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8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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11 [PLAINTIFF’S NAME], Case No.
12 Plaintiff, STANDING ORDER FOR MOTIONS
FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
13 v.
14 [DEFENDANT’S NAME],
15 Defendant.
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19 READ THIS ORDER CAREFULLY. IT CONTROLS THIS CASE
20 AND DIFFERS IN SOME RESPECTS FROM THE LOCAL RULES.
21 When filing or opposing a motion for summary judgment, a party must comply with
22 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56, the Local Rules of the Central District of California,
23 this Order, and the Court’s Standing Order for Civil Cases. The parties should prepare
24 papers in a fashion that clearly identifies the facts material to the motion for summary
25 judgment (e.g., generous use of tabs, tables of contents, headings, indices, etc.).
26 The Court sets forth the following requirements for all motions brought pursuant to
27 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 (hereinafter referred to as MSJ), whether they are
28 denominated as a motion for summary judgment or summary adjudication.
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1 A. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS
2 1. Meet and Confer.
3 For an MSJ to be timely filed, the moving party must arrange for an in-person
4 meeting or videoconference to take place no later than sixty (60) days before the motion
5 hearing cutoff set forth in the case management order. The parties shall thoroughly discuss
6 each issue to be raised and the law and evidence relevant to that issue. A thorough
7 discussion serves a critical function by often narrowing the issues to be adjudicated and
8 allowing the parties to squarely and fully address the actual issues requiring resolution.
9 2. Joint Brief Required.
10 The parties shall work cooperatively to submit a single joint brief for all MSJs
11 brought by all moving parties. If multiple parties are moving for summary judgment, the
12 parties should designate only one party as “the moving party” for purposes of the briefing
13 schedule. The Court expects the parties to work together professionally and agree on which
14 party should be designated as the moving party. If the parties are unable to agree, the
15 defendant(s) shall be deemed the moving party. The parties may agree to modify the pre-
16 filing deadlines in the briefing schedule without leave of Court only if (1) all parties agree
17 to the modifications and (2) the MSJ is timely filed under the case management order.
18 3. Multiple Joint Motions are Highly Disfavored.
19 No more than one joint motion may be filed under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure
20 56 without leave of court, regardless of whether such motion is denominated a motion for
21 summary judgment or summary adjudication. In what should be the rare case in which
22 leave of Court is sought, the parties shall file a joint noticed motion setting forth their
23 respective positions on the existence of good cause for the filing of multiple motions.
24 4. Cross Motions on the Same Legal Issues are Highly Disfavored.
25 The Court disfavors cross-motions that seek to adjudicate the same legal issues. If
26 a non-moving party has a good faith belief that the undisputed material facts relied on by
27 the moving party demonstrate that the opposing party is entitled to summary judgment on
28 the same legal issue, the non-moving party should set forth its argument in its response to
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1 the moving party’s argument and request summary judgment. Pursuant to Federal Rule of
2 Civil Procedure 56(f), if appropriately based on undisputed facts and controlling principles
3 of law, the Court may grant summary judgment for the non-moving party or sua sponte
4 enter summary judgment in favor of the non-moving party. If each party is seeking to
5 move for summary judgment on different claims or defenses, each party should meet and
6 confer and follow the same procedures set forth in this Order.
7 5. Appropriate Timing.
8 As a courtesy to both the Court and the opposing party, a moving party should not
9 wait until the last possible day to initiate the filing of an MSJ. On the other hand, premature
10 MSJs—e.g., motions claiming that the opposing party has insufficient evidence when
11 discovery does not close for another six months—only waste time and money for the
12 parties and the Court.
13 6. Page Limitation and Format.
