• Kathryn E. Bianchetti
  (312) 435-5619

• James Dvorak
• Matthew Turnell

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

• Melanie Foster
  (312) 435-5556
  Room: 1204

The initial appearance of the parties will be the initial scheduling conference. If necessary, the court will set an initial scheduling conference within 60 days of the filing of a general civil complaint. Prior to the initial scheduling conference, the parties shall fully comply with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a) and 26(f). The dates for the close of discovery, the pretrial conference, and trial will be set at the initial scheduling conference.

Motions are heard at 9:00 a.m. on Tue., Wed., & Thu. All motions must be E-filed/filed in the Office of the Clerk. Any motions noticed for Tuesday must be filed no later than the close of business on the Wednesday prior to the date the motion is to be heard. Any motions noticed for Wednesday must be filed no later than the close of business on the Thursday prior to the date the motion is to be heard. Any motions noticed for Thursday must be filed no later than the close of business on the Friday prior to the date the motion is to be heard. A courtesy copy is to be delivered to Chambers 1288 within one (1) business day of E-filing/filing.

Status hearings are held at 9:00 a.m. on Tue., Wed., & Thu.

The court will set an initial status hearing within 14 days of the filing of an appeal from an administrative agency decision, e.g. bankruptcy appeal, social security appeal.

All pretrial orders must be completed pursuant to Local Rule 16.1 and are to be filed 14 days prior to the scheduled pretrial conference.

Motions for summary judgment, including supporting memorandum and statements of fact, shall be filed, noticed, and presented at motion call for a briefing schedule within 21 days of the date of the close of discovery set at the initial scheduling conference.

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_Darrah@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.