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Rule 104.Avoidance and Resolution of Conflicts in Engagements of Counsel

Group XII: Attorneys and Counsel · Not amended since adoption on record · Last verified July 14, 2026

In one sentenceRule 104 adopts the 1973 interagency scheduling protocol shared by DC's federal and local courts, ranking appellate arguments and trials over other matters and requiring attorneys to disclose and resolve conflicting court dates promptly.

Full Text of Rule 104

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Among the Courts in the District of Columbia The following provisions, which implement the “Procedures 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 United States 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 U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia 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 1 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) Nontrial matters in a trial court will yield to trials in any court.
(4) 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.
(5) 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 3 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 personally inform the judge of that fact, the reason therefor, and the nature and duration of the conflicting engagements.
(5) If an attorney has a 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 day 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 1 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.
End

Plain-English Summary

Trial lawyers often carry cases in more than one courtroom, and calendars collide. Rule 104 answers the collision by adopting a 1973 agreement among the courts that sit in the District of Columbia — the federal circuit and district courts, the D.C. Court of Appeals, and Superior Court — about whose proceeding wins when two are scheduled at once. Appellate argument by trial counsel comes first; the trial proceeding yields, and if it is already under way, it is held in abeyance until the argument ends.

Among trial-level matters, an actual trial (including a preliminary injunction hearing, which the rule treats as a trial) outranks any nontrial business in either court. A judge is not supposed to set a trial date until confirming that trial counsel has no conflicting trial or appellate commitment elsewhere in the District. When conflicts still arise despite that check, Rule 104(b) ranks them: the case set first for that day wins, a trial already under way takes precedence over anything scheduled during it, and nontrial matters generally give way to trials. If a nontrial matter is urgent, complex, or involves enough people that rescheduling it would be difficult, counsel must promptly alert the court or judge handling the conflicting trial, who may adjust the trial date or hours but keeps full discretion over that decision. Judges also try to accommodate brief matters like pleas, sentencings, or status conferences pending in another court.

None of this works unless attorneys do their part, and Rule 104(c) spells out what that means: carry a calendar of upcoming appearances, appear personally when a case is being set or reset (with a narrow exception for counsel physically unable to attend, who should leave three open dates with the judge and later appear to confirm the reset date), flag conflicts to the judge being asked to yield as soon as they surface, and give advance personal notice of any unavoidable lateness or absence. A felony trial blocks an attorney from scheduling any other trial for that day or the days it is expected to run; a misdemeanor jury trial limits the attorney to no more than one other misdemeanor trial the same day, unless a nontrial disposition is certain. The court can take disciplinary action against a lawyer who disregards these obligations.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if my trial lawyer has a conflicting argument in an appellate court?

Rule 104(a) gives the appellate argument priority — the trial proceeding yields, or is held in abeyance if already under way, while trial counsel argues in the appellate court.

If two trials are set for the same day, which one goes first?

The case first set to commence trial that day gets priority over cases set later, and a trial already in progress takes precedence over anything scheduled for the time it is still running.

What must happen before a judge sets a case for trial?

The judge must first confirm that trial counsel has no conflicting trial or appellate engagement in any court within the District of Columbia.

Can an attorney have more than one trial scheduled for the same day?

A felony trial blocks that attorney from scheduling any other trial for that day or the days it may reasonably run; a misdemeanor jury trial limits the attorney to no more than one other misdemeanor trial that same day, unless a nontrial disposition is certain.

What if an attorney cannot appear in person when a case is being reset?

Physical inability to be present is the sole exception to appearing personally when a case is reset or continued; counsel should leave three open dates with the judge and later appear personally, as soon as possible, to confirm the reset date.

Source & verification. Rule text and official Comments are reproduced verbatim from the District of Columbia Superior Court Rules of Civil Procedure, adopted by the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Last verified July 14, 2026. · Official source
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