14 Each separately represented party shall be limited to twenty-five (25) pages,
15 excluding tables of contents and authorities. Replies shall not exceed ten (10) pages. Only
16 rarely and for good cause shown will the Court grant an application to extend these page
17 limitations. Each party is limited to using of a total of eight (8) footnotes. Pursuant to
18 Local Rule 11-3.1.1, either a proportionally spaced or monospaced face may be used.
19 Times New Roman font must be no less than 14 point. Footnotes shall be in the same font
20 and the same size as the body of the memorandum. Counsel shall adhere to Local Rule 5-
21 4.3 with respect to the conversion of all documents to PDF format so that when a document
22 is electronically filed, it is in proper size and is PDF searchable. Further, all documents
23 shall be filed in a format so that text can be selected, copied, and pasted directly from the
24 document. See C.D. Cal. L.R. 5-4.3.1.
25 7. Scheduling a Hearing.
26 It is not necessary to clear a hearing date with the Courtroom Deputy before filing a
27 motion. Immediately before filing the motion, parties must check the closed motion dates
28 column located on the right side of Judge Murillo’s Procedures and Schedules Page on the
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1 Court’s website to ensure the hearing date has not been closed. The closed date column is
2 typically updated on a weekly and sometimes daily basis. If a motion is calendared for a
3 date that is closed or becomes unavailable on the Court’s calendar, the Court will issue a
4 minute order continuing the motion to a date that is available.
5 8. Mandatory Chambers Copies.
6 Parties are not required to submit chambers copies unless specifically ordered by the
7 Court. The Court does require copies of materials that have not been filed on the electronic
8 docket for the case (e.g., CD-ROMs, DVDs, USB drives, documents electronically filed
9 in other cases or other districts). Materials, and if ordered, chambers copies, must be
10 delivered to Judge Murillo’s mailbox on the Fourth Floor of the First Street Courthouse,
11 350 West First Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012. Where applicable, exhibits, declarations,
12 etc. to chambers copies must be tabbed. Mandatory Chambers Copies need NOT be blue
13 backed.
14 Materials not filed on the electronic docket must be delivered no later than 12:00
15 p.m. (noon) the following business day after the document is electronically filed.
16 B. JOINT BRIEF
17 1. Content and Organization of Joint Brief.
18 The Joint Brief should contain the following: (1) a table of contents; (2) a table of
19 authorities; (3) an optional brief introduction section stated jointly or, if stated separately
20 by each party, stated under an appropriate subheading identifying the party (e.g., “ACME
21 Co.’s Introduction” or “Defendant’s Introduction”); (4) a statement of facts section stated
22 jointly or, if stated separately by each party, stated under an appropriate subheading
23 identifying the party (e.g., “ACME Co.’s Statement of Facts” or “Defendant’s Statement
24 of Facts”) (5) an analysis or argument section that sets forth the summary judgment
25 standard, followed by arguments organized by issue that present the parties’ competing
26 positions on an issue-by-issue basis. For each issue, the moving party shall present legal
27 argument, citation to authority where applicable, and citation to the Joint Appendix of
28 Facts, see below, followed immediately by the opposing party’s response that similarly
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1 must be supported by legal argument, citation to authority, and citation to the Joint
2 Appendix of Facts.
3 To illustrate the foregoing, the following suggested organization is provided:
4 Table of Contents
Table of Authorities
5 I. Introduction
6 A. Moving Party’s Introduction
B. Opposing Party’s Introduction
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II. Statement of Facts
8 A. Moving Party’s Statement of Facts
9 B. Opposing Party’s Statement of Facts
III. Legal Standard
10 IV. Analysis
11 A. Moving Party’s Argument 1:
1. Summary Judgment Should be Granted on Plaintiff’s Breach of
12 Contract Claim because . . . .
13 2. Opposing Party’s Response
B. Moving Party’s Argument 2:
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1. Summary Judgment Should be Granted on Plaintiff’s Tort
15 Claim because . . . .
16 2. Opposing Party’s Response
V. Conclusion
17 A. Moving Party’s Conclusion
18 B. Opposing Party’s Conclusion
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To illustrate a cross motion for summary judgment, the following suggested
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organization is provided:
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Table of Contents
23 Table of Authorities
24 I. Introduction
II. Statement of Facts
25 A. Moving Party’s Statement of Facts
26 B. Opposing Party’s Statement of Facts
III. Summary Judgment Standard
27 IV. Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment
28 A. Defendant’s Argument 1:
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1 1. Summary Judgment Should be Granted on Plaintiff’s Breach of
Contract Claim because . . . .
