Southern District of Texas Local Rules — The Practitioner's Guide

Every SDTX judge has individual procedures that supplement and sometimes modify local rules. Failing to check your judge's procedures is the most common mistake in this district. Font, page limits, reply deadlines, discovery dispute procedures, and oral argument policies all vary.

Full directory: txs.uscourts.gov/page/district-magistrate-judges-procedures-schedules

Recent Changes

Sept 2025: Appendix A (Rules of Discipline) amended. Rules reprinted.

May 2023: LR 16.4 (ADR) and LR 83.1.D amended.

Nov 2018: LR 7.4 amended to add 7-day reply provision.

Aug 2023: Pro hac vice fee set at $100.

Proposed Amendments

Proposed LR 83.1: mandatory admission workshop + new "division" provision. Public comment period — not adopted as of March 2026.

SDTX uses written-motion practice with no automatic oral hearings. Motions automatically submitted 21 days after filing — no clerk notice, no appearance. Both sides must submit proposed orders (movant: granting; respondent: denying). Certificate of conference required for non-dispositive motions. Failure to respond = no opposition. LR 7.1-7.8.

Motion Docket Date

1. Motion filed → clock starts
2. Day 21 → automatically submitted. No clerk notice. No appearance.
3. Court rules on papers at its discretion.

Oral Argument (LR 7.5)

Not presumed. Request in motion or response. If granted, clerk notifies.

Opposed Motion Requirements (LR 7.1)

A. Written

B. Include or accompany with legal authority

C. Separate proposed order GRANTING relief

D. Certificate of conference (Exception: FRCP 12(b), (c), (e), (f), and 56)

Responses & Replies (LR 7.4)

Both sides submit proposed orders — SDTX is unusual in this.

Unopposed Motions (LR 7.2)

Must bear "unopposed" in caption. Considered ASAP — no 21-day wait.

Consolidation (LR 7.6)

File in oldest case only. Judge of oldest case hears it.

SDTX sees high removal volume from Texas state courts across 48 counties. LR 81 specifies exactly which documents to attach — and says "only" those documents. Do not attach the entire state court file. Galveston: must serve Galveston Division Rules on all parties with removal papers. LR 81.

Required Attachments (LR 81)

1. All executed process
2. Pleadings asserting causes of action + all answers
3. All orders signed by state judge
4. The docket sheet
5. Index of matters being filed
6. List of all counsel (addresses, phone numbers, parties represented)

"Only" is the operative word. Attach what the rule requires and nothing more.

Galveston Division Extra Step

Must serve copy of Galveston Division Rules of Practice on all other parties with removal papers, and file proof of that service.

Post-Removal

Standard pretrial timeline applies. Initial pretrial conference within 140 days of notice of removal (LR 16.1).

SDTX addresses sealed filings under LR 83.6. To file a sealed civil action, present application to clerk with complaint in sealed envelope. Galveston Division requires Binh Hoa Le v. Exeter (5th Cir. 2021) analysis — no wholesale sealing absent extraordinary showing. LR 83.6; Gal. Div. R. Prac. 6(e).

District-Wide (LR 83.6)

Filing a sealed civil action: present application to clerk, attach complaint and materials in sealed envelope marked "sealed exhibit." Miscellaneous case number assigned, presented to miscellaneous judge. After ruling, clerk draws civil action number and randomly assigns judge.

Sealing in pending cases: not separately addressed district-wide. Judge-specific.

Galveston Division

Motion to seal must undertake the analysis in Binh Hoa Le v. Exeter Fin. Corp., 990 F.3d 410, 417-21 (5th Cir. 2021). No wholesale sealing absent extraordinary showing.

Requirements:

• Include version with proposed redactions highlighted
• Motion and all exhibits filed as single combined document
• Standing protective order on Judge Brown's and Judge Edison's webpages

Quick-reference summary of the most frequently needed rules for the Southern District of Texas.

SDTX is seven divisions spanning from Houston to Brownsville, covering 48 counties. Division assignment determined by venue (which county). Houston has 12+ district judges and handles the most civil cases. Galveston is the only division with its own published Rules of Practice. 28 U.S.C. § 124(b).

Division Map

Galveston Division Critical Requirements

• Plaintiffs must SERVE copy of Galveston Rules on each defendant with summons/complaint
• Removing parties must serve on all others with removal papers
• Joint Discovery/Case Management Plan: 10 days before Rule 16 conference
• Discovery disputes: joint letter (2-page max) before any motion to compel
• No separate memoranda of law — motion includes argument

Galveston actively screens for cases with no factual nexus and may transfer sua sponte.

SDTX district-wide discovery rules are spare — heavy lifting is the Joint Discovery/Case Management Plan at Rule 16 conference. Discovery materials NOT filed. Every response preceded by the question/request. 25 interrogatories max. Video depositions allowed without stenographic recording. Galveston: 2-page joint letter before motion to compel. LR 5.4, 26.1-26.2, 30.1, 33.1.

District-Wide Rules

Joint Discovery/Case Management Plan

Within 140 days: judge conducts initial pretrial conference under FRCP 16.

Rosenthal: 14 days before Rule 16 conference.

Galveston: 10 days before.

Scheduling order sets cutoffs for: joinder, amendments, expert designation, discovery completion, dispositive motions, trial.

Exempt: prisoner civil rights, habeas, student/veteran loan, Social Security, bankruptcy appeals, forfeiture.

Discovery Disputes

Galveston: joint letter (2 pages max) before motion to compel. Typically resolved via Zoom.

Rosenthal: pre-motion conference required. Email case manager + opposing counsel. 1-2 page letter as agenda.

Other judges: check individual procedures.

Operating Model — Submission Court (Auto-Submission)

TX-SD is a submission court with auto-submission on day 21. Counsel files the motion under LR 7.3; failure to respond by day 21 means no opposition; on day 21, the motion is submitted automatically to the court for ruling. Reply is due 7 days after response. The court rules on the papers; oral argument is not presumed and must be requested under LR 7.5.

The distinctive feature of TX-SD's procedural philosophy is not its operating model but the thinness of its district-wide rules. Length limits, formatting, discovery dispute procedures, and summary judgment requirements are largely set by the assigned judge's standing order rather than by the local rules. The Galveston Division has its own published Rules of Practice that supplement the district-wide rules.