Collin County District Courts Adopt Amended Local Rules of Practice

The Collin County District Courts have adopted amended Local Rules of Practice. The complete revised rules are available here:

Local Rules of Practice for the District Courts of Collin County (PDF)

In particular, practitioners may wish to review revised Rule 3.1, Conference Requirement for Setting Hearings, which revises the procedures governing hearing settings and conference efforts. For convenience, the full text of revised Rule 3.1 is reproduced below:

(a) The Court may set a hearing on its own initiative at any time, with or without a request from a party, including in circumstances involving the inability of the parties to agree on a hearing date, a lack of response from a party, for docket management, compliance with Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 166a, or as otherwise deemed appropriate by the Court.

(b) Except as provided in subsection (a), parties shall make a good-faith effort to confer and obtain agreement on a hearing date before requesting that the Court set a hearing.

(c) A party may request that the Court set a hearing without agreement only after making reasonable efforts to confer with opposing counsel or self-represented party, which shall include at least two attempts to contact the opposing side using customary means of communication.

(d) Any request to set a hearing shall include a brief statement describing the efforts made to confer and whether agreement on a hearing date was reached.

(e) Nothing in subsections (b)-(d) modifies or waives the requirements of Rule 4.1.2 or 4.1.3.