2 2. Opposing Party’s Response
3 B. Defendant’s Argument 2:
1. Summary Judgment Should be Granted on Plaintiff’s Tort
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Claim because . . . .
5 2. Opposing Party’s Response
6 V. Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment
A. Plaintiff’s Argument 1:
7 1. Summary Judgment Should be Granted on Plaintiff’s
8 employment claim because . . .
2. Opposing party’s Response
9 VI. Conclusion
10 A. Plaintiff’s Motion
1. Plaintiff’s Conclusion
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2. Defendant’s Conclusion
12 B. Defendant’s Motion
13 1. Defendant’s Conclusion
2. Plaintiff’s Conclusion
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2. Briefing Schedule.
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The schedule for the Joint Brief shall be as follows:
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(a) Meet and Confer.
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For an MSJ to be timely filed, the moving party must arrange for an in-person
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meeting or videoconference to take place no later than sixty (60) calendar days before the
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motion hearing cutoff set forth in the case management order. The parties, however, should
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make every effort to meet sooner than the sixtieth day to allow sufficient time to discuss
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the MSJ and for briefing.
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(b) Moving Party’s Portion of the Joint Brief.
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No later than fourteen (14) days after the meet and confer, the moving party shall
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personally deliver or email to the opposing party an electronic copy of the moving party’s
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portion of the Joint Brief, together with the moving party’s portion of the Joint Appendix
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of Facts and Joint Appendix of Evidence, see below. These documents should allow the
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opposing party to integrate content without modifying the moving party’s separate portions
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of the Joint Brief, Joint Appendix of Facts, and Joint Appendix of Evidence.
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1 (c) Opposing Party’s Portion of the Joint Brief.
2 No later than fourteen (14) days after receiving the moving party’s papers, the
3 opposing party shall personally deliver or email to the moving party an electronic copy of
4 the integrated motion, which shall include the opposing party’s portion of the Joint Brief,
5 Joint Appendix of Facts, and Joint Appendix of Evidence. The opposing party shall not
6 modify in any way the moving party’s separate portions of the joint brief. At this point,
7 the opposing party should sign the Joint Brief.
8 (d) Filing of Joint Brief.
9 After receiving the integrated version of the motion and related papers, the moving
10 party shall finalize it for filing without making any further revisions to the Joint Brief and
11 appendices, except to note in the Joint Appendix of Facts (in the format described in the
12 instructions below) whether any facts added by the opposing party are disputed or
13 undisputed. Once finalized, the moving party’s counsel shall sign and electronically file
14 the Joint Brief, Joint Appendix of Facts, and Joint Appendix of Evidence no later than four
15 (4) days after receiving the opposing party’s signed copy. Thus, the Joint Brief must be
16 filed no later than twenty-eight (28) days before the motion hearing cutoff set forth in the
17 case management order and in accordance with the requirements of Local Rule 6-1. The
18 Joint Brief shall be accompanied by a Notice of Motion and Motion for Summary Judgment
19 and shall be calendared pursuant to the Local Rules on an available date within the motion
20 hearing cutoff.
21 (e) Reply Memorandum.
22 No later than seven (7) days after the Joint Brief is filed and no later than twenty-
23 one (21) days before the scheduled hearing date, the moving party may separately file a
24 reply memorandum of points and authorities, not exceeding ten (10) pages in length. The
25 moving party may not use this filing to supplement the Joint Appendix of Facts or the Joint
26 Appendix of Evidence in any way. No additional briefing or filing in support of or in
27 opposition to the MSJ is permitted.
28 3. Stipulations to Extend Briefing Schedule.
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1 The parties may stipulate to a lengthier briefing schedule that is reasonable for all
2 parties. If the parties are filing cross-motions for summary judgment on different claims,
3 the briefing schedule will need to be adjusted to accommodate the cross-motions. Any
4 stipulation to a lengthier briefing schedule must be provided to the court no later than 21
5 days prior to the hearing date and comply with the motion hearing cut-off deadline.
