Upon assignment of cases by consent or referral to Judge Berry, the Court will enter a minute order requiring the parties to file a joint status report. See Judge Berry’s Standing Order for Initial Status Report for the information to be included in the parties’ joint initial status report. Judge Berry's Standing Order for Initial Joint Status Report. [SEE BELOW, IT WILL BE LINKED AS A PDF WITH THIS CITATION]
Consistent with the scope of the consent or referral and after reviewing the joint initial status report, the Court will either set an initial status hearing or by minute order set discovery schedules, briefing schedules, and other deadlines and timetables. If the Court sets a status hearing, the lead trial counsel for each party, or an attorney with substantial familiarity with and responsibility for the case, shall appear and be prepared to discuss all aspects of the case.
A joint status report is not required in cases that are referred solely for a settlement conference, unless otherwise specifically ordered by the Court.
MAGISTRATE JUDGE ALBERT BERRY III
219 South Dearborn Street
Chicago, Illinois
Courtroom 2214
Chambers 2206
Chicago, Illinois
(312) 435-5607
STANDING ORDER FOR INITIAL JOINT STATUS REPORTS
This case has been assigned to Magistrate Judge Berry. By minute order the Court has set a deadline for the parties to file a joint status report. The joint status report shall contain the following information:
1. Description of Claims and Relief Sought.
a. Describe the claims and defenses raised by the pleadings, including the basis for federal jurisdiction.
b. State the relief sought, including an itemization of damages.
2. Referral Cases.
Describe the matter(s) referred to the magistrate judge.
3. Discovery Schedule.
Identify any existing discovery deadlines. If no discovery schedule exists and the case is referred for discovery supervision, the parties should confer and submit the following information:
- The deadline for Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(1) disclosures.
- A date to issue written discovery requests.
- A fact discovery completion date. For claims involving medical conditions, fact discovery ordinarily includes treating physician depositions. The parties shall indicate whether the proposed date includes treating physician depositions. The parties need not include expert discovery dates. The Court will set expert discovery deadlines at the conclusion of fact discovery.
4. Consideration of Issues Concerning Electronically Stored Information (“ESI”).
State whether the parties anticipate or are engaged in ESI discovery, and, if so, what agreements have been reached regarding ESI and whether there are any areas of disagreement.
Please note the Court has adopted the Principles of the Seventh Circuit Electronic Discovery Pilot Program and the parties should be familiar with them. In a patent case, the Court will apply the Local Patent Rules for Electronically Stored Information.
5. Settlement.
a. Describe the status of any settlement discussions.
b. State whether the parties believe a settlement conference would be productive at this time, and if not, briefly explain why.
6. Magistrate Judge Consent.
State whether all parties will consent to have Judge Berry conduct all further proceedings in this case, including trial and entry of final judgment, in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 636(c) and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 73.
7. Pending Motions.
Indicate the status of any pending motions.
8. Trial.
In consent cases, state whether a jury trial is requested, the date when the parties expect to be ready for trial, and the probable length of trial.
9. Other Matters.
State any other matters that should be brought to the Court’s attention for scheduling purposes.
SO ORDERED.
______________________________
Albert Berry III
United States Magistrate Judge
Dated: May 9, 2025
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