Orange — CM05 Standing Orders

Source: https://www.occourts.org/system/files/general/cm05_standing_order.pdf

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2 SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF ORANGE 3 COSTA MESA JUSTICE COMPLEX 4

5 In re Trial Setting Conferences and Trials PRETRIAL ORDERS – REVISED JULY 6 Scheduled in Department CM05 2026 7 Judge: Hon. Ebrahim Baytieh 8 Dept: CM05

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11 TO ALL ATTORNEYS AND SELF-REPRESENTED PARTIES ASSIGNED FOR TRIAL 12 IN DEPARTMENT CM05:

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14 15 The basic function of an independent, impartial, and honorable judiciary is to maintain 16 the utmost integrity in decision making. (Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee on the California 17 Code of Judicial Ethics; California Judicial Conduct Handbook, Fourth Edition, Section 1:1.) 18 In the pursuit of the above listed basic function, it is well settled that the trial court has 19 inherent and statutory authority and discretion to control the proceedings to ensure the effective 20 administration of justice, and the orderly and efficient conduct of trials. (People v. Gonzalez 21 (2006) 38 Cal. 4th 932, 951.) The trial court has the duty to keep the trial within the bounds of 22 the issues and not to stray into collateral and irrelevant matters. (People v. Alfaro (1976) 61 Cal. 23 App. 3rd 414, 421–424.) The trial court also has the duty to see that all sides receive a fair trial, 24 and that justice is done. (Id. at p. 427; People v. Williams (2009) 170 Cal. App. 4 th 587, 615.) 25 The orders and expectations listed below are intended to assist attorneys and self- 26 represented parties in presenting their case in a professional and welcoming environment in 27 Department CM05, while at the same time ensuring that proper procedures are followed.

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1 1. Expectations of Counsel and Self-Represented Parties. 2

3 The Court expects all attorneys and self-represented parties to act, at all times, in a 4 professional manner, and to follow the Orange County Bar Association Civility Guidelines. A 5 copy of the Civility Guidelines is posted outside Department CM05, and on counsel table in 6 Department CM05. The Civility Guidelines may also be found at 7 https://www.ocbar.org/Portals/0/pdf/docs/civility_guidelines.pdf. The Court expects all 8 attorneys and self-represented parties to act consistent with the following principles.

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10 • “The American legal profession exists to help people resolve disputes cheaply, 11 swiftly, fairly, and justly.” (Karton v. Ari Design & Construction, Inc. (2021) 61 12 Cal. App. 5 th 734, 747, emphasis added.)

13 14 • “The legitimacy of the legal profession also relies on attorneys acting with both 15 civility and rectitude, especially when dealing with the courts and with 16 nonattorneys.” (Prato v. Gioia (2025) 112 Cal. App. 5th 651, 654, emphasis 17 added.)

18 19 • The “practice of law is not a business. It is a profession. And those who practice 20 it carry a concomitantly greater responsibility than businesspeople.” (Lasalle v. 21 Vogel (2019) 36 Cal. App. 5th 127, 134, emphasis added.)

22 23 • “Civility is not about etiquette. This is not a matter of bad manners. Incivility 24 slows things down, it costs people money—money they were counting on their 25 lawyers to help them save. And it contravenes the Legislature's directive that all 26 parties shall cooperate in bringing the action to trial. (Code Civ. Proc., §

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1 583.130.).” (Masimo Corp. v. The Vanderpool L. Firm, Inc. (2024) 101 Cal. App. 2 5 th 902, 911, internal quotations omitted and emphasis added.) 3

4 2. Pre-Trial Responsibilities of Attorneys and Self-Represented Parties. 5

6 All pretrial documents are to be filed at least five court days before trial. Attorneys and/or 7 self-represented parties are ordered to comply with Civil Local Rule 317 and all Probate Hearing 8 and Trial Guidelines. Civil Local Rule 317 is posted on the Orange County Superior Court’s 9 Public Website under Local and State Rules of Court, Division 3, Chapter 4, and may also be 10 found using this link: https://www.occourts.org/system/files/localrule317.pdf. The Probate 11 Hearing and Trial Guidelines are posted on the Orange County Superior Court’s Public Website 12 under Probate Courtroom Schedule & Requirements. They may also be found using this link: 13 https://www.occourts.org/system/files/trial-hearing-rules-probate.pdf. 14 In addition to complying with the above-listed rules and guidelines, the attorneys and/or 15 self-represented parties shall deliver to the clerk in Department CM05, no later than the 16 Wednesday before the first day of trial, one physical paper copy, three-hole punched but not 17 stapled, of each the following documents:

18 19 a. Joint Trial Witness List reflecting the time estimates each side anticipates 20 needing for each witness.