6 C. JOINT APPENDIX OF FACTS (JAF)
7 The Joint Brief shall be accompanied by a single statement of undisputed and
8 disputed facts contained in a Joint Appendix of Facts (JAF) presented in a table format.
9 1. Table Format. The JAF table shall contain four columns.
10 (a) Column No. 1. The first (far left) column shall contain the number of
11 the fact alleged to be undisputed. All asserted undisputed facts shall be sequentially
12 numbered and divided into sections according to the element of proof to which the facts
13 relate.
14 (b) Column No. 2. The second column shall contain a plain statement of
15 the fact. Facts shall not be compound (e.g., Mike and Jane signed a contract, and Jane
16 mailed the contract in May 2017). Each fact must be stated separately in its own row, as
17 shown below. Neither legal arguments nor conclusions constitute facts. Facts shall not be
18 repeated if they relate to multiple claims for multiple elements of proof. The first reference
19 to a fact in the Joint Appendix of Facts shall serve and—through incorporation by
20 reference—can be cited to support all subsequent claims (e.g., “See JAF 1–5”).
21 (c) Column No. 3. The third column shall contain a citation to admissible
22 evidence that supports the proffered fact; the evidence cited must be included in the Joint
23 Appendix of Evidence. If citing to a specific page contained within an exhibit, refer to the
24 page number. If citing to statements contained within a deposition transcript, refer to the
25 page number and line number. If citing to an excerpt of an audio recording or video
26 footage, refer to the timestamp. If citing to multiple sources, each should be separated by
27 semicolons.
28 (d) Column No. 4. The fourth column shall contain the opposing party’s
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1 response to the fact alleged to be undisputed: (1) stating that the fact is undisputed or
2 disputed, (2) briefly stating why the opposing party disputes the fact, (3) citing with
3 specificity the evidence that refutes the fact, and (4) explaining how the cited evidence
4 refutes the fact. The evidence cited must be included in the Joint Appendix of Evidence.
5 2. Headers. Where feasible, parties should use headers to group facts relevant
6 to a particular issue. See Example below.
7 3. Example. The table below illustrates the format that must be used.
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9 No. Fact Supporting Def’s Response
Evidence
10 Plaintiff’s Claim for Breach of Contract is Barred by the Statute of Limitations.
11 1. Mike and Jane signed a Smith Decl. ¶ 5, Disputed. Jane testified that
contract for the sale and Ex. 6 at 21). the contract was for a lease,
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purchase of property. not a purchase. (Jane Depo.
13 29:4-16, Ex. 1).
14 2. Jane mailed the contract in Smith Decl. ¶ 8, Disputed in Part. Jane
May 2017. Ex. 21 at 4. testified she mailed the
15 contract in January 2017.
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Jane Depo. 3:4-10, Ex. 1.
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Plaintiff Concealed a Material Fact When Entering into the Contract
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3. Jane stated the property Smith Decl. ¶ 8, Disputed. Jane testified that
19 was not located in a flood Ex. 6; Jane Depo. she mailed Mike a FEMA
20 zone. 42:4-16. risk map in February 2017.
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Jane Depo. 42:4-16, Ex. 1.
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23 4. Good-Faith Preparation. The parties shall cooperate to prepare the JAF in
24 good faith.
25 (a) The parties shall work cooperatively to identify a single set of facts
26 alleged to be undisputed to avoid unnecessary duplication or confusion.
27 (b) The parties shall provide only material facts, in a noncompound form,
28 arranged according to their relevancy to a particular issue. Do not rotely “cut and paste”
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1 from the “Statement of Facts” of the Joint Brief.
2 (c) If a party disputes a fact in bad faith by offering evidence that does not
3 contradict the proffered fact or by failing to provide a specific citation to the supporting
4 evidence, the Court will deem the fact undisputed for purposes of the motion. See Fed. R.
