(a) Applicability of Procedures. These procedures expand upon the provisions of LR40.1(g). They apply only to the formation of the initial calendar of a new judge designated to sit in the Eastern Division. They are intended to assure that the initial calendar is a reasonable cross-section of the calendars of all the judges in the Division. The exception to this goal is that no criminal cases shall be reassigned as part of the initial calendar.

(b) Implementation: When a new judge takes the oath, the Clerk of Court shall implement this IOP with the oversight of the Executive Committee.  Unless otherwise ordered, the following procedures shall be followed:

(1) The next business day after the new judge takes the oath of office, add the new judge to the Civil Case Assignment Wheel to receive a full share of cases.

(2) The Clerk of Court shall create the Primary and Secondary List as outlined below upon the judge taking the oath of office that provides an initial calendar that equals fifty percent of an district judge. 

(3) No later than ten days after the new judge takes the oath, the Clerk of Court will distribute the lists for review by the district judges participating in the reassignment. 

(4) Each judge will have up to ten days to review the list and identify cases that are to be withheld pursuant to the provisions of this IOP. 

(5) After the judges review the primary and secondary lists, the newly appointed judge will screen the cases that are to be reassigned for conflicts.  If a judge determines they have a conflict with a case that remains on the primary list, the Clerk of Court shall replace the case from the secondary list.  This review must be completed within 27 days of taking the oath of office.   

(6) Within 30 days of the newly appointed judge taking the oath of office, the Clerk of Court will reassign the cases to form the initial calendar.   

(c) Number of Participating Judges. In general, each regular active judge on full assignment participates in the reassignment of cases to form an initial calendar for any newly appointed judge to the extent of one share. The chief judge and each participating senior judge participate to the extent of one share weighted by the proportion of new civil filings that judge currently receives.

(d) Related Cases Review: The clerk will instruct the courtroom deputies assigned to the participating judge to submit a list of related cases shortly before the reassignment process is started. Failure to identify a case as a higher-numbered related case results in its remaining on the list used to select primary and secondary lists. Where it is subsequently discovered that a case on the primary or secondary list was a higher-numbered related case, it is removed from the list. The related set is not reassigned in such circumstances. If the case appeared on the primary list, the appropriate substitution from the secondary list is made.

(e) Number of Cases to be Reassigned from Each Judge. The number of civil cases to be assigned to a newly appointed judge’s calendar will be determined pursuant to calculation by using a fraction in which:

(1) The numerator is the average number of pending civil cases for the 12 months preceding the creation of the new calendar; and

(2) The denominator is the number of active district judgeships plus the number of active district judgeship equivalents.  Specifically, each active district judge and each vacant judgeship counts as 1.0 equivalency.  Each senior district judge counts as the percentage of civil case draw being assigned to that judge; thus, for example, a senior district judge on a full draw count as 1.0, while a senior district judge on a 40% draw will count as 0.4 equivalency.

(3) The result of this calculation—average number of pending civil cases divided by number of active district judgeship equivalents—will then divided by two to yield the number of cases to be assigned to each new appointed judge’s calendar. 

(f) Primary & Secondary Lists. Two sets of cases are selected from each judge's list of pending cases. The first set forms the primary lists and the second the secondary list. The selection process is a form of stratified random selection process that selects the cases randomly but evenly spaced. In this way the initial calendar has a mix of cases by age that is the average for the Court.

The following is a description of the steps involved:

(1) A calendar list is prepared for each participating judge. The list contains the case numbers and short title of all the civil cases other than MDL cases, cases that have previously been reassigned two or more times for any reason other than recusal, and cases that are motions to reduce sentence filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §2255. Higher-numbered related cases are included on the list, but only for the purpose of identifying any cases associated with the lower-numbered lead case. Each related set is counted as one case for the purpose of the selection process.

(2) where the newly appointed judge is coming from private practice or a position with an organization or agency that might have filed cases in this Court, a search will be made of CM/ECF records to identify all cases that the law firm, organization, or agency has pending before the Court.

