OF COUNSEL AMONG THE COURTS IN THE DISTRICT OF
COLUMBIA
The following provisions, which implement the "Procedure 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 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 Superior Court 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 one 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) 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.
(4) 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 three 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
notify by telephone the judge's courtroom deputy of that fact, the reason therefore
and the nature and duration of the conflicting engagements.
(5) If an attorney has a criminal 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 date
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 one 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.
