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Motion Practice

Schedule

Civil status hearings are held on Tuesday and Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. and Thursday at 1:30 p.m.  Civil motions will be heard Tuesday and Wednesday at 9:45 a.m. and Thursday at 1:45 p.m. 

Criminal motions will be heard Tuesday and Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. and Thursday at 1:45 p.m.

All motions must be filed no later than the third business day (excluding federal holidays and weekends) before the day the motion is to be heard. 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. 

Motions must be noticed for a date certain. Judge Ellis’ main web page lists any dates on which she will not be available to hear motions. After 4:00 p.m. on the afternoon prior to the hearing date, counsel should check the call sheet posted on Judge Ellis' web page to determine whether an appearance is necessary. If an appearance is not required, counsel for the movant is directed to notify the respondent(s) accordingly.

Electronic filing  

The Court strongly encourages counsel to convert any word-processed document into a pdf document by printing or publishing to pdf, rather than manually scanning a paper copy into .pdf. The former method of conversion generates searchable optical character recognition (OCR) text; the latter does not.  

Extensions of Time  

A party seeking an extension of time must contact all other parties in the case to determine whether they object to the extension. Any motion for extension of time should indicate whether it is the first or subsequent extension request and shall include the reasons for the request, any previous relief granted, and whether any other party objects to the extension. Please do not call chambers or the Courtroom Deputy to request an extension of time.  

Unopposed Motions

Joint, uncontested, and agreed motions must be so identified in the title and body of the motion. Unless the Court has told a party it need not appear, counsel for all parties to which the motion is directed are expected to be present whether or not the motion is opposed. After 4:00 p.m. on the afternoon prior to the hearing date, counsel should check the call sheet posted on Judge Ellis' web page to determine whether an appearance is necessary. If an appearance is not required, counsel for the movant is directed to notify the respondent(s) accordingly.

Emergency Motions

Requests to set a hearing on an emergency motion must be made to the Courtroom Deputy with as much advance notice as possible. All reasonable efforts must be made to give actual notice to opposing counsel. Emergency motions must recite that the movant has made good faith efforts to resolve the emergency with opposing counsel or that despite good faith efforts the movant has been unable to resolve it and that the issue is of such a nature that a delay in hearing it would cause serious harm to a party in interest.

Meet and Confer Requirement

The discovery meet and confer requirement can have the same salutary effect on other disputes that it has in connection with discovery disputes. A candid discussion between the parties prior to filing motions to dismiss, motions for summary judgment, motions in limine and the like can limit the scope of such motions or eliminate the need for them to be filed at all.

Thus, the Court will apply the meet and confer requirement not just to discovery motions, but to all motions that a party wishes to file. The instructions concerning what must be done to comply with the discovery meet and confer requirement will be applied with equal force to all other motions.

In particular, with respect to any motions for summary judgment, the Court requires the moving party to advise the opposing party in a short letter (e.g., 2-3 pages) of the basis for the motion (including relevant legal authority). Do not file the letter with the Court. The Court requires the moving party and the opposing party to meet and confer, during which time the opposing party should advise the moving party of factual matter or legal authority that it believes would defeat the motion. After this consultation, if the movant still wishes to file the motion, the movant should do so and the Court will address it. Any motion must state with specificity what the parties did to comply with the meet and confer requirement.

Memoranda of Law

Memoranda of law must comply with Local Rules 5.2 and 7.1.  Please only attach copies of any cited authorities that are not available on Westlaw or Lexis.

Supplemental Authority

Parties wishing to file supplemental authority should file a motion seeking leave to do so.


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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