Legal Definitions - minute order

A minute order is a concise, informal record of a court's action or decision made during a hearing or other court proceeding. It is typically prepared by the court clerk and briefly summarizes the judge'sruling, directives, or scheduling decisions. While a minute order serves as an immediate record and notice of the court's action, it is often followed by a more formal, detailed written order signed by the judge.

• Imagine a civil lawsuit where one party requests the judge to postpone the trial date (a motion for continuance). During the hearing, after listening to arguments from both sides, the judge states, "Motion for continuance is granted. New trial date to be set." The court clerk would then record this decision in the court's official minutes as a minute order, noting the judge's ruling and the instruction to reschedule.

  This illustrates a minute order because it is a brief, immediate record of the judge's ruling on a procedural matter, made during a hearing by the clerk, providing instant notice of the court's decision.

• In a family law case, if a parent files an emergency request for temporary custody due to immediate safety concerns for a child, the judge might hold an expedited hearing. After hearing testimony, the judge might verbally declare, "Temporary sole custody granted to petitioner, pending a full evidentiary hearing next month." The court clerk would document this immediate, temporary ruling as a minute order.

  This demonstrates a minute order as it captures a quick, on-the-spot directive from the judge in an urgent situation, immediately recorded by the clerk to reflect the court's temporary ruling and provide official notice to the parties.

• During a routine status conference for a complex business dispute, the judge might review the progress of the case. If one party has failed to comply with a previous order to produce certain documents, the judge might state, "The court imposes a monetary sanction of $1,000 for the failure to comply with the discovery order. The next status conference is scheduled for November 10th." The clerk would enter these directives regarding the sanction and future scheduling into the court's minutes as a minute order.

  This is a minute order because it captures the judge's immediate decisions regarding a penalty and future court dates, recorded concisely by the clerk during a court proceeding, serving as an official record of these actions.