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TRIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS AND CALLING OF CASES

Parties are required to make an announcement regarding their readiness for trial in accordance with
Dallas Civil Court Rule 3.02. Announcements may be made by:

1) speaking with Winiford Jones, the Court Coordinator, @ 214-653-7709 by 10:30 a.m. on the Friday
prior to trial; or

2) sending an email no later than 10:30 a.m. on the Friday prior to trial to wjones@dallascourts.org

Please note the following guidelines for email announcements:

1) The Subject/Re: line must contain the words "Trial Announcement."
2) Provide the case name and case #;
3) Provide the name of the party on whose behalf you are announcing;
4) Provide your name and phone #;
5) Advise if any clients or witnesses are out of town or state;
6) Announce "ready," "ready subject to," or "not ready."
An announcement of "not ready" does
not release you from trial.
7) Provide the estimated length of trial.

Failure of the Plaintiff to announce for trial using any of the methods outlined above will
result in dismissal for want of prosecution.


If a case has been called in for trial by phone call from the Court Coordinator, the Court will expect
the Parties to be in the Courtroom for Docket Call and prepared to go to trial on the date and time
contained in the Pre-Trial Order.
Failure for the Plaintiff to appear when called in will result in
the case being dismissed for want of prosecution pursuant to section 165a of the Texas Rules
of Civil Procedure.

If a case is set for trial for a particular week but has not been called in as noted above, the case is
on standby and subject to being called on short notice at any time during said week or may be
carriedover to the following week.



COURT DOCKETS

The Court has several dockets, each of which is maintained by either the Court Coordinator or the
Court Clerk. The Court's dockets, and the personnel maintaining each, are described as follows:



JURY/NON-JURY TRIAL DOCKET (Contact Court Coordinator 214 653-7709)


All Trial Dockets in the 192nd District Court are for one week. Docket Call is on Monday @ 9:00 a.m.
or on the first business day thereafter should Monday be a legal holiday. Only attorneys and pro se
parties are required to appear for Docket Call. Clients and witnesses should be on 1 hour standby.
Any cases not reached for trial during the week that they are set will be reset for at least 30 days
out. All vacation letters should be in the Court file if they are to be considered for reset purposes.

Cases are set on either the Jury Trial Docket or the Non-Jury Trial Docket. Each Jury Trial Docket
has a few Non-Jury cases set which will be tried after the completion of all Jury Trials.
Please note
that the Web's listing does not reflect the official Trial Docket nor the order in which the
cases are likely to be called.

All parties involved in cases set on the Trial Docket will receive a Pre-Trial Order containing the date
and time of Trial. If the parties wish to submit a more detailed Scheduling Order or Discovery Control
Plan, they are welcome to do so as long as the trial date does not differ from the one contained in
the original Pre-Trial Order.

All cases set for trial are also ordered to mediation. Mediation Orders are sent at the same time as
the Pre-Trial Orders. Parties are allowed to use a mediator different than the one assigned by the
Court if an Agreed Motion to Substitute Mediator is filed with the Court along with an Agreed Order
to Substitute Mediator. The Parties are expected to serve a copy of the Agreed Motion and Order
upon the assigned mediator.

Unless the parties notify the Court Coordinator within 20 days of the date of the Pre-Trial Order that
a trial date in not realistic. If the Motion for Continuance has not been filed in time to get a hearing
prior to the Trial Date, the case will ride that week's Trial Docket until reached - at which time the
Motion will be heard. If the case has already been called in for Docket Call, the Motion will be heard
at Docket Call.

If a Motion for Continuance is granted, all parties are to meet with the Court Coordinator immediately
following the hearing with calendars to choose a new trial date.



ASBESTOS TRIAL DOCKET (Contact Court Coordinator 214 653-7709)

The regular annual Asbestos Trial Docket for all asbestosis cases filed in the 192nd District Court is
the Tuesday following Labor Day - unless otherwise specially set by the Court. All cases filed in the
immediate previous year and earlier are set on the regular Asbestos Trial docket.



MOTION DOCKET (Contact Court Clerk 214 653-7748)

Please note that the 192nd Court Clerks will not set a Motion for hearing without a valid
Certificate of Conference. This includes Motions for Summary Judgment. Certificates of
Conference must include all other counsel and pro se parties.

