• Carol Wing
  (312) 435 - 5591
  Room 2260

• Angela R. Mersch

• Brooke Wilson
  (312) 435-5885

The court will set cases for status within 60 days of the filing of the complaint.  Prior to their 1st court appearance, the parties are required ( unless other wise ordered by the court) to submit a joint written status report.   Plaintiff(s) and/or his counsel are required to send a copy of the court's  Order Setting Joint Status Reports to all Defendant(s) and/or their counsel  At the initial status conference the parties will: 1)  identify settlement opportunities, 2) set the initial discovery parameters, and 3) schedule future conferences and, when necessary, motions.

The court encourages counsel to exchange any discovery that would facilitate the settlement process prior to the initial status conference with the court.

Automatic disclosure under Rule 26 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

• 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).
• Expert disclosures required by Rule 26(a)(2) shall be made not 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 cutoff date,  unless ordered otherwise.
• Compliance with Rule 26(a)(2) is required before an expert may be designated as a trial witness in the final pretrial order.

After the initial status and scheduling conference, the court will hold scheduling and settlement conferences. Status hearings are held on Tuesday at 11:00 AM.  Counsel primarily responsible for the case are required to appear at all status hearings.  Settlement & pretrial conference will be scheduled according to the court's availability.  Lead counsel & clients with full settlement authority are required to appear for settlement conferences.

Scheduling Motions

The court hears motions on Tuesday at 10:30 AM.

All motions are to be noticed for the regular motion call. Pursuant to Local Rule 5.2(e), any party who files a document electronically must provide a paper copy of the document to the Judge within one business day.

Unless the court has told a party it need not appear, counsel are expected to be present whether or not the motion is agreed.   The court's clerk will call moving counsel on the day prior to the date set for the motion to advise if an appearance is not required.  Moving counsel is required to advise all other parties of the court's action.

Motions must be filed with the central clerk's office at least seven working days prior to the date of the hearing of the motion pursuant to Local Rule 78.1.

Emergency Motions

Counsel are required to notify the court's clerk by telephone of an emergency motion prior to the submission of the motion.  The court requires actual notice to be given to the opposing party or his counsel for all emergency motions.  Requests for extensions of time or continuances will not normally be considered as an emergency matter.

Motions to Dismiss or for Summary Judgment
All supporting memoranda & Rule 56.1 statements are to be filed with the motion to dismiss or motion for summary judgment.  The court strictly enforces Local Rule 56.1.

Sur-Response & Sur-reply
The court strongly discourages sur-responses & sur-replies.  Unauthorized briefs will be stricken.

Extensions
Motions for extensions shall be filed prior to the due date and will not be granted except upon showing of good cause.

Meeting Requirement

The court encourages the parties to work out discovery disputes and discourages the filing of discovery motions.

The court will not hear or consider any motions for discovery and production of documents under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26-37  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 at the motion call and without briefing.

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 in support of the 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.

Motions in limine are to be submitted with the Pretrial Order.   Responses to motions in limine are to be filed 7 days thereafter.  Proposed Jury Instructions are to be submitted with the Pretrial Order.  The court requests that counsel use the pattern of instructions adopted by the Northern District of Illinois or Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions.

All trial dates are firm and will be set according to the court's availability.

Exhibits are to be marked and numbered before trial.  Copies of all exhibits with an exhibit list are to be submitted to the court & opposing counsel.

If a civil case has been settled or if a defendant in a criminal case intends to plead guilty, the courtroom deputy shall be notified prior to 12:00 PM Noon the day before trial is set.  Jury costs and witness fees will be assessed for failure to inform the courtroom deputy of a settlement or guilty plea after 12:00 PM noon the day before trial is set.

Bench Trials
Parties are to submit witness & exhibit lists, stipulated facts, and proposed findings of fact & conclusion of law.  Trial briefs are optional.

• The original shall be bound according to the local rules.
• The court's copy shall be placed in a 3-ring binder and appropriately tabbed.

No party or attorney shall communicate or attempt to communicate with any juror without prior authorization of the Court.

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_Marovich@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.