D.C. Super. Ct. Civ. R. 104

Among the Courts in the District of Columbia

The following provisions, which implement the “Procedures for Avoiding and Resolving

Conflicts in Engagements of Counsel to Appear Before the Courts in the District of

Columbia” dated April 18, 1973, adopted by and applicable to the United States Court of

Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the United States District Court for the

District of Columbia, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, and the Superior Court

of the District of Columbia, shall apply to matters scheduled in this Court:

(a) Priority to Be Accorded Appellate Courts. Trial proceedings in this court will yield,

and if under way will be held in abeyance, during argument by trial counsel in an

appellate court.

(b) Priorities in Trial Courts. Actual trials of civil or criminal cases in this Court or in the

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia will be accorded priority over any nontrial

matters in either Court. For the purpose of this Rule, a hearing on a preliminary

injunction shall be regarded as a trial. A judge shall set a date for trial only after

ascertaining that trial counsel have no conflicting trial or appellate engagement in any

court within the District of Columbia. If, despite the foregoing and the obligations

imposed on counsel by section (c) of this Rule counsel should have more than one trial

set on 1 day, the following priorities will be recognized:

(1) That case which is first set to commence trial on a specific day will receive priority

over cases which are later set to commence trial on that day. A continued case shall be

treated as set as of the last setting date.

(2) Any trial in progress, including a trial in progress from day to day, shall take

precedence over trial or nontrial engagements of counsel which are set for times during

which the trial is still in progress.

(3) Nontrial matters in a trial court will yield to trials in any court.

(4) If a scheduled trial conflicts with a previously set nontrial matter and, because of

the urgency or complexity of the nontrial matter or the number of persons involved, it

would be difficult to reschedule the nontrial matter, counsel shall immediately advise the

court in which or the judge before whom the conflicting trial is scheduled. The court or

the judge will be receptive to counsel's application for a change of the trial date or an

adjustment of the hours of trial, but shall retain discretion to grant or deny such an

application.

(5) The judges of this court, insofar as practical, will attempt to adjust their schedules

to enable an attorney to attend to brief nontrial matters such as pleas, sentences, or

status and pretrial conferences pending in another court. It is recognized that

emergency situations will arise and that certain types of cases may require special

consideration. The judges of this court will attempt to accommodate these situations by

recognizing the need to depart, on occasion, from rigid scheduling rules when such

situations are brought to their attention by counsel.

(c) Responsibilities of Counsel. It is the professional responsibility of attorneys to avoid

the setting of conflicting engagements in the courts, to inform the courts of expected

difficulties or conflicts which may arise, and to achieve the resolution of such conflicts or

problems at the earliest possible time. The following particular obligations are imposed

upon counsel:

(1) Attorneys are expected to carry with them at all times they are in court a calendar

of their future court appearances.

(2) Attorneys shall appear personally before the judge when a case is being set, reset,

or continued except as otherwise specified below. They shall in every case inform the

court fully as to any matters which may conflict with a setting, resetting, or continued

date being considered by the court. Counsel shall not schedule engagements which

they cannot reasonably expect to attend at the time scheduled. They shall observe such

limitations on the number of matters they schedule as are imposed herein, or are

imposed by the individual courts of this jurisdiction, or which arise by reason of their

professional obligations to their clients. The sole exception to the requirement that

counsel appear personally before the judge when a case is being reset or continued

arises when counsel is physically unable to be present. In such event counsel should

leave 3 open dates with the judge in question, and the trial may be reset in counsel's

absence. It shall, however, be the attorney's duty to appear personally as soon as

possible before the judge who reset the case to confirm the reset date.

(3) Attorneys are obliged to take action immediately upon becoming aware of any

conflict and specifically to call the conflicting engagements to the attention of the judge

being asked to yield, and to pursue the matter until the conflict is resolved. Such matters

may be presented to the judge in open court as a preliminary matter, with advance

notice to other counsel.

(4) If counsel cannot avoid being unexpectedly late for or absent from any scheduled

appearance before any judge, they shall in advance of the scheduled appearance

personally inform the judge of that fact, the reason therefor, and the nature and duration

of the conflicting engagements.

(5) If an attorney has a felony case set for trial in any court on a given day, the

attorney shall not schedule any other case for trial on that day or for any day thereafter

during which that felony trial may reasonably be expected to continue. If an attorney has

a misdemeanor case set for jury trial on a given date, the attorney shall not schedule

more than 1 other misdemeanor case for trial on that day. These restrictions do not

apply to cases as to which an attorney is certain there will be a nontrial disposition.

(6) This Court will take appropriate disciplinary action when an attorney fails to

conduct himself or herself in accordance with the requirements and obligations imposed

by this Rule.