Judge Alexakis's Case Procedures
Summary Judgment
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In-Chambers Conference
Properly prepared motions for summary judgment require considerable Court and attorney time and client expense. Sometimes such motions are unnecessarily filed. A careful examination of the record prior to filing may reveal contested factual issues making the granting of the motion impossible.
In many cases after fact discovery has closed, it is helpful for the Court to hold an informal, off-the-record discussion in chambers with the lead attorneys of the parties to discuss whether the filing of a summary judgment motion is advisable given the state of the record. No written submissions should be made prior to the conference. The party who wishes to seek summary judgment should be prepared to point out the uncontested facts that support the relief being sought, and the opposing party should be prepared to speak to whether in fact those facts are contested. This conference should be scheduled with the Courtroom Deputy before any substantive work is done preparing the motion. No party will ever be prevented from filing a dispositive motion, but the goal of the in-chambers conference is to have a careful, informed discussion of the issues before significant time and expense have been incurred.
In some cases, the Court may determine that an in-chambers conference would not be helpful. Parties, however, should always inquire with the Court prior to filing a summary judgment motion.
Parties should consider Smith v. OSF HealthCare System, 933 F.3d 859 (7th Cir. 2019), before seeking leave to file a motion for summary judgment before the close of discovery.
Motions for Summary Judgment
Motions for summary judgment and responses must comply with Local Rule 56.1, as well as the procedures outlined here.
Statements of undisputed material facts and responses shall be filed separately from the memoranda of law and shall include the line, paragraph, or page number where the supporting material may be found in the record. Parties must make the supporting evidence easy for Judge Alexakis to locate.
The Local Rules are not mere technicalities. Judge Alexakis expects strict compliance with the Local Rules regarding summary judgment. Failure to comply with the Local Rules may result in Judge Alexakis striking briefs, disregarding statements of fact, deeming statements of fact admitted, and denying summary judgment.
The movant shall not file more than 80 statements of undisputed material facts without prior leave from Judge Alexakis. The respondent shall be limited to 40 additional statements of undisputed material facts absent prior leave from Judge Alexakis.
In complex cases, Judge Alexakis may request that the parties submit a timeline of events or organizational charts in addition to statements of undisputed material facts.
Courtesy copies of exhibits to summary judgment motions and responses, if requested, must be tabbed for easy access. See also Standing Order on “Courtesy Copies.”
Parties must include a table of contents for any exhibits.
Parties submitting deposition testimony in support of, or in opposition to, summary judgment motions are to provide a cover sheet to the deposition stating (a) the name of the witness, (b) the date of the deposition, and (c) the deponent’s title and/or role in, or relationship to, the pending litigation (e.g., “John Doe, plaintiff’s human resources manager” or “Jane Doe, plaintiff’s union representative”). In addition, parties are to provide Judge Alexakis with the entire transcript of the deposition testimony submitted in support of their respective positions, preferably in the condensed transcript format where multiple deposition transcript pages are reduced to one page.
Motions to strike are disfavored. See also Standing Order on “Motions To Strike” under the heading “Motion Practice and Memoranda of Law.” If a party contends that another party has included inadmissible evidence, improper argument, or other objectionable material in a Local Rule 56.1 submission, the party typically should raise its argument that Judge Alexakis should not consider such material in the party's response or reply brief, not in a separate motion to strike.
Text-based exhibits must be searchable. See also Standing Order regarding “Searchable Text” under the heading “Motion Practice and Memoranda of Law.”
If the litigation involves an unrepresented litigant, the parties should also review Local Rule 56.2 – Notice to Unrepresented Litigants Opposing Summary Judgment.
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Note: The court does not control nor can it guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of this information. Neither is it intended to endorse any view expressed nor reflect its importance by inclusion in this site.
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