TX-ND -- Watchpoints

Five compliance traps that catch practitioners unfamiliar with TX-ND.

1. Local Counsel -- Division-Specific, Not District-Wide (LR 83.10(a))

Local counsel must be 'within 50 miles of the courthouse in the division in which the case is pending.' An attorney admitted to the district bar but officed in Dallas cannot serve as local counsel for a case pending in Abilene if that office is more than 50 miles from the Abilene courthouse. This is stricter than courts that require only district-wide bar membership.

2. AI Disclosure on First Page of Brief (LR 7.2(f))

Any brief prepared using generative AI must include a disclosure 'on the first page under the heading "Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence."' Filing a brief without this disclosure is an affirmative certification that no part of the brief was AI-assisted. There is no cure provision -- the certification is made by the act of filing.

3. Appendix Page Numbering Must Run Continuously (LR 7.1(i)(4); LR 56.6(b)(3))

The appendix's page numbers 'must not re-start with each succeeding document in the appendix.' All exhibits, declarations, and other materials are paginated as a single continuous document. Brief citations must reference the appendix page number, not the internal document page. This applies to both general motion appendices (LR 7.1(i)) and summary judgment appendices (LR 56.6).

4. No Oral Argument Unless Affirmatively Directed (LR 7.1(g))

Oral argument is not available by request. 'Unless otherwise directed by the presiding judge, oral argument on a motion will not be held.' Practitioners should not count on oral argument to supplement a thin brief.

5. Summary Judgment: Motion and Brief Are Separate Documents (LR 56.5(a))

'Notwithstanding LR 5.1(c), the brief must be filed as a separate document from the motion or response that it supports.' The motion itself must not contain argument and authorities (LR 56.3(d)); the brief cannot be embedded in the motion. A combined motion-and-brief is procedurally deficient.