• Linda Surprenant
  (312) 435-5696

• Gladys Lugo
  (312) 435-5605
  Room: 2516-A

• Betsy Cammarata
• Julie Saranow

• Mary Hacker
  (312) 435-5564
  Room: 1426

The court will set cases for status within 45 days of the filing of the complaint. At the initial status conference the parties will:
1) inform the court of the nature and scope of the case,
2) identify settlement opportunities,
3) set the initial discovery parameters, and
4) schedule future conferences and, when necessary, motions. The court will set discovery and pretrial order deadlines at the time of the initial status.

Parties are to contact the Judge's Courtroom Deputy to schedule a date for a settlement conference.  Both sides must agree to the settlement conference.   Principles or someone with settlement authority are to be present.

Scheduling Motions -- The court hears motions on Tuesday and Thursday at 10:30 AM. Parties are to call chambers at (312) 435 -5696 or the courtroom deputy at (312) 435-5605, the day before the Motion Call, after 4:00 p.m. to find out if an appearance is necessary. Unless the court has told a party it need not appear, counsel is expected to be present whether or not the motion is agreed. The Original and one copy of a motion should be filed in the Clerk's Office of the 20th Floor no later than the second business day preceding the day the motion is to be heard. Chambers will accept courtesy copies. Filings are accepted in Chambers up until 4:30 p.m.

a. Meeting Requirement

The court encourages the parties to work out discovery disputes and discourages the filing of discovery motions. Discovery disputes are normally resolved at a status call or a pretrial conference without briefing. If the matter is not resolved, then the court will set a briefing schedule.
With regard to the filing of motions for discovery and production of documents under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26-37, the court will not hear or consider any discovery motions unless the parties have complied with Local Rule 37.2 In any motion for discovery or production of documents, the movant shall state when and how the movant complied with Local Rule 37.2. Failure to comply with these rules will result in the imposition of sanctions. Most often the court will rule on these motions after oral argument at the motion call and without briefing. The court will also consider these motions at a status call or a settlement conference.

Too often litigants are unaware of the efficiencies to be gained by having their cases tried before United States Magistrate Judges. The court strongly encourages counsel to inform their clients of this option, and to discuss it with opposing counsel.  Magistrate Judge Consent Form

Briefs on appeal from the United States Bankruptcy Court must be filed within 15 days of the entry of judgment by the Bankruptcy Court. Any motions to extend time must be filed during the 15-day period. Briefs are limited to 15 pages each.

The Chief Judge is the administrative liaison Judge for Visiting Judges. Once a case has been assigned to a Visiting Judge for trial, any motions are to be filed in Judge Aspen's chambers, Room 2548. An original and a copy are to be filed. Parties are to send a courtesy copy to the designated Visiting Judge. Motions are not to be noticed for a hearing date. The designated Visiting Judge will contact the parties as to the status of the motion(s).

Proposed Orders are technically not to be "filed." Rather, they are to be "submitted" to the judge to consider, to modify, if appropriate, and to enter electronically. For example, proposed orders such as stipulated protective orders require court approval before actually being given full effect. To prevent confusion, such proposed orders must be attached to an e-mail sent to the e-mail address of the assigned judge, Proposed_Order_Aspen@ilnd.uscourts.gov  The subject line of the e-mail must include the case number and name, the docket number of the corresponding motion, if any, and the title of the order that is proposed as indicated on the Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF). All such documents must be submitted to the court in a format compatible with WordPerfect, which is a "Save As" option in most word processing software. Such proposed orders should also be served on all parties.