21 22 b. Joint Trial List of Stipulated Facts.

23 24 c. Joint Trial List of Controverted Issues for all issues that are to be determined 25 by the Court.

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1 3. Motions in Limine 2 Motions in limine must be exchanged and discussed no later than the Issue Conference 3 required under Local Rule 317. The attorneys and/or self-represented parties must meet and 4 confer in a good faith effort to resolve, before trial, as many motions in limine as reasonably 5 possible. Meeting and conferring in good faith should be conducted consistent with more than 6 each side attempting to persuade the other side of the error of their ways, because the law requires 7 that attorneys attempt to talk the matter over, compare their views, consult, and reasonably 8 deliberate. There must be a serious effort at informal resolution of the issues raised in the motions 9 in limine, which entails something more than arguing with opposing counsel because arguing is 10 not the same as informal good faith meeting and conferring. (Townsend v. Superior Court (1998) 11 61 Cal. App. 4 th 1431; Clement v. Alegre (2009) 177 Cal. App. 4th 1277.) 1

12 13 4. In-Person Trial

14 15 All trials in Department CM05 must be conducted in person. All attorneys and self- 16 represented parties are ordered to be personally present in Department CM05 throughout the trial. 17 All witnesses must be present in court in person during their testimony, unless good cause is 18 shown, and this Court authorizes a witness to testify remotely. Any request for a witness to testify 19 remotely must be submitted to the court in writing, in advance of the trial date, and should include 20 good legal cause as to why the witness should not be ordered to testify in person.

21 22 5. Witnesses

23 24 Witnesses must be ready to testify when needed to avoid any unreasonable delays. 25 Attorneys and self-represented parties shall advise the Court and opposing side promptly of any

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27 1 Whenever the attorneys and/or self-represented parties are ordered to meet and confer as listed in this Pretrial Order, or any of the rules referenced in this Pretrial Order, such meet and confer shall take place consistent with these guidelines. 28 - 4 - REVISED PRETRIAL ORDER / DEPARTMENT CM05 – JUDGE BAYTIEH JULY 2026

1 additions to their witness list, or problems with witnesses’ availability. Attorneys and self- 2 represented parties must advise their witnesses of rulings that apply to, or affect, their testimony. 3 If a witness or a party needs an interpreter, the attorneys and/or self-represented parties 4 should bring this to the attention of the Court prior to the commencement of trial.

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6 6. Objections

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8 Speaking objections are not permitted. This rule will be strictly enforced by the court. 9 When objecting, attorneys should state the word “Objection” along with the succinct legal basis 10 for the objection, and nothing else (e.g., “Objection, Hearsay” “Objection, Foundation,” 11 “Objection, Relevance.”) At this stage, nothing more should be stated by the objecting side. After 12 the Court rules on the objection, if any side wishes to be heard regarding the objection and/or 13 ruling, a request to be heard should be made to the Court.

14 15 7. Interruptions and Discussions during Trial

16 17 Attorneys and self-represented parties are not allowed to interrupt each other while the 18 Court is in session, other than by raising non-speaking objections as listed above. 19 Attorneys and self-represented parties should never interrupt the Court. This rule will 20 be strictly enforced by the Court. If the Court interrupts an attorney and/or a self-represented 21 party, the attorney and/or self-represented party should not view this as an invitation to continue 22 speaking, or as an invitation to interrupt the Court. At the appropriate time, and as the Court 23 deems appropriate, the attorney and/or self-represented party will be given the opportunity to be 24 heard. 25 While the Court is in session, the attorneys and/or self-represented parties should not 26 engage in a discussion amongst themselves. If such discussion is needed, the attorney and/or self- 27 represented party should ask the Court for a recess, and if appropriate, the Court will declare a

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1 brief recess and allow the attorneys and/or self-represented parties to have a discussion between 2 themselves, off the record. 3

