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The court-wide local rules adopted by all ten Business Court judges (eff. July 1, 2026), supplementing the TRCP in the statewide Business Court: bench exchange and administrative-presiding-judge docket re-assignment (trials stay in the division absent agreement; the assigned judge's forms and division practices govern); deemed consent to supplemental jurisdiction absent a severance motion or objection within 30 days; consolidation motions in the first-filed case; the mandatory Case Information Sheet and counsel-of-record mechanics with eFileTexas e-service subscription; scheduling orders proposed jointly within 30 days of first appearance or removal/transfer, accompanied by corporate-disclosure statements (14 days for later-joined parties; governmental entities exempt); the discovery-dispute prerequisite (good-faith resolution attempt, then a summary letter capped at 700 words with a 300-word conference certificate, a 7-day 700-word response, no replies without leave, and court-directed next steps) with cost-shifting statements; motion word limits (discovery 3,000 / replies 1,250; all others 7,500 / replies 3,000, with compliance certificates), 10-day responses and 7-day replies, pinpoint citations, unopposed labeling, conference certificates for all but dispositive motions, 10-day written-opinion requests, and summary-judgment written submission on the last business day before the 60th day after filing; mediation referral and immediate settlement notice; emergency-relief mechanics (clerk notification, proposed order, and a 2-hour pre-hearing certificate of grounds or notice); removal practice (TRCP deadlines unchanged, certified copies, re-filing of pending motions, filing in the operating division containing the removal county); sealing practice (redaction-first, in-camera delivery by secure link or Case Center, TRCP 76a, sensitive-data indicator does not seal); and miscellaneous rules — pro hac vice continuity after removal, vacation letters up to four weeks, the ARTIFICIAL-INTELLIGENCE accountability clause (use not prohibited; the filing attorney or party is independently responsible for accuracy and must comply with TRCP 13 and CPRC chs. 9–10), deemed consent to remote proceedings absent a 3-business-day objection, and amicus-brief leave with required disclosures.
Texas > the Business Court (statewide; Tex. Gov't Code ch. 25A) — all divisions, including the First Business Court Division serving the First Administrative Judicial Region's counties. Adopted and effective July 1, 2026, signed by all ten Business Court judges (Bouressa and Whitehill, First Division; Andrews and Sweeten, Third; Barnard and Sharp, Fourth; Bullard — Administrative Presiding Judge — and Stagner, Eighth; Adrogué and Dorfman, Eleventh). Judge- and division-specific procedures supplement these rules. The AI clause is an accountability provision, not a disclosure mandate — recorded in the AI sweep as a court-wide hit distinct from the covered-county regimes on the AI tracker.
Reviewer note: Text-layer instrument (8 pages) transcribed with operative provisions verbatim; the PDF's display font carries glyph-substitution artifacts and every decoded number/word was cross-checked against context (e.g., the 30-day windows, 700/300-word letter caps, 3,000/1,250/7,500/3,000 word limits, 2-hour emergency certificate). Dual custody: the TOPICs registration and the court's own signed print at txcourts.gov/media/1462992 are BYTE-IDENTICAL (sha a4bb2f70…, 326,453 B). Composed benchpath-ajr1-p8.
Division XI: information forms for data processing (Rule 11.2); required action - action taken on all calendared cases and a future date always set (Rule 11.19); and pro tem judges - an attorney named as a plaintiff in a civil or small claims case may not sit as a judge pro-tem during the case or within six months following its resolution, nor one named as a defendant in two or more such cases (Rule 11.22). Rules 11.1, 11.3 to 11.5, 11.7 to 11.18, 11.20 and 11.21 are repealed, and Rule 11.6 (voluntary arbitration; see Local Rule 10.2) was repealed and renumbered.
