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Court procedures of the Third Division of the Texas Business Court (Austin; Divisions 3A and 3B, rev. July 2026), supplementing the TRCP and the Business Court Local Rules: a joint proposed scheduling order on the division's form followed by a scheduling conference, status and pretrial conferences, Bates-numbered productions, protective orders that cannot supersede TRCP 76a, BCLR 4 discovery motions with the requests and responses attached, a table of contents beyond 3,000 words, a redact-then-seal procedure for protected information with a 5-day window to move to seal under Rule 76a (and TUTSA sealing under § 134A.0065), settings by notice of written submission on 21 days' notice or by email request for an oral hearing with three agreed dates, 3-business-day limits for motions to reschedule, timed trials, proposed judgments within 5 days of a verdict or bench ruling, and agreed motions for settlement-based extensions. Posted on the txcourts.gov Third Division page; not registered in TOPICs, which carries only the division's forms.
Texas > Business Court, Third Division (Austin) > all cases assigned to Division 3A (Judge Melissa Davis Andrews) or Division 3B (Judge Patrick K. Sweeten); case manager Erin Hurley, erin.hurley@txcourts.gov, (512) 463-1589. Supplements the TRCP and the Local Rules of the Texas Business Court (BCLR). Procedural information only; not legal advice.
CONTACT: the division's case manager (Erin Hurley, erin.hurley@txcourts.gov, (512) 463-1589) takes questions and hearing settings; court information, rules, procedures, and forms are on the Business Court's website. CASE MANAGEMENT: the BCLR require the parties to confer on and jointly file a "Proposed Scheduling Order" on the Third Division form; "The Court will set a scheduling conference, after which it will issue a Scheduling Order"; status conferences are set as needed — "Issues causing delay should be brought to the Court's attention promptly, after reasonable efforts to resolve the issue without court intervention"; the Scheduling Order sets a deadline for a "Proposed Pretrial Order" on the division form, followed by a pretrial conference and a Pretrial Order. DISCOVERY: limitations and deadlines are governed by the Scheduling Order, the TRCP, and the BCLR; "All documents produced must be marked with a unique Bates Number"; the parties "must make a serious and reasonable effort to agree on any requested protective order" (example orders are posted and may be used, modified, or replaced), and "A protective order cannot supersede TRCP 76a"; discovery motions comply with BCLR 4 unless exempted — motions to compel and BCLR 4 letters "must attach the discovery request and any objection or response to the request" and should identify the claim or defense elements aided. MOTION PRACTICE: filings with more than 3,000 words (excluding the caption, tables, signature blocks, certificates, indices, and exhibits) "should include a table of contents"; response and reply deadlines follow BCLR 5 and the TRCP unless the Court orders otherwise, and a joint motion for an agreed briefing schedule may alter them. PROTECTED INFORMATION (with Local Rule 9): the filing party e-files a redacted copy "that redacts the Protected Information only" (an exhibit is redacted in its entirety only when all or substantially all of it is confidential) and simultaneously serves the unredacted version on counsel for all parties under the governing protective order or confidentiality agreement; "All parties have 5 days after the date of filing to move to temporarily or permanently seal the Protected Information under TRCP 76a" — absent a timely motion the filing party e-files the unredacted version, and otherwise waits for the ruling and files under seal or not as the Court directs; motions to seal comply with Rule 76a, including public notice posted at least 14 days before the hearing with copies to the clerks of the Business Court and the Supreme Court of Texas (TRCP 76a(3)–(4)); in camera submissions under BCLR 9(b) do "not create a court record and cannot circumvent" the redact-then-seal process; trade-secret sealing in TUTSA actions follows Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 134A.0065 and BCLR 9. HEARINGS AND SUBMISSION: "Orders on unopposed motions may be entered without the necessity of a setting. Opposed motions must be set for oral hearing or written submission before a party is entitled to a ruling"; a notice of written submission specifies a submission date "at least 21 days after the date of the notice" (longer where the TRCP require more notice), and a party receiving one may request an oral hearing instead by emailing the court manager and all parties within 3 days; an oral hearing is requested by email to the case manager and all other parties giving three dates on which all parties are available at least 21 days after the motion was filed, the in-person or remote preference, and the expected duration (a party that hears nothing from another party within 3 business days identifies the non-responding parties in its request); the Court may set matters sua sponte; when a motion requires action in less than 21 days, the movant may email the court manager, copying all parties, for an expedited setting and shortened briefing; motions to reschedule a hearing are filed "within 3 business days after the date of the notice of hearing," and opposed motions to continue, cancel, or reschedule "must demonstrate good cause and be supported by evidence of same." TRIAL AND SETTLEMENT: "Trials will generally be subject to time limits"; unless otherwise ordered, "within 5 days after a jury verdict or notice of the Court's rulings in a bench trial," the parties file either a single proposed judgment agreed as to form or competing proposed judgments (a hearing on the form may be requested); extensions of deadlines or settings based on settlement or settlement negotiations are sought by agreed motion.
In addition to the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure (TRCP) and Business Court Local Rules (BCLR), the following procedures apply to cases in the Third Division of the Texas Business Court. These procedures may be updated from time to time.
Reviewer note: Composed 2026-09-07 (completeness fix F8) from the txcourts.gov Third Division posting (5 pages, text layer read in full; the page dates it "rev. 7.26" and the file name 72026 — July 2026, day not stated, so no effective_date is asserted). Division-wide (Judges Andrews and Sweeten), so bound to the Third Division court row rather than to one judge.
6 verbatim requirements on divisional requirements in GIUSEPPINA MIRANDA's division.
4 verbatim requirements on divisional requirements in HILARY CREARY's division.