4 8. Exhibits 5

6 All trial exhibits are to be uploaded to the Orange County Superior Court Electronic 7 Evidence Portal. The following is the link to the Orange County Superior Court’s Public Website 8 for Electronic Evidence where information can be found about the Electronic Evidence Portal, 9 including instructions: https://www.occourts.org/online-services/electronic-evidence-portal. The 10 following is the link to the Electronic Evidence Portal where attorneys and/or self-represented 11 parties can log into the system and upload trial exhibits: 12 https://occourts.quetelcloud.com/TraQ7/account/login?returnurl=%2FTraQ7%2F. 13 The attorneys and/or self-represented parties are ordered to upload all exhibits, for all 14 sides, using one singular account. The attorneys and/or self-represented parties are ordered to 15 meet and confer to decide which specific account will be used to upload all trial exhibits, for all 16 sides. 17 No attorney or self-represented party is allowed to add any exhibit to the Orange County 18 Superior Court Electronic Evidence Portal after opening statements, or after the first witness is 19 called if no opening statements are given, without first obtaining authorization to do so from the 20 Court. The requirement to upload exhibits before the trial starts does not apply to impeachment 21 exhibits. 22 If a witness is testifying remotely, attorneys and self-represented parties must meet and 23 confer to ensure that the exhibits to be shown to such witness are consistent, including for 24 numbering purposes, with the exhibits pre-marked and uploaded to the Orange County Superior 25 Court Electronic Evidence Portal.

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1 Attorneys and self-represented parties are expected, before the trial starts, to attempt to 2 reach stipulations, if reasonably possible, regarding the admissibility and/or foundation for all 3 trial exhibits, and such stipulations should be reflected on the Joint Trial Exhibit List. 4

5 9. Transcripts 6

7 Transcripts must be submitted to the Court, and provided to the opposing side, for any 8 audio recording or sound-and-video recording played during the trial, consistent with California 9 Rules of Court, Rule 2.1040. In addition, the parties must meet and confer prior to trial and bring 10 with them certified copies of any deposition transcripts they intend to use during trial.

11 12 10. Trial Schedule and Trial Time Estimate

13 14 When trial starts, Department CM05 will be in trial based on the following schedule: 15 Monday in the afternoon, Wednesday in the afternoon, Thursday all day, and Friday all day. The 16 morning session starts at 9:00 AM and ends at 11:55 AM. The afternoon session starts at 1:30 17 PM and ends at 4:20 PM. The Court takes a brief morning break around 10:15 AM, and a brief 18 afternoon break around 3:00 PM. Accordingly, when a trial starts, Department CM05 will be 19 available for trial for a total of three full days per week consisting of two morning sessions and 20 four afternoon sessions. 21 When agreeing to a trial date, the attorneys and/or self-represented parties are expected 22 to be available continuously from the first day of trial until the trial concludes following the 23 above-listed weekly schedule. If an attorney or self-represented party has an unexpected family 24 commitment, or any other legitimate commitment, including previously scheduled vacations, the 25 Court will do its utmost best to accommodate any reasonable request for a break during the trial, 26 especially to accommodate family and personal commitments.

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1 As far as the time estimate for trial provided by the attorneys and/or self-represented 2 parties, the court will generally defer to, and respect, such time estimate. However, the attorneys 3 should be familiar with the case of California Crane School, Inc. et all v. National Commission 4 for Certification of Crane Operators et all (2014) 226 Cal. App. 4th 12 regarding the Court’s 5 authority and discretion when it comes to unreasonable trial time estimates and unreasonable 6 prolongments of a trial. The attorneys and self-represented parties are ordered to include in their 7 joint witness list the time estimates each side anticipates needing for each witness.

8 9 11. Failure to Comply with Standing Orders

10 11 Any violation of, or failure to comply with, the orders set forth herein may result in the 12 Court continuing the matter and/or issuing sanctions pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure sections 13 128.5, 177.5, or 575.2. (Shiheiber v. JP Morgan Chase Bank (2022) 81 Cal. App. 5 th 688.)

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15 16 IT IS SO ORDERED.

17 18 DATE: July 1, 2026

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25 ______________________________ 26 Hon. Judge Ebrahim Baytieh Superior Court of California 27 County of Orange 28 - 8 - REVISED PRETRIAL ORDER / DEPARTMENT CM05 – JUDGE BAYTIEH JULY 2026