RULE 2 — ASSIGNMENT: under Tex. Gov't Code § 25A.006 the Business Court judges "may exchange benches and sit and act for each other in any matter pending before the Court"; the administrative presiding judge may re-assign cases to equalize the docket — "The trial and all in-person hearings in a re-assigned case will remain in the same Division regardless of the judge assigned, absent the agreement of all parties," and the assigned judge's forms, templates, and division-specific guidelines govern. "A party is deemed to agree to this Court's supplemental jurisdiction of any claim… unless that party moves to sever or otherwise objects within 30 days" of appearance or the first pleading giving fair notice. Consolidation motions are filed in the first-filed case. RULE 3 — CIS AND COUNSEL: a Business Court Case Information Sheet "must be filed concurrently with, and attached to, any filing that initiates a new Business Court case"; counsel of record derives from the CIS, initial pleading, notice of appearance, or pro hac vice order; e-service subscription with eFileTexas is required. RULE 4 — CASE MANAGEMENT: every case is governed by a scheduling order; the parties confer and jointly file the assigned judge's form "within 30 days from the first appearance of any defendant" or from removal/transfer. Corporate-disclosure statements accompany the proposed order (later-joined parties within 14 days; the statement lists financially interested entities and opposing firms; governmental entities exempt; individuals exempt absent other financially interested entities). DISCOVERY DISPUTES: before any discovery motion (except time-sensitive quash motions), a party must attempt in good faith to resolve the dispute, then file a summary letter — "the summary must not exceed 700 words, excluding the certificate; the certificate must not exceed 300 words" — with a conference certificate stating dates, participants, results, and whether cost-shifting, proportionality, or alternatives were discussed; any response within 7 days (700 words; 200-word certificate); "No replies or further written arguments are permitted absent leave of Court"; the Court may then confer, order briefing, instruct, or rule. Cost-shifting requests must state the amount, its derivation, and the basis. RULE 5 — MOTIONS: word limits — discovery motions and responses 3,000; discovery replies 1,250; all other motions and responses 7,500; all other replies 3,000 (leave required to exceed; limits include notes but not captions, indexes, signature blocks, evidence, or certificates; every document carries a certificate of compliance stating its word count). Motions and responses include all authorities with a separately filed proposed order; responses to opposed nondispositive motions are due within 10 days and replies 7 days after response (TRCP deadlines control where provided). Pinpoint citations required for authority and evidence. Unopposed motions are labeled "Unopposed." Certificates of conference are required for all requests for relief except dispositive motions — a meaningful, good-faith effort, conferring on each written-discovery request at issue. Written-opinion requests under § 360(a)(1) [Tex. Gov't Code § 25A.016] within ten days of the order. "A motion for summary judgment will be set for written submission on the last business day before the 60th day after the motion's filing unless the motion is set for a hearing or a different submission date." RULE 7 — EMERGENCY RELIEF: notify the Business Court Clerk before or immediately upon filing a TRO or other ex parte application; file a proposed order; and no later than 2 hours before requesting a hearing file a certificate either stating the detailed grounds for ex parte relief or setting out the date, time, and manner of notice (with delivery of the application and proposed order) to opposing parties. RULE 8 — REMOVAL: removal does not alter TRCP deadlines; existing scheduling-order deadlines remain until the Business Court enters a new one; settings are vitiated but must be disclosed in the removal notice; attached copies must be certified; pending motions must be re-filed; the notice is filed "in the operating division of the Business Court containing the county from which the case was removed." RULE 9 — SEALING: do not file unredacted confidential information; in-camera review copies are sent (not filed) by secure link to the division's txcourts.gov address, Case Center upload, or prior arrangement, Bates-numbered — applicable ahead of TRCP 76a(4) hearings and CPRC § 134A.006 sealed-envelope needs; the eFileTexas "Contains Sensitive Data" indicator "does not seal the document." RULE 10 — MISCELLANEOUS: pro hac vice per Rule 19 of the Rules Governing Admission and § 82.0361 (admission survives removal/transfer; pending motions are amended without a second fee); vacation letters may reserve up to four weeks per calendar year and do not vitiate existing settings; ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE — "Use of artificial intelligence is not prohibited, but the filing attorney or party is independently responsible for the accuracy of all filings and must comply with all legal and ethical duties, including TRCP 13 and Civil Practice and Remedies Code, Chapters 9–10"; REMOTE PROCEEDINGS — no one is required to appear remotely where oral testimony is heard, but a party "shall be deemed to agree to remote attendance… unless that party or attorney files an objection to the remote proceeding within three business days" of the setting notice; AMICUS BRIEFS require leave, must avoid repeating the principal briefs, and must disclose the amicus's identity and interest, any fee source, and whether a party's counsel authored the brief in substantial part.
Duval County's indigent-defense and magistration rules under the Texas Fair Defense Act (S.B. 7): who may be booked into the county jail and on what paper; arrest-case numbering; presentment to a magistrate within 48 hours (art. 15.16); the magistrate's warnings, counsel inquiry, interpreter duty, indigence determination and appointment of counsel within 24 hours of a request; the alternative appointment plan under art. 26.04(g)-(h) with annual applications, seven attorney categories (capital, first and second degree, third degree/state jail/misdemeanor, competency, appeals, post-conviction, extradition), CLE and experience standards, random rotation within each category, written acceptance within 48 hours, first contact by the end of the next working day, replacement and suspension of counsel, fee applications within five days of completing services and the compensation attachment ($500 pleas; $175/$150 hourly; $1,400 per jury-trial day; appellate caps); bail schedules by offense class with a personal bond office (fee $20 or 3%), pre-trial supervision and revocation hearings within two working days; arraignment settings and notice; repeal of conflicting rules.