| Motion
Practice |
All motions, civil and criminal, are generally heard only on Tuesday,
Wednesday and Thursday at 9:00 a.m.
The motion must be electronically filed in compliance with Local Rule
5.2(a), or the original and one copy must be delivered to the clerk's office on the 20th Floor if the party is not a registered e-filer, no later than the third business day preceding the day the motion is to be heard. A courtesy copy should be delivered to the courtroom deputy at the same time, in accordance with
Local Rule 5.2(e).
Counsel should designate an
uncontested motion as an "agreed motion." Please check the
court’s website at www.ilnd.uscourts.gov
(Judges; Judge Conlon; Motion Calls) or the bulletin board outside the
courtroom (#1743) after 3:00 p.m. the afternoon prior to the hearing
date to determine whether an appearance is necessary. If an appearance
is not necessary, it is the obligation of the movant to notify the
respondent(s) accordingly.
Motions to extend a discovery cutoff date or to reset a trial date, whether agreed or contested, will normally require a court appearance. Telephone oral motions or requests for extensions of time will not be considered under any circumstances. No exceptions.
All cell phones and audible pagers brought into the courtroom must be turned off. No exceptions. A violation is contempt of court and the phone or pager shall be forfeited.
A. EMERGENCY MOTIONS
Requests to set a hearing on an emergency motion shall be made to the minute clerk. All reasonable efforts must be made to give actual notice to opposing counsel. Emergency motions should not be noticed on the court’s motion call.
B. SUMMARY JUDGMENT MOTIONS
Motions for summary judgment and responses must comply with Local
General Rule 56.
A limit of 80 asserted statement of fact and 40 assertions of additional statements of fact will be strictly enforced. Any brief that exceeds these limitations without first obtaining leave of court will be stricken.
C. DISCOVERY MOTIONS
Civil discovery motions shall not be heard without an affidavit
pursuant to Rule 37.2 of the Local General Rules. In addition, no
party shall serve on any other party more than twenty-five (25)
interrogatories in the aggregate without leave of court.
Criminal motions shall not be heard unless a conference has been
held and a statement is submitted in compliance with Rule 12.1(b)
of the Local Criminal Rules.
D. AUTOMATIC DISCLOSURE UNDER AMENDED FED. R. CIV. P. 26 (1993)
(1) This court generally orders the initial disclosures required by
Rule 26(a)(1).
(2) Disclosures regarding experts' opinions, the basis and
supporting data, information and exhibits, qualifications, fees, and
other cases in which the expert has testified in the last four years
are automatically required by Rule 26(a)(2).
(3) Expert disclosures required by Rule 26(a)(2) shall be made
no later than thirty (30) days before the discovery cut-off date,
unless ordered otherwise. Rebuttal information required by
Rule 26(a)(2) must be provided no later than ten (10) days before
the discovery cut-off date, unless ordered otherwise.
(4) Compliance with Rule 26(a)(2) is required before an expert
may be designated as a trial witness in the final pretrial order.
E. MEMORANDA OF LAW
The fifteen (15) page limitation on all memoranda shall be strictly
enforced. A motion exceeding that limit is looked upon with disfavor
and shall not be granted except in unusual circumstances.
F. BRIEFING SCHEDULE
Briefing schedules are generally set by court order. A motion
for extension of time shall not be granted except on a showing of good
cause. The circumstances warranting an extension shall be set forth in
specific detail by written motion. Unauthorized briefs shall be
stricken. Counsel shall not respond to motions by correspondence
with the court.
|
| Status
Calls |
Status hearings are generally held at 9:00
a.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for all cases,
civil and criminal. Status calls are held to enable the court to set a
discovery and trial schedule. Trial and discovery cutoff dates will
not be reset except by written motion. Counsel of record primarily
responsible for a case are expected to appear at status calls.
|
| Guilty
Pleas |
Generally, guilty pleas should be proffered before the date of the pretrial conference.
A copy of the plea agreement shall be submitted to chambers one business day before the hearing on a change of plea.
Sentencing hearings are generally scheduled on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 1:00 p.m. Objections to sentencing guidelines in the presentence report or motions for departure must be in writing and submitted in accordance with the schedule set by the court.
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| Final
Pretrial Order |
In all civil cases, except those exempted by Rule 16.1 of the Local General Rules, a joint final pretrial order shall be filed in open court. Trial counsel shall be fully prepared and have authority to discuss all aspects of the case, including scheduling of the trial. For jury trials, the pretrial order shall be in the form provided in Local General Rule 16.1 and shall include agreed pattern jury instructions. The court's written biographical jury questions are available from the minute clerk. Counsel may submit additional, case specific voir dire questions in the pretrial order.
For bench trials, witness and exhibit lists and stipulated facts are required. Trial briefs and proposed findings are optional, unless specifically requested by the court. The original order shall be top-bound, and the court's copy placed in a three-ring binder, and appropriately tabbed.
|
| Final
Pretrial Conferences |
A final pretrial conference is held prior to all criminal and civil jury trials. The court requires attendance by trial counsel and may request attendance by the parties in civil cases. Trial procedures and scheduling are discussed at this time.
MOTIONS ARE NOT HEARD AT PRETRIAL
CONFERENCES.
|
| Trials |
Trial dates are firm subject to court availability. Accordingly, any motion to reset a trial date shall be made at the earliest possible time.
All exhibits are to be marked numerically (e.g., PX or GX 1; JX 1; DX 2) before trial. Copies are to be furnished to opposing counsel and the court with an exhibit list identifying exhibits by number with brief descriptions.
"JX" designates
joint exhibits. The parties shall not present the identical exhibits
with different exhibit numbers (e.g., PX1 and DX1
referring to the same document).
Counsel are to meet before submission of the joint pretrial order for the purpose of designating agreed jury instructions, preferably pattern instructions. The working sets of jury instructions shall be numbered by each party to facilitate orderly discussion of disputed instructions. The court recommends use of the pattern instructions adopted by the Northern District of Illinois or the Illinois Pattern Instructions.
Deposition testimony shall be presented by reading a written summary that excludes all colloquy and irrelevant matters. Unless otherwise ordered, counsel are to exchange written deposition summaries at least two weeks before trial.
Counsel are then to meet and work out any language problems before
trial. Evidentiary objections are to be noted by bracketing the objected to material and by a marginal notation briefly stating the basis of the objection (e.g., speculation, cumulative, irrelevant, Fed.
R. Evid. 403, etc.).
If a civil case has been settled or if a defendant in a criminal case intends to plead guilty, the minute clerk shall be notified promptly.
Jury costs and witness fees may be assessed for failure to inform the clerk of a settlement or guilty plea until the day of
trial. See Local General
Rule 54.2.
In criminal cases, the Assistant United States Attorney is requested to produce all § 3500 material to defense counsel prior to each court session in order to give defense counsel adequate
time to review the material without using court time.
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| Contact with Jurors |
After conclusion of a trial in a criminal or civil case, no party or attorney shall communicate or attempt to communicate with any juror without prior authorization of the court. |
| Submitting a Proposed Order, Agreed or Otherwise, for Electronic Entry by the Judge |
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_Conlon@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. |
