Date Certain Trials

General Civil Trial Listing

Any party may certify a case as ready for trial in accordance with Bucks County Local Rule of Civil Procedure (BCRCP) Number 261. When a case is properly certified as ready for trial the Court Administrator lists the case on the general trial list. Generally, cases will be called to trial 6 to 10 weeks after the date they are certified as ready for trial. Each trial term lasts 1 to 2 weeks.

Qualifications for Obtaining a Date Certain Trial Listing

Parties may submit a request for a Date Certain Trial listing if all parties agree, the length of the trial is 5 or more days, and multiple experts and/or out of town witnesses are necessary and will be called. Parties requesting a Date Certain Trial must enter into a Preliminary Date Certain Case Management Order ("Date Certain CMO") in the form found at the link below. If the parties are unable to agree to the terms of a Date Certain CMO, the Court may sua sponte establish binding case deadlines pursuant to BCRCP Number 212.8.

After discovery is completed and the other conditions of the Date Certain CMO have been satisfied, in accordance with the Date Certain CMO, any party may file a Praecipe for a Date Certain Case Management Conference by completing and filing the form found at the link below. A courtesy copy of the filed Praecipe, along with a Date Certain Pre-Trial Conference Scheduling Order shall be submitted to the Chambers of the Honorable Robert O. Baldi and to the Office of the Court Administrator, Calendar.

Upon receipt of the Praecipe and Scheduling Order a Pre-Trial Conference will be scheduled with a Judge. If the presiding Judge approves the request for a Date Certain Trial, a trial date will be assigned following the Pre-Trial Conference.

Continuance of a Date Certain Trial Listing

Requests for continuance of a Date Certain Trial are only considered when unavoidable and/or emergency situations arise.

If a continuance request is denied, the parties may request that the matter be stricken from the scheduled Date Certain Trial listing. The case will lose its Date Certain status and will only be listed on the general trial list upon the filing of an Omnibus Praecipe to list the case for trial pursuant to BCRCP Number 261. Please advise the Chambers of the Honorable Robert O. Baldi and the Office of the Court Administrator, Calendar, of any request to strike the Date Certain Trial listing as soon as possible so that the reserved date(s) can be made available to others requesting a Date Certain Trial listing.

If a case should settle prior to the scheduled Date Certain Trial listing, kindly notify the Chambers of the Honorable Robert O. Baldi and to the Office of the Court Administrator, Calendar, immediately for scheduling and other administrative purposes.