Status hearings are held Monday through Friday at 9:45 a.m. Status
calls are scheduled to review the progress of pretrial discovery,
settlement discussions, other matters that will help move the case to
an efficient resolution and to enable the Court to set cases for trial
on a prompt basis. At the initial status hearing, counsel should be
prepared to discuss the scheduling of discovery. Counsel of record
primarily responsible for a case are expected to appear at status
calls.
A. Joint Written Status Reports
At least three working days before the initial status hearing, the
parties shall file a joint written status report,
not to exceed three pages in length, addressing the legal and factual
issues involved in the case, outstanding discovery issues, pending
motions, and the status of settlement discussions. If after
cooperative efforts the parties cannot prepare a joint report, each
party shall submit a status report, not to exceed three pages in
length, addressing the aforementioned topics and designating which
issues are in dispute.
B. Bankruptcy and Social Security Appeals
1. Bankruptcy Appeals
a. Jurisdiction. The jurisdictional statute governing
traditional appeals from judgments, orders and decrees entered by
bankruptcy judges is 28 U.S.C. § 158. Although parties may take
appeals from either final or interlocutory orders under section
158(a), the procedures for pursuing these appeals in the district
court are different.
(1) Mandatory appeals . If an order is final, the district court
has mandatory jurisdiction to hear the appeal. 28 U.S.C. § 158(a).
The rules governing such appeals are found in Fed. R. Bankr. P.
8001-8019 and will be strictly enforced by the Court. The filing of a
proper notice of appeal generally has the effect of immediately
transferring jurisdiction from the bankruptcy court to the district
court with respect to any matters involved in the appeal. 9 COLLIER ON
BANKRUPTCY ¶ 8001.04 (15th ed. 1993).
Once the Notice of Appeal is docketed by the Clerk of the United
States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the
case is assigned to this Court, the parties should proceed as follows:
(a) A Joint "Appellate Status Report" should be
filed with this Court within seven (7) days, apprising the Court of
the following information:
- The Basis For Appellate Jurisdiction;
- The Relief Sought By Appellants;
- The Stipulated Facts (if any);
- The Legal And Factual Issues On Review;
- The Appellate Standard of Review;
- Citations To Key Authorities (including the bankruptcy code,
the bankruptcy rules, and applicable local, federal civil and
appellate rules of procedure);
- The Procedural History Of The Case (i.e., proceedings in the
bankruptcy court and the procedural posture of the appeal with
respect to any other outstanding claims or cases still in the
bankruptcy or in other courts);
- The Contents Of The Record On Appeal.
(b) The appellant shall serve and file a brief with the district
court (acting as an appellate court) within fifteen (15) days after
the appeal is entered on the docket pursuant to Bankruptcy Rule
8007. Rule 8009(1). Further, the appellee shall serve and file a
brief with the Court within 15 days after service of the appellant's
brief. Rule 8009(2). If the appellee has filed a cross appeal, the
brief of the appellee shall contain the issues and argument
pertinent to the cross appeal, denominated as such, and the response
to the brief of the appellant. Id. The appellant may serve and file
a reply brief within 10 days after service of the brief of the
appellee, and if the appellee has cross-appealed, the appellee may
file and serve a reply brief to the response of the appellant to the
issues presented in the cross appeal within 10 days after service of
the reply brief of the appellant. No further briefs may be filed
except with leave of the district court. Rule 8009(3).
(c) Failure by the appellant to file a brief within the proper
time will result in dismissal for failure to prosecute. Failure by
the appellee to file a response within the proper time will result
in an order to show cause within seven (7) days why default should
not be entered on the appeal. Further failure to answer the order to
show cause will result in the entry of default. See generally Rule
1013(b).
(d) The briefs filed by the parties should contain references to
the relevant portions of the record on appeal and should attach
documents such as transcripts of oral rulings by the bankruptcy
judge as exhibits, pursuant to Rule 8009(b).
(e) The briefs should conform to Rule 8010.
(2) Interlocutory appeals. If the bankruptcy order is
interlocutory, the district court has discretion to grant or deny
leave to appeal. Id. Although section 158(a) does not provide
guidelines for the exercise of the Court's discretion, the Seventh
Circuit has held that district courts have discretion to hear appeals
from the bankruptcy court without first certifying the issue in a
manner similar to that under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b) of the Federal Rules
of Civil Procedure. In re Jartran, Inc., 886 F.2d 859, 865-66 (7th
Cir. 1989).
A party seeking to pursue an interlocutory appeal from the
bankruptcy court must first notify the bankruptcy judge of its
intention by seeking a stay of the order pending appeal, Rule 8005; by
filing a notice of appeal, Rule 8001(b); and by filing a "Motion
for Leave to Appeal," Rule 8003(b), with proof of service in
accordance with Rule 8008, within ten (10) days of the entry of the
order. Rule 8003(c).
As provided in Rule 8003, "[a] motion for leave to appeal
under 28 U.S.C. § 158(a) shall contain: (1) a statement of the facts
necessary to an understanding of the questions to be presented by the
appeal; (2) a statement of those questions and of the relief sought;
(3) a statement of the reasons why an appeal should be granted; and
(4) a copy of the judgment, order or decree complained of and of any
opinion or memorandum related thereto. Within 10 days after service of
the motion, an adverse party may file with the clerk an answer in
opposition." R. 8003.
This motion, although transmitted by the bankruptcy court to the
district court, must be properly presented to the Court. Failure to
present this motion to this Court within ten (10) days of its filing
will result in an automatic dismissal of the motion for failure to
prosecute. See United States v. Ellis, 50 F.3d 419 (7th Cir. 1995);
Martin-Trigona v. Champion Fed. Savings & Loan Assoc., 892 F.2d
575 (7th Cir. 1989).
b. Dismissals
After the appeal has been docketed, voluntary dismissals, are
governed by Rule 8001(c)(2). The parties should also file a motion for
voluntary dismissal of the appeal with this Court as soon as possible.
In this motion, the appellant should set forth the proposed terms and
conditions of the dismissal for the Court's review.
2. Social Security Appeals
Generally within seven (7) days of the assignment of a Social
Security Appeal to the docket of this Court, the Court will set a
briefing schedule by mail which ordinarily will require that the
issues on appeal be submitted in memoranda according to the following
schedule: sixty (60) days for the initial brief for summary judgment
on appeal; forty (40) days for the response; and fourteen (14) days
for any reply brief. Thereafter, the Court will rule by mail. The use
of this standard briefing schedule should help reduce costs for the
parties and lead to an early resolution of the appeal. Parties who
need a more extended briefing schedule, should file a motion
(preferably by agreement) to extend the Court's standard briefing
schedule by setting forth good cause for the amount of time requested.
The failure of the parties to file required briefs in a timely fashion
may result in a dismissal for want of prosecution or the entry of a
default judgment.
