Starting June 1, 2020, Magistrate Judge Harjani will hold a status or motion hearing by telephone only upon request from the parties, which can be made via email to the Courtroom Deputy. Furthermore, parties with a scheduled status hearing before Judge Harjani are requested to file a joint status report five days prior to the hearing with an update on discovery and settlement discussions. In general, the Court will enter an appropriate order after reviewing the status report and likely strike the status hearing. Thus, if counsel desire a telephonic hearing, they should state the request in their joint status report, and the Court will then provide further contact information for the telephonic hearing. Parties may continue to file motions before the Court and the Court will set a briefing schedule and issue a written decision. No notice of motion is necessary and no courtesy copies are required at this time. Finally, if the parties wish to discuss settlement-related matters, counsel may email the Courtroom Deputy to schedule a preliminary discussion by telephone with counsel only. All settlement conferences, once scheduled, will take place via videoconferencing and the Court will provide further details prior to the conference.
Communications with Chambers for case related matters: The Court strongly prefers email communication with the courtroom deputy, with a copy to opposing counsel. Counsel may jointly contact the courtroom deputy at lynette_santiago@ilnd.uscourts.gov.
Communications with Chambers for non-case related matters: Please send an email to Chambers_Harjani@ilnd.uscourts.gov.
Settlement correspondences: All settlement letters should be sent to Settlement_Correspondence_Harjani@ilnd.uscourts.gov.
Three Business Day Notice Requirement for Motions: Motions shall be filed by the third business day preceding the date of presentment.
Courtesy Copies: Courtesy copies are not required unless the electronic filing, including exhibits, exceeds 10 pages. Courtesy copies should be delivered to Judge Harjani’s courtroom deputy Lynette Santiago in Room 1854B within 24 hours of the filing. Please do not leave courtesy copies in the drop box in the lobby. Courtesy copies should include the printed CM/ECF header at the top of every page. All electronically filed documents should be made word searchable before being filed on the CM/ECF system.
Telephone Appearances: Although disfavored, the Court will consider requests for leave to appear telephonically at routine hearings that will not require substantive argument when counsel has an office outside the Northern District of Illinois. Attorneys appearing telephonically must have local counsel present in the courtroom. Counsel may request to appear by telephone by sending an email, with a copy to opposing counsel, to Lynette Santiago at lynette_santiago@ilnd.uscourts.gov at least one day prior to the hearing. The email must include the case name and number, the date and time of the hearing, the name of the attorney seeking to appear by telephone, the name of the party he or she represents, and a direct telephone number where he or she can be reached when the case is called.
