Division 15. Trial · Chapter 4.5. Expedited Jury Trials · Article 3. Rules Applicable Only to Cases with Voluntary Expedited Jury Trials · Last amended 2016 · Last verified July 29, 2026
(a) Submitting proposed consent order to the court
(1) Unless the court otherwise allows, to be eligible to participate in a voluntary expedited jury trial, the parties must submit to the court, no later than 30 days before any assigned trial date, a proposed consent order granting an expedited jury trial.
(2) The parties may enter into written stipulations regarding any high/low agreements or other matters. Only in the following circumstances may a high/low agreement be submitted to the court with the proposed consent order or disclosed later in the action:
(A) Upon agreement of the parties;
(B) In any case involving either
(i) A self-represented litigant, or
(ii) A minor, an incompetent person, or a person for whom a conservator has been appointed; or
(C) If necessary for entry or enforcement of the judgment. (Subd (a) amended effective July 1, 2016.)
(b) Optional content of proposed consent order In addition to complying with the provisions of Code of Civil Procedure section 630.03(e), the proposed consent order may include other agreements of the parties, including the following:
(1) Modifications of the requirements or timelines for pretrial submissions required by rule 3.1548;
(2) Limitations on the number of witnesses per party, including expert witnesses;
(3) Modification of statutory or rule provisions regarding exchange of expert witness information and presentation of testimony by such witnesses;
(4) Allocation of the time periods stated in rule 3.1550 including how arguments and cross-examination may be used by each party in the five-hour time frame;
(5) Any evidentiary matters agreed to by the parties, including any stipulations or admissions regarding factual matters;
(6) Any agreements about what constitutes necessary or relevant evidence for a particular factual determination;
(7) Agreements about admissibility of particular exhibits or demonstrative evidence that are presented without the legally required authentication or foundation;
(8) Agreements about admissibility of video or written depositions and declarations;
(9) Agreements about any other evidentiary issues or the application of any of the rules of evidence;
(10) Agreements to use photographs, diagrams, slides, electronic presentations, overhead projections, notebooks of exhibits, or other methods for presenting information to the jury;
(11) Agreements concerning the time frame for filing and serving motions in limine; and
(12) Agreements concerning numbers of jurors required for jury verdicts in cases with fewer than eight jurors. (Subd (b) amended effective July 1, 2016.)
A voluntary expedited jury trial only happens because the parties choose it, and Rule 3.1547 sets the mechanics for making that choice official. Unless the court allows otherwise, the parties must submit a proposed consent order at least 30 days before any assigned trial date. High/low agreements — private arrangements capping and flooring the eventual verdict — stay off the court’s radar by default; the rule only allows one to be submitted with the consent order or disclosed later if the parties agree to disclose it, if the case involves a self-represented litigant or a minor, incompetent person, or conservatee, or if disclosure becomes necessary to enter or enforce the judgment.
Beyond the statutory content the Code of Civil Procedure already requires, Rule 3.1547(b) offers a menu of optional terms the parties can fold into their consent order. They can modify the pretrial submission deadlines that would otherwise apply under Rule 3.1548, cap the number of witnesses each side calls, adjust how expert witness information gets exchanged, and decide in advance how each side will split its five hours of trial time between argument and cross-examination. The list goes further into evidentiary territory: stipulations on what counts as necessary or relevant evidence, agreements to admit exhibits or demonstrative evidence without the usual authentication or foundation, agreements about video or written depositions, and agreements about how many jurors an expedited trial with fewer than eight jurors needs for a verdict.
The overall design lets the parties trade the certainty of standard procedure for a trial built around what matters most in their case, as long as the consent order spells out the trade before trial begins.
Rule 3.1547 amended effective July 1, 2016; adopted effective January 1, 2011.