Chapter VI: Trials · Last amended March 1, 1989 · Last verified July 14, 2026
The twenty-day waiting period is inapplicable to hearings conducted by the court in connection with default judgments under Rule 55.
Effective March 1, 1989, Rule 40(a) was amended by abrogating reference to local rules. 536-538 So. 2d XXX (West Miss. Cas. 1989). Effective September 1, 1987, Rule 40 was amended by adding subsection (c) providing for the scheduling of trials by agreement of the parties. 508-511 So. 2d XXVIII (West Miss. Cas. 1987). Effective July 1, 1986, Rule 40(b) was amended by substantially rewriting it to shorten the time period provided for giving interested attorneys and parties notice of the setting of the trial docket; to provide for at least twenty days between the time of the setting of a case on the docket and the time of the trial; to provide for certain information to be recorded on the docket; and for other purposes. 486-490 So. 2d XXI (West Miss. Cas. 1986).
Rule 40(a) gives the court three ways to get a case onto the trial calendar: on its own initiative without any request from the parties, on a party's request with notice to the others, or in whatever other manner the court finds expedient. Before a case is called for trial, the parties must be given ample opportunity, in the court's sound discretion, to finish discovery.
Subsection (b) builds a two-step notice system around setting the trial docket. The court tells the clerk in writing when a docket will be set, and the clerk must notify all attorneys and self-represented parties with cases on the calendar at least five days before that docket-setting date, and the timing itself is protective: every case must be set on the trial docket at least twenty days before the trial date, unless the parties agree to a shorter period or the case falls under Rule 55's default-judgment procedure. The docket the clerk prepares must record the case, the trial date, the attorneys of record, and the place of trial, and it must also show who was present, in person or by designee, when the docket was set. Anyone not present at that setting gets a separate notice from the clerk within three days, delivered personally or by mail. The rule carves out matters where a defendant was already summoned to appear at a specific time and place under Rule 81, or where a trial date was already set through some other procedure — those situations are not governed by this notice scheme.
Subsection (c) lets the parties, including those appearing in a representative or fiduciary capacity, waive any waiting period these rules or a statute would otherwise impose and agree directly on a time and place for trial. The official Notes point out one specific exception built into the twenty-day scheme: that waiting period does not apply to hearings the court conducts in connection with default judgments under Rule 55.
Rule 40(a) allows three methods: the court can set the case on its own initiative, a party can request a setting with notice to the others, or the court can use whatever other manner it finds expedient.
Cases must be set on the trial docket at least twenty days before the trial date, unless the parties agree to a shorter period or Rule 55's default-judgment procedure applies. The clerk also gives at least five days' notice before the docket-setting session itself, and anyone absent from that session gets a follow-up notice within three days.
No. The official Notes to Rule 40 explain that the twenty-day waiting period does not apply to hearings the court conducts in connection with default judgments under Rule 55.
Yes. Rule 40(c) lets parties, including those acting in a representative or fiduciary capacity, waive any waiting period imposed by the rules or by statute and agree on a time and place for trial.
No. Rule 40(b) specifically excludes matters where a defendant was summoned to appear and defend at a set time and place under Rule 81, or where a trial date had already been set through some other procedure, from this rule's docket-notice requirements.