Judge Alexakis hears motions on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays at 9:30 a.m.

Motions must be accompanied by a notice of presentment specifying the date and time on which the motion will be presented in-person. If Judge Alexakis already has set a briefing schedule on an anticipated motion, then the movant need not notice the motion for presentment.

Motions must be filed no later than the third business day (excluding federal holidays and weekends) before the motion is to be presented. For example, absent a holiday, (1) a motion filed on a Monday may be noticed for the upcoming Thursday; and (2) a motion filed on a Thursday may be noticed for the following Tuesday.

The notice of motion must be filed separately on the docket for the hearing to appear on Judge Alexakis’ calendar. Do not attach the notice as an exhibit to the motion.

Please review Judge Alexakis’s main page for all dates on which she will be unavailable to hear motions.

Parties are expected to appear in person unless Judge Alexakis advises otherwise. Any request to appear by telephone must be made via email to the Courtroom Deputy no later than 24 hours before the motion hearing. Opposing counsel should be copied on this email.

Counsel should check the docket after 4 p.m. on the afternoon before the scheduled motion date to see if an appearance is necessary.

Counsel for a movant must ask opposing counsel whether there is an objection to the motion. If there is an objection, the movant must note that fact in the body of the motion. Joint, uncontested, and agreed motions should be so identified in both the title and the body of the motion. Many of those motions will be granted without appearance.

This meet and confer requirement does not apply to dispositive motions typically contested by the parties, including motions to dismiss and motions for summary judgment, or motions that are administrative in nature, such as motions to withdraw as counsel and pro hac vice motions. If in doubt, please confer with opposing counsel before filing a motion.

For opposed motions, the movant must confer with the opposing party before filing and, if the non-moving party intends to respond to the motion, the moving party should include an agreed proposed briefing schedule in the motion itself. (See below for additional details on “Briefing Schedules.”) If the non-moving party does not intend to respond to the motion, the motion should say so in lieu of proposing a briefing schedule.

All opposed motions must be accompanied by an agreed briefing schedule or, if need be, competing proposals for a briefing schedule. If the parties do not propose a briefing schedule, Judge Alexakis will set one, which may be more accelerated than the parties would prefer.

In a case of ordinary complexity, the briefing schedules should be approximately as follows:

• Motion to dismiss: three weeks to respond; two weeks to reply
• Motions related to preliminary injunctive relief: seven days to respond and/or reply (if allowed)
• Discovery motions: seven days to respond; replies usually not allowed
• Motion in limine and Daubert motion: usually set by Judge Alexakis
• Motion for summary judgment: set by Judge Alexakis, although the parties should plan to file an opening motion approximately six weeks after the close of the relevant discovery period; with four weeks to respond; and two weeks to reply

Before filing a motion for summary judgment, parties must review Judge Alexakis’ standing order on “Summary Judgment,” which discusses her in-chambers conference practice.

Complex cases may require longer briefing schedules, and Judge Alexakis realizes that counsel have other demands on their time. As a result, within reason, Judge Alexakis usually will defer to parties’ proposed briefing schedules. However, parties must examine their calendars and consult with their opponents to ensure that briefing schedules they propose are realistic and account for the time needed to brief the motion, manage obligations in other cases, and attend to personal matters. Judge Alexakis is reluctant to grant significant extensions to accommodate conflicts that counsel could have foreseen.

Motions for extension of time shall indicate: (i) the reason for the request; (ii) the number of previous extensions; and (iii) whether any other party objects to the extension. Please do not contact chambers or the Courtroom Deputy to request an extension of time.

Discovery cutoff dates generally will not be reset except by written motion. See also Standing Order regarding “Discovery Continuances” under “Discovery” heading.

Trial dates are firm and will not be reset except in exceptional circumstances that were unforeseeable at the time the trial date was set.

When a motion to dismiss is filed, the nonmoving party has a right to amend its pleading once within 21 days. Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(1)(B). Consistent with the purpose of the Federal Rules “to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action and proceeding,” Fed. R. Civ. P. 1, the nonmoving party is directed to review the motion to dismiss and to consider exercising, as appropriate, its right to amend under Rule 15(a)(1)(B). If the nonmoving party elects to amend its pleading in response to the motion to dismiss, then the moving party (unless otherwise ordered) must, within 21 days of the amended pleading, file either an answer or a renewed motion to dismiss.

If the nonmoving party elects not to amend but instead chooses to litigate the motion to dismiss, the nonmoving party (unless agreed or ordered otherwise) must file its response within 21 days of the filing of the motion, and the moving party must file its reply within 14 days of the filing of the response. In its response, the nonmoving party must address whether any deficiencies identified by the motion to dismiss are curable by amendment.

Following these steps, Judge Alexakis will take the motion under advisement and will rule in due course following any oral argument that she may in her discretion require. If the parties litigate the motion to dismiss and the moving party prevails, the nonmoving party is advised that Judge Alexakis may dismiss the case with prejudice under the appropriate legal standards.

Motions to strike are strongly disfavored. See Custom Vehicles, Inc. v. Forest River, Inc., 464 F.3d 725, 727 (7th Cir. 2006) (Easterbrook, J., in chambers). For example, if a party believes that the other side’s brief contains inaccurate facts or that the other side’s Local Rule 56.1 statement (in summary-judgment briefing) contains an unsupported assertion, then the complaining party should so argue in the response or reply brief, or in the responsive Local Rule 56.1 statement. Motions to strike almost always would require Judge Alexakis to decide significant issues (and, indeed, the underlying motion) on the merits and would multiply the briefs (because the other side should be allowed to respond). Id. at 727. Only on very rare occasions is a motion to strike appropriate, such as when an entire brief or Local Rule 56.1 statement is defective. When it is appropriate, the motion must be made very promptly after the filing of the purportedly-offending brief or statement.

Motions to strike that are not within the limited boundaries established by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(f) may be summarily denied.

Unless otherwise ordered by Judge Alexakis, briefs in support of or opposition to a motion should be no more than 15 pages, and reply briefs should be no more than 10 pages.

For dispositive motions, response and reply briefs are always permitted. For other types of motions, Judge Alexakis will set dates for response or reply briefs if necessary.

Parties may move for leave to file briefs that Judge Alexakis has not requested, but she typically will grant these motions only if there is an unforeseen point raised in an opposing brief.

Where counsel has access to both Westlaw and Lexis, Judge Alexakis prefers citations to Westlaw. It is not necessary to attach copies of unpublished opinions if they are available on Westlaw or Lexis. Please attach copies of any cited authorities that are unavailable on Westlaw or Lexis.

Briefs and other filings (such as Local Rule 56.1 statements of fact) should cite exhibits by the ECF docket number and page, not exhibit number.

Parties wishing to cite supplemental authority after briefing of a motion is closed must file a short motion seeking leave to do so. Any such motion shall be limited to the case title, its assigned number, the court, date of decision, the published citation or a slip copy, and a brief indication of the issue to which the movant believes the case pertains. No responsive comment is allowed unless requested by Judge Alexakis.

All electronically filed documents shall be made word searchable before being filed on ECF. For any filing of any kind (including exhibits in support of a motion or any Local Rule 56.1 Statement), counsel must run an OCR conversion on it before uploading it onto CM/ECF.

The parties otherwise should adhere to Local Rule 5.2 concerning font size, line spacing, and margins for filed documents. Footnotes are to be used sparingly and only when necessary.