| Motions
and Protective Orders |
A. Motions will be heard at 9:30 a.m., Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday
B. All electronically filed motions must be filed no later than the third business day preceding the day the motion is to be heard. Please deliver a courtesy copy to chambers of all motions and supporting documents.
C. Moving counsel should check with the courtroom
deputy, Jackie Collier (312-435-5583), the day before the motion is
set to determine if there is a need to appear personally. The court
will attempt to rule on "routine" motions (e.g., leave to
file amended pleadings, motions for extensions of time, and motions
that require briefing schedules) without requiring counsel to appear.
If no appearance is required, moving counsel must so notify respondent’s
counsel.
If in connection with any such routine motion
moving counsel is aware there will be an objection, this should be
noted in the body of the motions. If the respondent intends to object
to a routine motion, respondent’s counsel should inform movant’s
counsel and the court’s minute clerk by noon of the day preceding
the day the motion is to be heard.
D. When a case is set for a status conference, any
party may, within the time periods and in the manner set forth above,
file a motion to be heard at the time of the status conference.
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| Discovery
Motions |
A. Civil discovery motions shall not be heard without an affidavit
pursuant to LR37.2 of the
Local General Rules. In addition, no party shall serve on any
other party more than 20 interrogatories in the aggregate without
leave of court, unless otherwise agreed in a Rule
16, Fed. R. Civ. P., written order.
If disputes arise during the conduct of
depositions, counsel may contact the court by phone to seek a
resolution. If the court cannot be reached immediately, counsel should
proceed with the deposition as to areas (questions) not in dispute and
the court will call back as soon as possible.
B. Automatic Disclosure Under Amended Federal Rule
of Civil Procedure 26 (1993)
(1) 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).
(2) Unless otherwise ordered, expert disclosures
required by Rule 26(a)(2) shall be made by plaintiffs no later than
forty-five (45) days before the discovery cut-off date, and by
defendants no later than thirty (30) days before the discovery
cut-off date.
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.
(3) Compliance with Rule 26(a)(2) is required
before an expert may be designated as a trial witness in the final
pretrial order.
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| Evidentiary
Motions |
All evidentiary motions must be filed with the Final Pretrial Order.
This includes all motions in limine. Any request that the court take
judicial notice of a fact at trial shall be in the form of a written
motion and included with the Final Pretrial Order.
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| Memoranda
of Law (Briefs) |
A. The fifteen (15) page limitation on all memoranda shall be strictly
enforced. Briefs that use nonstandard typeface or spacing to avoid
this limitation will be stricken by the court. A motion to exceed that
limit shall not be granted except in unusual circumstances.
B. Parties are to provide one copy for use in
chambers of each cited authority found only on electronic databases
such as Westlaw and Lexis or not reported in the West National
Reporter System. Copies of the following authority must also be
included; Bankruptcy Reporter, code of Federal Regulations. Illinois
cases should be cited to both N.E.2d and Illinois Decisions.
|
| Protective
Orders |
In light of the holding in Jepson, Inc. v. Makita Elect. Works, Ltd.,
30 F.3d 854, 858-59 (7th Cir. 1994), with respect to protective
orders:
A. This court will not require the inclusion of an
express finding of good cause in such orders. Instead it will review
such orders with care and in detail before signing them.
The issuance of a protective order in the light of
this Standing Order will constitute the court’s determination, as
required by Rule 26(c), that good cause existed for such issuance.
Issuance of any protective order will not, however,
be given binding effect as a determination of good cause for Rule
26(c) purposes if at any future time either party moves for relief
from the limitations of the protective order. At that time, this court
will engage in an appropriate balancing of the interests between
privacy and public access in order to make a new determination of good
cause in light of the facts then before this court (see Jepson, 30 F.
3d at 859).
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| Standing
Orders |
Civil Pretrial Procedures
Trial Procedures
Jury Instructions
Motion Practice
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| 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_Hibbler@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. |
