Rule 26(f) Conference.

The parties are expected to submit the listed pretrial materials two weeks before the final pretrial conference or, if none is set, before trial.

Ex parte criminal submissions cannot be withdrawn, amended, or revised without a corresponding docket entry.

The removing party must submit an advisory answering the listed questions within seven days.

Parties only provide Judge and law clerk copies of exhibits forming the basis of a dispute during jury trials if the Court needs to examine them; Court personnel generally do not require personal exhibit copies.

Two sets of exhibits for judge and one set for witnesses are required.

Courtesy copies of filings are never required.

Unless the parties agree otherwise, the Plaintiff must provide the electronic copies via Box.

Courtesy copies are required only when requested by the Court.

Both junior and senior lawyers may argue motions together.

After a motion is ripe, a party seeking oral argument by a Newer Attorney should contact the courtroom deputy and identify the attorney and intended scope of argument.

Court will allocate additional time for oral argument by newer attorney.

Request oral argument for newer attorney by contacting courtroom deputy after motion is ripe.

Non-confidential exhibits should not be filed under seal

Parties may file unredacted documents or a reference list under seal with specified heading if full personal data identifiers are required; reference lists may be amended as of right and apply to civil and criminal cases.

Entirely nonconfidential exhibits should not be filed under seal.

Patent cases presumptively require protective order for confidential information.

When moving to seal appendix materials, divide into public and sealed volumes with separate pagination and table of contents requirements.

Counsel must provide the Courtroom Deputy copies of all depositions to be used as exhibits at least 14 days before the final pretrial conference.

Rule 4 applies to service of process in a civil action after removal from state court.

Unless excused by the Court, motions requiring service under statute or rule must be served on all parties and may be served through CM/ECF.

Seven weeks after the CMC, the Defendant must serve preliminary invalidity contentions containing the specified prior-art chart and identifications.

Written objections to the Presentence Investigation Report should be sent to the Probation Officer.

The parties should submit agreed jury instructions jointly; disputed instructions should be submitted separately with supporting citations to controlling authority.

Exhibits must be submitted by judge-set deadline or will be returned.

Court prefers to manage related patent cases as a group.

The parties must jointly complete one document containing the specified information, obtain signatures from participating parties or authorized representatives, and have the plaintiff file it.

A party seeking HSD designation must electronically file a sealed motion and proposed order using the specified event, but must not electronically file the proposed HSD.

Pro se litigants not authorized to e-file are exempt from this standing order.

The parties must exchange initial disclosures but must not file them with the Court.

The required supplement must be filed electronically.

IFP applications are referred to a Magistrate Judge for disposition of the fee waiver, appointment of counsel, and e-filing permission, with a recommendation on dismissal under §1915(e)(2).