| Initial
Status Conference |
The court will set cases for initial pre-trial conference within 60
days of the filing of the complaint. Prior to the conference, the
parties are expected to conduct a face-to-face meeting in person or
through counsel to complete the Report of Parties' Planning Meeting
form for presentation to the court. The Report form may be downloaded
from this page or obtained from the clerk’s office.
Report of Parties' Planning Meeting
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| Motion
Practice |
The court hears motions Monday thru Thursday at 8:45 a.m. All motions, stipulated or not, must be noticed for
hearing. All motions must be filed with the Clerk’s office at least
two working days prior to the date of the hearing of the motion.
Counsel may contact chambers or the Courtroom Deputy after 4:00 p.m.
on the afternoon before the scheduled motion day to see if an
appearance is necessary. Unless the court has told a party it need not
appear, counsel is expected to be present whether or not the motion is
agreed.
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| Courtesy
Copies |
Judge Pallmeyer requires courtesy copies of the initial pleadings (complaint and answer) and the Report of Planning Meeting. With respect to any other filing, a courtesy copy is required only if the document, including all exhibits, exceeds ten pages in length.
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| Discovery
Motions |
The court encourages the parties to work out discovery disputes and
discourages the filing of discovery motions.
In any motion related to a discovery dispute, the movant shall state
when and how the movant complied with Local
Rule 37.2. Unless a difficult privilege issue is presented, the
court will ordinarily rule from the bench after argument on discovery
motions without entertaining briefs.
Parties are reminded that there is no "order" in which
discovery must occur, and that one party's failure or inability to
respond to discovery requests will not excuse any other party's prompt
compliance.
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| Presumption of Public Access to Court Filings |
The court will not enter protective orders that by their terms permit the parties to designate
material for filing under seal.
A party seeking to file any document under seal must show good cause and move the
court for an order sealing that document. Any such motions shall include a brief description
of each document that party seeks to file under seal. The party should be prepared to
present copies of each document to the court on the day of hearing.
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| Settlement
Conferences |
Upon request of all parties, the court will participate in a
settlement conference or refer the case to the designated magistrate
judge for such a conference. When Judge Pallmeyer conducts a
settlement conference, the parties are expected to convene in the
courtroom. Individual clients (and principals of institutional
clients) are expected to be present in person.
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| Final
Pretrial Orders |
All final pretrial orders are to be filed with the Clerk’s Office
with a courtesy copy to the Judge. Courtesy copy should be 3-hole
punched, tabbed, and placed in a three-ring binder.
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| Pattern Civil Jury Instructions |
Parties in civil cases are encouraged to review the Seventh Circuit Pattern Jury Instructions and use them, if appropriate: http://www.ilnd.uscourts.gov/LEGAL/Jury/index.htm
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| Jury
Selection |
Jury Selection Process (PDF
format, 34KB)
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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_Pallmeyer@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.
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