The Court will generally enter an order setting dates for a briefing schedule, typically providing that: (a) Plaintiff's brief in support of reversing or remanding the decision subject to review shall be filed within  30 days of the filing of the administrative record (no motion required); (b) The Social Security Administration’s motion to affirm the decision subject to review and its brief in support shall be filed within 30 days after plaintiff’s brief is filed. (c) Plaintiff’s reply brief, if any, shall be filed 14 days after defendant’s brief is filed. Judge McNally will only grant extensions on the briefing schedule for good cause shown.

The word count limit on briefs in Social Security Cases is 5000 words (excluding caption, title, tables of contents/authority, and signature blocks). Each brief shall include a word-count certification Typewritten and handwritten briefs may not exceed 20 pages. The page limit applies only if the petition is handwritten or typewritten. If the petition is produced using a computer, the word limit applies. The Court encourages counsel to follow the Seventh Circuit’s advice regarding typography, which is included in its Practitioner’s Handbook, starting at page 170. The relevant excerpt can be found here: https://www.ca7.uscourts.gov/forms/type.pdf

Briefs exceeding the word/page limit are discouraged and may be filed only with leave of Court. With those page restrictions in mind, counsel need not devote multiple pages to the well-recognized standards for the five-part test. A short summary of the standard and citations to authority will likely suffice.

Similarly, all counsel are encouraged to focus the Court’s attention by including only those parts of the medical history that are pertinent to the issues at hand. Be sure to cite to specific record evidence in support of each argument. General statements regarding the sufficiency of the evidence (whether the statement is from the plaintiff or from the Commissioner) will be given no weight absent reference to specific evidence in the record.

The parties are encouraged to draft their briefs with the Seventh Circuit’s opinions in Warnell v. O’Malley, 97 F.4th 1050 (7th Cir. 2024) and Morales v. O’Malley, 103 F.4th 469 (7th Cir. 2024) in mind.