United States District Court - Northern District of Illinois

General Rules

Rules 2.30 To 2.39 Reassignments And Transfers

Rule 2.31 Related Cases

A. Relatedness Defined

Two or more cases may be related if one or more of the following conditions is or are met:

(1) the cases involve the same property;

(2) the cases involve the same issues of fact or law;

(3) the cases grow out of the same transaction or occurrence;

(4) in class action suits, one or more of the classes involved in the cases is or are of the same; and

(5) in criminal cases, all of the defendants named in each of the suits are the same and none of the cases includes defendants not named in any of the other cases.

B. Conditions Under Which Cases May Be Reassigned as Related *

A case may be reassigned to the calendar of another judge if it is found to be related to an earlier-numbered case assigned to that judge and each of the following criteria is met:

(1) both cases are pending in this Court;

(2) the handling of both cases by the same judge is likely to result in a substantial saving of judicial time and effort;

(3) the earlier case has not progressed to the point where designating a later filed case as related would be likely to delay the proceedings in the earlier case substantially; and

(4) the cases are susceptible of disposition in a single proceeding.

C. Motion for Reassignment Based on Relatedness *

A motion for reassignment based on relatedness may be filed by any party to a case. The motion shall (1) set forth the points of commonality of the cases in sufficient detail to indicate that the cases are related within the meaning of part A of this Rule and (2) indicate the extent to which the conditions required by part B of this Rule will be met if the cases are found to be related. A copy of the complaint or other relevant pleading in each of the higher-numbered cases that are the subject of the motion shall be attached to the motion. The motion shall be filed with the judge before whom the lowestnumbered case of the claimed related set is pending.

In order that all parties to a proceeding be permitted to respond on the questions of relatedness and possible reassignment, such motions should not generally be filed until after the answer or motions in lieu of answer have been filed in each of the proceedings involved.

D. Ruling on Motion for Reassignment Based on Relatedness

The judge to whom the motion is presented may consult with the judge or judges before whom the other case or cases are pending. The judge shall enter an order finding whether or not the cases are related within the meaning of the Rules and, if they are, whether the highernumbered case or cases should be reassigned. Where the judge finds that the cases are related and that reassignment should take place, a copy of that finding will be forwarded to the Executive Committee together with a request that the Committee enter an appropriate order reassigning the highernumbered case or cases. A copy of any finding that cases either are or are not related and, if they are, that reassignment should or should not take place shall also be sent to each of the judges on whose calendar one or more of the highernumbered cases is or are pending. Any judge to whom one or more of the cases involved is or are assigned may seek a review of the finding by the Executive Committee. The order entered by the Committee following review shall be final.

E. Reassignments Based on Relatedness

On receipt of a finding deeming two or more cases to be related and that reassignment should take place, the Clerk shall promptly transmit it to the Chief Judge. The Chief Judge may on receipt enter an order on behalf of the Committee directing the transfer of the highernumbered case or cases or may ask the full Committee to review the order at the next meeting. The cases will be deemed reassigned following the docketing of the order of the Committee directing their reassignment.

F. Equalization of Calendars

The Clerk shall maintain records of all cases reassigned as related under this Rule. The records shall indicate the number of cases reassigned from and to each judge according to assignment categories within each time period. The Clerk shall periodically circulate summaries of the reassignment statistics among the members of the Court. From time to time but no less often than annually, the Executive Committee will enter an order specifying the actions needed to correct any imbalance resulting from relatedness reassignments and directing the Clerk to take such actions.