ga-schedule-hearing

Set a Hearing (Georgia)

NOT LEGAL ADVICE. This skill is a procedural and drafting aid, not legal advice. Verify current rules, deadlines, and venue-specific practices before filing. Pair with substantive review by counsel where stakes warrant.

In Georgia civil practice, a hearing on a motion is obtained through the Rule Nisi mechanism. A party requests oral argument under USCR 6.3, and the court sets the hearing by signing a Rule Nisi under USCR 6.4 — a proposed order, prepared by the movant and presented to chambers, that fixes the date and time the judge will hear the matter. This skill drafts that Rule Nisi and the accompanying Notice of Hearing.

The Rule Nisi — Georgia's hearing-setting device

A Rule Nisi ("rule unless") is a short proposed order. The movant drafts it with a blank date/time, sends it to the assigned judge's chambers, and the judge signs it with the date the court is available. The signed Rule Nisi is then served on all parties and tells everyone when and where to appear.

Step	What happens
1. File the motion	Stated with particularity under USCR 6.1
2. Request oral argument	Under USCR 6.3 (for summary judgment, a timely request makes oral argument a matter of right)
3. Draft the Rule Nisi	Proposed order setting hearing date/time/place; leave date/time blank or propose dates
4. Coordinate with chambers	Get an available date from the judge's staff attorney / calendar clerk
5. Judge signs the Rule Nisi	Under USCR 6.4 the court sets the hearing
6. Serve and file	Serve the signed Rule Nisi + Notice of Hearing on all parties; e-file

Coordinating with chambers

Hearing dates come from the assigned judge's chambers, not from a self-service docket. Contact the judge's staff attorney or calendar clerk to obtain an available date before finalizing the Rule Nisi. Practice varies by judge and county:

• Some chambers want the proposed Rule Nisi emailed in Word so the staff attorney can insert the date and route it for signature.
• Some divisions publish a standing motions calendar and assign you a slot.
• In Fulton, check the assigned judge's Civil Standing Case Management Order for the chambers contact and the preferred method of requesting a setting.

Agent behavior: when drafting the request, fetch the assigned judge's current chambers contact (staff attorney / calendar clerk) from the county Superior or State Court website. Do not cache or guess chambers contacts — they change at judicial rotation.

Rule Nisi template

                          [Caption]

                          RULE NISI

The above-styled matter coming before the Court on [Movant]'s
[Motion Title], filed [date],

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that a hearing on said Motion shall be held
before the Honorable [Judge Name] on the ____ day of __________,
20__, at ____ __.m., in Courtroom ____, [Courthouse Name and
Address], [City], Georgia.

All parties shall appear and show cause why the relief requested
should not be granted.

SO ORDERED, this ____ day of __________, 20__.

                                   ___________________________
                                   Judge, [Superior / State] Court
                                   [Circuit] Judicial Circuit

Notice of Hearing template

After the judge signs the Rule Nisi, serve a Notice of Hearing (Georgia terminology) on all parties:

                          [Caption]

                       NOTICE OF HEARING

TO: [All parties / counsel of record]

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that [Movant]'s [Motion Title] is scheduled for
hearing before the Honorable [Judge Name] on [date] at [time] in
Courtroom [###], [Courthouse Name and Address], pursuant to the
Rule Nisi entered by the Court on [date].

This ____ day of __________, 20__.

                                   [Signature block]
                                   [Name]
                                   [Georgia Bar No. or "Pro Se"]
                                   [Address / Phone / Email]

                  [Certificate of Service]

Service of the Rule Nisi and Notice

The signed Rule Nisi and the Notice of Hearing are subsequent papers served under O.C.G.A. § 9-11-5 with a certificate of service at the foot. Registered e-filers are served through the e-filing system; any party not on the e-filing system must be served by the method the rules allow (mail, hand delivery). Confirm every party receives actual notice of the date.

E-filing the Rule Nisi

Georgia civil e-filing is mandatory in the flagship counties (SB407 mandate). The e-filing system is county-dependent:

• Fulton and Cobb — PeachCourt (eFileGA).
• Gwinnett — Odyssey eFileGA (Tyler).

Confirm the county's system on the assigned court's site. Upload the proposed Rule Nisi for chambers' signature per local practice, then file the signed Rule Nisi and the Notice of Hearing under the case.

Family-case calendaring

In divorce and other domestic matters (heard exclusively in Superior Court), the case is assigned to a division and calendaring runs through that assigned division. In Fulton, that is the dedicated Family Division. Before the hearing, confirm the pre-hearing filings required by the domestic standing order are on file — the Domestic Relations Financial Affidavit (USCR 24.2) and the Child Support Worksheet — or the court may decline to reach the merits. Temporary hearings in family cases are commonly set by Rule Nisi the same way.

Hearing-length estimation guidance

Motion type	Typical length
Motion to dismiss (O.C.G.A. § 9-11-12(b)(6))	30-60 min
Motion for summary judgment (O.C.G.A. § 9-11-56)	60-90 min
Motion to compel (O.C.G.A. § 9-11-37)	30 min
Motion to open default (O.C.G.A. § 9-11-55)	30-60 min
Temporary hearing (family)	30-90 min
Final hearing — uncontested divorce	5-15 min
Permanent/final hearing — contested family	Half-day to full day

Composition

• For drafting the underlying motion: ga-draft-motion
• For the Rule Nisi and the Notice of Hearing as orders/notices: ga-draft-order, ga-draft-note
• For hearing-day prep and protocol: ga-hearings
• For court-specific scheduling channels and e-filing system: ga-fulton, ga-cobb, ga-gwinnett
• For deadlines and timing: ga-deadlines
• For format: ga-statewide-format
• For assembling and filing the packet: ga-file-packet

References

• references/rule-nisi-template.md
• references/notice-of-hearing-template.md
• references/chambers-coordination.md — staff-attorney / calendar- clerk contact and per-county e-filing