The 192nd District Court has two options for being set on the Motion Docket: 1) Judge Craig Smith,
the sitting Judge; or 2) Associate Judge Sheryl McFarlin. When calling to set a hearing, please take
careful note in front of whom the Motion has been set and notify all other parties as to same.

In order to get a hearing set on the Motion Docket, you must call the Court Clerks directly at
214-653-7748. The Motion must be on file in the Court Clerks' office. The Court Clerks will not set
hearings with couriers and will not complete Fiats without first speaking to someone who knows the
availability and judicial preferences (see below) of the party requesting the hearing.

Judge Smith hears Motions on Monday between 1:30p.m. - 4:00p.m. and on Tuesday through Friday
between 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. Any hearings that require more than the time allotted will be set at
a time convenient for the Court therefore please plan accordingly.

Associate Judge Sheryl McFarlin hears motions for this Court on Monday mornings in Room 6c of the
George L. Allen Building. No party may object to the assignment of Associate Judge Sheryl McFarlin
but her rulings may be appealed to Judge Smith. A copy of the General Order of Referral and Appeals
of Rulings of Court Master may be found at the end of these Policies and Procedures. The Associate
Judge has a tape recorder available for all hearings upon request but does not provide a court
reporter. Should the parties require a court reporter, they will need to provide one at their own
expense



NAME CHANGE PROVE-UPS (Contact Court Clerk 214 653-7748)

Since September 1, 2003, the Court is requiring fingerprint cards for all name changes. Fingerprinting
can be done at any local law enforcement agency or at the North Tower Lew Sterrett Jail located
next to the Frank Crowley Criminal Courts Building at 133 N. Industrial, Dallas, Texas 75207.

When a Petition for Name Change is filed with this Court, the movant or his/her attorney will be sent
a package of information reguarding this new requirement. No name change will be set for hearing
until the fingerprint card has been returned to the Court as cleared by DPS and the FBI.



DISMISSAL DOCKET (Contact Court Coordinator 214 653-7709)

Cases are set on a Dismissal Docket for one or more of the following reasons:

1) The Plaintiff has failed to issue and serve process upon Defendant(s) in a timely manner;
2) The case is ripe for the taking of a default judgment;
3) A party has announced settled but no final order has been presented to the Court for signature;
4) There is a docket entry of final disposition but no final order has been presented to the Court for
signature;
5) The parties have failed to respond to inquiries from the Court related to bankruptcy, stays or
abatements;




PRE-TRIAL

All Pre-Trial matters will be heard on the day of trial. Parties may set a Pre-Trial Conference at an
earlier time by calling the Court Clerks to be set on the Court's regular Motion Docket.

Prior to appearing at trial, all parties are expected to:

1) Exchange exhibit and witness lists;
2) Exchange Motions in Limine and confer regarding same;
3) Confer regarding any issue that any party believes needs to be brought to the attention of the
Court prior to trial;
4) Prepare the jury charge and bring a hard copy and diskette of a complete jury charge, in a
"jury-ready" form, in WordPerfect (version 5.0 or later) to the Court for Docket Call.


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IN THE 192ND DISTRICT COURT
DALLAS COUNTY, TEXAS

GENERAL ORDER OF REFERRAL AND APPEALS OF RULINGS OF COURT MASTER


Pursuant to Chapter 54, Subchapter F, Section 54.507, Texas Government Code, I hereby
refer to


Sheryl McFarlin
CIVIL DISTRICT COURT MASTER
and/or
Theresa Guerra Snelson
CIVIL DISTRICT COURT MASTER


all matters that may come before this Court. This Order of Referral shall encompass the
powers granted under the Texas Government Code in Section 54.508.

All appeals from recommendations of the Civil District Court Master shall be filed with the
Court in writing within three (3) days of the date of the signing of the recommendation or
other date as specified by the Court Master in the recommendation. If the third day is a
Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, the written appeal must be on file on the next business
day that is not a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday.

SIGNED this the 2nd day of January , 2007.

Original signed version contained in Court Minutes
Craig Smith
JUDGE PRESIDING
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AMENDED POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
FOR 192ND CIVIL DISTRICT COURT
(effective as of January 1, 2007)
Old Red Courthouse