Judge Durkin has reinstated the requirement that all motions must be noticed in accordance with Local Rule 5.3(b), despite suspension of that Rule by the Fifth Amended General Order 20-0012. Noticed motions will initially appear on the calendar as in-person hearings, but will be changed to phone conferences by subsequent minute order.
Please see the Case Procedures on this web page for information regarding the conduct of in-person bench proceedings during the COVID pandemic.
Please note that assignment of new cases into the Mandatory Initial Discovery Pilot Project concluded as of June 1, 2020.
Appearing by Phone: As a courtesy the Court permits out-of-town and suburban counsel to participate in routine status and motion hearings by telephone using a landline number. To arrange for a telephonic conference please contact the Courtroom Deputy Emily Wall the day before the hearing date and provide the telephone number and the name of the attorney participating by telephone. Please see the link under Case Procedures for additional instructions regarding appearing by phone.
Courtesy Copies: Unless otherwise instructed by the Court, courtesy copies should be delivered by first class mail or its equivalent. Next day or otherwise expedited delivery (including delivery by messenger) is unnecessary in the normal course, and such expense is generally not justifiable.
Courtesy copies should always be printed from ECF after electronic filing so that the copies include the ECF header. Courtesy copies should be printed on both sides of the paper whenever possible. All electronically filed documents should be made word searchable before being filed on ECF. The Court prefers that citations to unpublished opinions be Westlaw citations. Please see the link under Case Procedures for further details regarding the Court's rules for courtesy copies.
Pendency of Motions: Parties should jointly inform the Court by contacting Emily Wall if the continuing pendency of a motion has caused or will cause hardship to one or more of the parties. Parties may also follow the procedures set forth in Local Rule 78.5 to inquire as to the status of a pending motion. No offense will be taken by the Court to such an inquiry or notice.
