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Rule 375. Stipulation As to Record

TEXT

The parties by written stipulation filed with the clerk of the trial court may designate the parts of the record, proceedings and evidence to be included in the record on appeal.

Source: Federal Rule 75 (f), with minor textual change.

Oct. 29, 1940, eff. Sept. 1, 1941.

Repealed by order of April 10, 1986, eff. Sept. 1, 1986.

ADVISORY OPINIONS

(No. 56) Question: Do the new rules allow a part of a pleading to be left out of the transcript? Is it permissible to omit from the transcript exceptions contained in a pleading that are not material to the points to be raised on appeal?

Answer: It is our opinion that the above questions should be answered in the affirmative.

Where the parties enter into a written stipulation as to what the transcript or statement of facts shall contain, Rule 375 expressly makes such a stipulation controlling. Rules 376, 377, and 378 also recog­nize the controlling effect of any agree­ment of the parties in preparing the record. Therefore it is clear that by written agreement any part of any docu­ment can properly be omitted from the transcript.

Even where there is no written agree­ment by the parties, it is our opinion that exceptions or portion of a pleading that are not material to the points to be raised on appeal can properly be omitted from the transcript. Rule 370 shows that it is the spirit and purpose of the rules to abbreviate the record as much as possible and to omit therefrom all matter not material to the appeal. Rule 376 provides for the inclusion in the transcript of "the material pleadings," and we feel that when this is construed in the light of the gen­eral spirit of the rules it authorizes the inclusion of only a part of a pleading when the other part is not material to the ques­tions involved in the appeal.

Where the appellant desires that only a portion of a particular pleading be included in the transcript his written designation should set out clearly what parts or paragraphs of the pleading he desires included, or if more convenient he could set out which parts or paragraphs of the particular pleading he desires omitted as being immaterial to the appeal. The ap­pellee can then request that all or parts of the omitted matter be included, should the appellee deem said parts material to his contentions on the appeal. Of course the pleadings should not be garbled or deletions made in such a manner as to affect the meaning of the portion that is in­cluded in the transcript.

5 Tex. B.J. 322 (1942) reprinted in 8 Tex. B.J. 23 (1945).