House Bill 1407
By: Representatives Leverett of the 123rd, Gullett of the 19th, Reeves of the 99th, and Gunter
of the 8th
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Article 6 of Chapter 11 of Title 9 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
relating to trials under the "Civil Practice Act," so as to provide for scheduling of civil trials;
to provide for trial calendars for certain civil actions; to provide for related matters; to repeal
conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Article 6 of Chapter 11 of Title 9 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to trials
under the "Civil Practice Act," is amended by revising Code Section 9-11-40, relating to time
and place of trials, as follows:
"9-11-40.
(a) Time of trial. All <del>civil cases, including</del> divorce and other domestic relations cases,
shall be triable any time after the last day upon which defensive pleadings were required
to be filed therein; provided, however, that the court shall in all <ins>such</ins> cases afford to the
parties reasonable time for discovery procedures, subsequent to the date that defensive
pleadings were required to be filed; provided, further, that, in divorce cases involving
service by publication, service shall occur on the date of the first publication of notice
following the order for service of publication pursuant to subparagraph (f)(1)(C) of Code
Section 9-11-4, and such divorce cases shall be triable any time after 60 days have elapsed
since the date of the first publication of notice. <ins>All other civil cases shall be triable and
may appear on a trial calendar only after the court has ruled on all dispositive motions or
after the deadline for filing dispositive motions has passed without any such motions being
filed.
</ins> (b) Trial in chambers. The judges of any courts of record may, on reasonable notice to
the parties, at any time and at chambers in any county in the circuit, hear and determine by
interlocutory or final judgment any matter or issue where a jury trial is not required or has
been waived. However, nothing in this subsection shall authorize the trial of any divorce
case by consent or otherwise until after the last day upon which defensive pleadings were
required by law to be filed therein.
(c) Assignment of cases for trial. The courts shall provide for the placing of actions upon
the trial calendar:
(1) Without request of the parties but upon notice to the parties; or
(2) Upon request of a party and notice to the other parties.
Except for cause, cases shall be placed upon the calendar in chronological order in
accordance with filing dates. Precedence shall be given to actions entitled thereto by any
statute.
<ins>(d) Trial calendar for actions to be tried to a jury. In all cases except for divorce and
other domestic relations cases:
(1) An action may not be tried by jury until it appears on a trial calendar. A trial
calendar must state the place of trial and the date and time during which the actions
thereon may be tried. The time during which the actions appearing on any single trial
calendar may be tried shall not exceed three weeks. No more than 30 actions may appear
on any single trial calendar;
</ins>
<ins>(2) A trial calendar shall be filed and served through the court's electronic filing service
no less than 120 days prior to the session of court at which the actions thereon are to be
tried. At the same time a trial calendar is filed and served through the court's electronic
filing service, it shall also be served on each pro se party via email if said party has
provided an email address to the court or via regular mail if no email address has been
provided to the court;
(3) If requested by any party, the assigned judge shall conduct a pretrial conference for
the action or actions in which such party is named on a trial calendar at least 14 days
before the first day of the trial calendar;
(4) If the assigned judge has not issued written rulings on all motions in limine, all other
pretrial motions, and all other pretrial matters by the time of the pretrial conference, the
action shall be automatically continued from the trial calendar and placed on the court's
next available trial calendar;
(5) The parties to each action on a trial calendar shall submit to the assigned judge a
proposed consolidated pretrial order after the pretrial conference and no less than seven
days before the first day of the trial calendar;
(6) No action may appear on consecutive trial calendars unless the later-filed trial
calendar is filed and served as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection at least 30
days after the earlier-filed trial calendar is filed and served as provided in such paragraph;
and
(7) If all parties in an action consent to the action being continued from a trial calendar,
the action shall be automatically continued from the trial calendar upon the parties' filing
of a stipulation of continuance; provided, however, that a stipulation of continuance must
be filed no less than 14 days before the first day of the trial calendar. If the parties timely
file a stipulation of continuance, the court shall place the action on its next available trial
calendar.
</ins>
<ins>(e) Scheduling trial for actions to be tried to a jury. In all cases except for divorce and
other domestic relations cases:
(1) Within 14 days after receiving the trial calendar provided for in paragraph (2) of
subsection (d) of this Code section, the parties shall file a joint report containing the
following information:
(A) Whether any party, any attorney of record, or any witness whose in-person
testimony is necessary for trial, as determined by the party on whose behalf the witness
will be called to testify, resides outside the state or outside a 100-mile radius of the
courthouse where the action will be tried;
(B) A brief, nonargumentative description of the nature of the action and any
complexities associated with it;
(C) An estimate of how long the trial is expected to take; and
(D) The likelihood of settlement;
(2) Within 30 days after filing and serving the trial calendar provided for in paragraph (2)
of subsection (d) of this Code section, the assigned judge shall file and serve, in the same
manner as provided in such paragraph, an update to the trial calendar setting forth the
order in which each action thereon shall be called for trial based on the following
considerations:
(A) For all actions on a trial calendar for which all parties, all attorneys of record, and
all witnesses whose in-person testimony is necessary for trial, as determined by the
party on whose behalf the witness will be called to testify, reside within a 100-mile
radius of the courthouse where the actions will be tried, the assigned judge shall
schedule each action for trial giving consideration to the nature of the action, the
complexity of the action, where the parties, attorneys of record, and witnesses reside,
and the reasonable time requirements of the action for trial;
(i) Once the assigned judge has determined the order in which each such action on
a trial calendar shall be called for trial, no such action may be called for trial out of
</ins>
<ins>order except upon at least seven days' notice to the parties and their attorneys of
record pursuant to an update to the trial calendar that is filed and served in the same
manner as provided in paragraph (2) of subsection (d) of this Code section;
(ii) The parties and their attorneys of record for the first such action on the trial
calendar shall appear ready for trial, as specified in the trial calendar or any update
thereto; and
(iii) The parties and their attorneys of record for all other such actions on the trial
calendar shall appear ready for trial, as specified in the trial calendar or any update
thereto, only after having received notice of at least 24 hours; and
(B) For any action on a trial calendar for which any party, any attorney of record, or
any witness whose in-person testimony is necessary for trial, as determined by the party
on whose behalf the witness will be called to testify, resides outside the state or outside
a 100-mile radius of the courthouse where the action will be tried, the assigned judge
shall specially schedule the action for trial;
(3) Once every two weeks following the filing and service of the updated trial calendar
provided for in paragraph (2) of this subsection and continuing to the end of the trial
calendar, the assigned judge shall notify all attorneys of record and all unrepresented
parties in all actions via email or via regular mail if an email address is not available of
any actions that have been continued or otherwise removed from the trial calendar;
(4) If any attorney of record has more than one action on the same trial calendar, the
actions that are not first in priority shall be automatically continued to the assigned
judge's next available trial calendar; and
(5) If any attorney of record has multiple actions on different trial calendars that are filed
and served as provided in paragraph (2) of subsection (d) of this Code section within 30
days of each other, the action on the earlier filed trial calendar shall be deemed to be first
in priority, and the action on the later filed trial calendar shall be automatically continued
to the assigned judge's next available trial calendar."
</ins>
SECTION 2.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.