(3) The case numbers are sorted so that they are listed in case number order with the oldest case, i.e., earliest case number, first.

(4) The total, T, of the cases on the calendar list net of higher-numbered related cases is calculated. An interval number, I, is computed by dividing T by the number of cases to be reassigned from the calendar ("R"). As T/R will rarely result in an integer and the interval must be an integer, only the integer portion of T/R is taken.

(5) A primary start number, S1, is randomly selected from the set of numbers 1,2,3,...,(I-2),(I-1),I. The random number generator used to select S1 is such that each number in the set has an equal chance of being selected.

(6) The primary lists consists of the S1th case, the ( S1 + I)th case, the ( S1 + 2I)th case, the ( S1 + 3I)th case,..., and the [ S1 + (R-1)I]th case, provided that if a flagged case is selected, e.g., one that was previously reassigned two or more times to form an initial calendar, the next lower-numbered case is then substituted.

(7) A secondary start number, S2, is selected in the same manner as the primary start number, except that it must be a number other than the primary start number.

(8) The secondary list is selected in a manner similar to that used to select the primary list.

(9) If as part of the process of forming either the primary or the secondary list the case selected is a flagged case, e.g., a case previously reassigned two or more times as part of the formation of an initial calendar, the next lower-numbered unflagged case is selected. Should there be no lower-numbered unflagged case, the next higher-numbered unflagged case is selected.

(g) Review of Primary & Secondary Lists. The primary and secondary lists are sent to each of the participating judges. The cases on the primary list are those cases to be reassigned to form the initial calendar of the new judge. However, a case may be withheld from the primary list under certain circumstances. Where a case is to be withheld, the case on the secondary list with the case number closest to that of the case to be withheld will be substituted. As the reasons for withholding apply to cases on both lists, both should be reviewed by the judge.  Cases may be withheld from reassignment only if they meet one or more of the following conditions:

(1) the case is closed and the J.S. 6 statistical closing form has been received by the central Clerk's Office;

(2) the case has been reassigned to the calendar of another judge;

(3) the trial has started or has been completed;

(4) the case was remanded with instructions for action by the judge on whose calendar the case is pending at the time of the reassignment to form a new calendar;

(5) the case is found not to meet the criteria for inclusion in the pool of cases used to prepare the primary and secondary lists (e.g., the case is part of an MDL, the proceeding is not statistically reportable as a civil case); and

(6) the case is to be reassigned to a magistrate judge on consent of the parties, the case will be withheld from reassignment.

(h) Review of Substitutions. Whenever a case from the secondary list is to be substituted for a case on the primary list because the latter is to be withheld, the judge will indicate the reason the case is to be withheld. The Executive Committee shall decide whether or not a case is to be withheld in instances where it is unclear whether the reason given for withholding the case satisfies one or more of the conditions included in sections (f) and (g). The Executive Committee has reviewing authority over any substitutions proposed by a judge.

(i) Closed Cases. Where a case selected for reassignment is closed before it is reassigned to the initial calendar, the case with the closest case number on the secondary list is substituted for the closed case. Closings taking place after the date the cases have actually been reassigned are credited to the calendar of the new judge regardless of which judge closed the case and no substitutions are to be made for the case.

For the purposes of this section a case is considered closed when a J.S. 6 statistical reporting form indicating that the date of closing was prior to the date the new judge took office is received by the central Clerk's Office within a week of the date of closing.

(j) Recusals by New Judge. Once the cases are reassigned, if the new judge determines a recusal is necessary in a case that was reassigned as part of these procedures,  the matter will be reassigned to the calendar of the judge from which it was reassigned. That judge may transfer to the Executive Committee for reassignment to the recusing judge a case requiring a like amount of judicial effort for disposition.

(k) Criminal Cases: The incoming judge will be added to the Court's criminal case assignment system ninety (90) days from the entry of the initial calendar reassignment order so that the judge shall thereafter receive a full share of such cases. Should the incoming judge be a current Assistant United States Attorney, the judge will be added to the criminal case assignment system after 12 months.

Amended May 23, 2014, November 6, 2019, and March 20, 2025