For a lawyer who convinces a judge to grant an application for a temporary restraining order, congratulations are in order. But celebration needs to be quick, because there’s an extraordinary amount of work involved in the two weeks leading up to the temporary injunction hearing. My time on the state district court bench taught me that there are three things counsel must accomplish to successfully turn a TRO into a temporary injunction.
1. Conference with the court. Texas law allows the trial judge to impose reasonable limits on the evidence presented at a temporary injunction hearing. Well before the temporary injunction hearing (and preferably when the judge enters the TRO), counsel should ask how long each side will have to present evidence and argument.
