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Rule 194.4. Pretrial Disclosures (2021)

TEXT

(a) In General. In addition to the disclosures required by Rule 194.2 and 194.3, a party must provide to the other parties and promptly file the following information about the evidence that it may present at trial other than solely for impeachment:

(1) the name and, if not previously provided, the address, and telephone number of each witness-separately identifying those the party expects to present and those it may call if the need arises;

(2) an identification of each document or other exhibits, including summaries of other evidence-separately identifying those items the party expects to offer and those it may offer if the need arises.

(b) Time for Pretrial Disclosures. Unless the court orders otherwise, these disclosures must be made at least 30 days before trial.

(c) Proceedings Exempt from Pretrial Disclosure. An action arising under the Family Code filed by or against the Title IV-D agency in a Title IV-D case is exempt from pretrial disclosure, but a court may order the parties to make particular disclosures and set the time for disclosure.

Amended by order of Dec. 23, 2020, eff. Jan. 1, 2021.

Notes and Comments

Comments to 2021 change:

Rule 194 is amended to implement section 22.004(h-1) of the Texas Government Code. Rule 194 is amended based on Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a) to require disclosure of basic discovery automatically, without awaiting a discovery request. A party is not excused from making its disclosures because it has not fully investigated the case or because it challenges the sufficiency of another party's disclosures or because another party has not made its disclosures. As with other written discovery responses, required disclosures must be signed under Rule 191.3, complete under Rule 193.1, served under Rule 191.5, and timely amended or supplemented under Rule 193.5.