| Initial
Status Conference |
The court will set cases for status within 90 days of the filing of
the complaint. At the initial status conference the parties will: 1)
inform the court of the nature and scope of the case, 2) identify
settlement opportunities, 3) set the initial discovery parameters, and
4) schedule future conferences and, when necessary, motions.
|
| Informal
Exchange of Discovery |
The Northern District of Illinois has
mandatory disclosure provisions of Rule
26 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (see Local
Rule 26.1).
|
| Scheduling
and Settlement Conferences |
After the initial status and scheduling conference, the court may
hold scheduling and settlement conferences. Some of these may be held
by telephone.
|
| Motion
Review |
Motion Review:
The Judge prescreens motions one day prior to the presentment date. If
an appearance is not required, the court will post notification on
this Web page "Granted Motions" beginning at or about 4:00
p.m. the day before presentment. Counsel is expected to be present
when no other instructions are given.
|
Motion
Practice |
Scheduling of Motions
The court hears motions on Tuesday and
Thursday at 10:15 A.M..
Motions must be filed with
the central clerk's office at least two working days prior to the date
of the hearing of the motion pursuant to Local
Rule 78.1.
Motion for summary judgment to be filed "only
after the completion of a court approved service schedule."
All motions (civil, criminal, uncontested and agreed) are to be
noticed for presentment.
Emergency motions shall be presented to the Courtroom Deputy for
scheduling.
|
| Notice of
Judicial Absence |
During judicial absences, agreed/uncontested extension of deadlines
(to answer complaint, file appearance, filing briefs on motion, and
limited extensions of discovery) may be accomplished by filing a
stipulation by the parties with the Clerk's office.
|
Discovery
Motions |
a. Meeting Requirement
The court encourages the parties to work out discovery disputes and
discourages the filing of discovery motions. Discovery disputes are
normally resolved at a status call or a pretrial conference without
briefing. If the matter is not resolved, then the court will set a
briefing schedule.
With regard to the filing of motions for discovery and production
of documents under Fed. R.
Civ. P. 26-37, the court will not hear or consider any discovery
motions unless the parties have complied with Local
Rule 12(K)
In any motion for discovery or production of documents, the movant
shall state when and how the movant complied with Local
Rule 12(K). Failure to comply with these rules will result in the
imposition of sanctions. Most often the court will rule on these
motions after oral argument at the motion call and without briefing.
The court will also consider these motions at a status call or a
settlement conference.
|
| Consent
to Proceed before a Magistrate Judge |
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
|
| Pretrial
Orders (civil) |
Pretrial Order (basic civil):
Shall consists of list of witnesses, lists of exhibits, agreed
statement of facts, substantive jury instructions, summary of motions
in limine, trial brief is optional.
|
| Arraignments |
Arraignments are held Tuesday thru Friday at 10:00 a.m.
R.16 conference due 7 days from arraignment Pretrial motions due 14
days thereafter
Government response due 14 days thereafter
Status hearing 14 days thereafter
|
| Bankruptcy
Appeals |
Briefs on 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.
|
| Court
Schedule |
Call Sequence - criminal, civil (ascending numerical), scheduled
events, motions
| Office Hours - |
9:00 - 4:30 |
| Midday Recess - |
12:30 - 2:00 |
| Status Call - |
Tuesday through Thursday @ 10:00 |
| Motion Call - |
Tuesday & Thursday @ 10:15 |
| Settlement Conferences - |
Monday through Thursday @ 4:30 |
| Trial Call Daily |
9:00 - 10:00
11:00 - 12:30
2:00 - 5:00 |
| Sentencing Call |
Tuesday through Thursday @ 2:00 |
| Change of Plea |
Tuesday through Thursday @ 10:30 |
| Courtroom Activity Concludes |
5:00 |
|
| 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_Zagel@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. |
