Parties to a bench trial shall comply with the following procedures and requirements.  The parties must order the transcript upon the completion of the trial.  Thirty-five days after completion of the transcript, the parties must jointly file a Proposed Statement of Stipulated Facts.  The parties must reasonably agree on the Proposed Statement of Stipulated Facts.  The Court understands that facts and the inferences drawn from facts can be—and usually are—very different.  Undisputed facts should be admitted and the inferences drawn from those facts can be litigated in the memoranda of law.  The Proposed Statement of Stipulated Facts should be filed with the Court and a courtesy copy provided in Word format through the Court’s proposed order portal.

Twenty-one days after the filing of the Proposed Statement of Stipulated Facts, the plaintiff shall file a memorandum of law with citations to the trial transcript and pertinent authority, along with any supplemental statements of fact not in the Statement of Stipulated Facts.  Twenty-one days after the filing of the plaintiff’s memorandum, the defendant shall file a response brief, along with any supplemental statements of fact not in the Statement of Stipulated Facts and responses to the plaintiff’s supplemental statements of fact.  Fourteen days after the filing of the response brief, the plaintiff shall file a reply brief and responses to the defendant’s supplemental statements of fact.  All supplemental statements of fact and responses to supplemental statements of fact shall include citations to the transcript.

 The court shall rule by mail unless the parties are otherwise notified.  If counsel think of a better process, they are free to propose it to the Court.  It’s all ears.