Revised: October 2018
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Guide Prepared by Public Counsel.
© 2011, 2017 Public Counsel. All rights reserved.
Meeting and Conferring with Opposing Counsel Prior to Filing Your Motion
Before filing a motion, you must call counsel for the opposing party to discuss and try to resolve the
issue that has led to the need for a motion. You must talk to counsel for the opposing party at least 7
days before filing the motion. You will include the date on which you talked to opposing counsel in the
last paragraph of your Notice of Motion and Motion and in your Declaration.
The purpose of this rule is to encourage parties to resolve problems without having to resort to a
formal motion. Do not be afraid to ask opposing counsel to agree to whatever it is you are asking for in
your motion. If the opposing counsel says no, explain that you will then be filing a formal motion with
the Court.
Scheduling a Hearing Date
When you file a written motion, you must propose a hearing date—a date on which you and the
other party or the party’s lawyer must appear before the judge assigned to your case to orally argue
about the motion. In the Central District of California, the date must be at least 31 days after the date
you file the motion and serve a copy by mail. You will write this date under the title of your motion
(see the sample on the next page). Note, however, that judges will often move a scheduled hearing
date or cancel the hearing altogether and decide the motion based only on the written documents.
To schedule a motion date, you must look at your judge’s schedule and find out when the judge
hears civil motions. To find this information online, do the following:
1) Go to the Central District’s website, at http://www.cacd.uscourts.gov.
2) On the central navigation bar of the website, click on the link “Judges’ Requirements” and then
click on “Judges’ Procedures and Schedules.”
3) Click on your judge’s name.
4) Read your judge’s procedures, and look for the day that he or she hears civil motions. For
example, your judge may hear civil motions every Monday at 1:30 p.m. If that is the case, you
must propose a hearing date on a Monday that is 31 days or more after the day you file your
motion.
5) Towards the beginning of each judge’s page, there is a link that says, “Click here to view Closed
Motion Dates.” That page lists the dates on which each judge will not be hearing motions. Click
that link to make sure that you are not scheduling a hearing on a closed motion date.
If you do not have internet access, you should call the court room deputy (CRD) for the judge
assigned to your case.