5 Civ. P. 56(e)(2); L.R. 56-4
6 (d) If a party disputes a fact in part, the disputing party should state
7 “Disputed in Part,” highlight the disputed part in bold italics, and provide the specific
8 evidentiary support for the dispute (see example above). A party that lacks candor in failing
9 to acknowledge the limited extent of the dispute forces the Court to expend needless
10 resources discovering it itself.
11 (e) The JAF should be as narrow and concise as the issues on summary
12 judgment properly warrant. If the Court determines that the JAF is unjustifiably long or
13 unwieldy, the Court may strike the JAF and require the parties to refile it (and any
14 document citing it) within two (2) business days.
15 (f) The parties shall not engage in deliberate gamesmanship designed to
16 abuse the process and should be prepared to justify each purportedly disputed fact at the
17 hearing. Abuses include, but are not limited to, the following tactics:
18 i. Stating a fact is undisputed when it clearly is not;
19 ii. Disputing a clearly undisputed fact in whole or part;
20 iii. Manufacturing a dispute by mischaracterizing evidence,
21 reframing the stated fact in order to dispute the fact as reframed,
22 or using an evidentiary objection to dispute an undisputed fact;
23 iv. Making legal argument in the JAF; and
24 v. Introducing clearly irrelevant or immaterial facts for the obvious
25 purpose of obfuscation.
26 D. JOINT APPENDIX OF EVIDENCE (JAE)
27 The Joint Brief shall be accompanied by a Joint Appendix of Evidence (JAE)— i.e.,
28 a separate, tabbed appendix of all evidence in support of or opposition to the MSJ,
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1 including declarations, deposition excerpts, documents, photographs, etc. Physical
2 evidence (e.g., video recordings) shall be lodged separately. No evidence should be
3 attached to a memorandum of points and authorities or included anywhere other than in the
4 JAE. The JAE shall include a table of contents and be filed as a single, combined PDF;
5 more than one PDF may be filed if file-size constraints preclude filing the JAE as a single
6 PDF. In the event multiple PDFs are necessary to file the JAE, each file shall be titled by
7 part and exhibit series (e.g., JAE Part 1, Exhibits 1–50). Each exhibit within the JAE must
8 be bookmarked; the bookmark should include the exhibit number and a brief description
9 of the exhibit (e.g., Ex. 1 – Jones Depo. Excerpts).
10 Declarations shall set out admissible facts without any argument, and evidence must
11 be submitted either by stipulation or as exhibits to declarations sufficient to authenticate
12 the proffered evidence and must not be attached to the Joint Brief. No party shall submit
13 evidence other than the specific evidence necessary to support or controvert a proposed
14 statement of undisputed fact. Do not, for example, submit the entire deposition transcripts
15 or an entire set of interrogatory responses when relying on only a portion of such
16 documents.
17 The parties may submit only one deposition transcript from any given witness. For
18 example, if both plaintiff and defendant would like to cite to John Smith’s deposition, then
19 the parties must provide only one exhibit of Mr. Smith’s deposition transcript that both
20 parties may cite to. Thus, if both parties seek to rely on the same evidence, the parties may
21 submit the entire deposition transcript for ease of reference.
22 E. JOINT APPENDIX OF OBJECTIONS (JAO)
23 The Joint Brief shall be accompanied by a Joint Appendix of Objections (JAO)—
24 i.e., evidentiary objections, if any, shall be made in a single, separate document presented
25 in a four-column table as follows:
26 Objector Evidence Objection (O) / Response (R) Ruling
27 Plaintiff 1. “Scott O: Hearsay. Sustained
28 told Abigail that Zach R: Because Scott made this
was his killer.” (Scott statement under the belief of
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1 Decl. ¶ 8.) imminent death, it falls under Overruled
the hearsay exception found in
2 Federal Rule of Evidence
3 804(b)(2).
4 Failure to comply with this formatting requirement will result in a waiver of the
5 objections. Blanket or boilerplate objections will be overruled and disregarded. If any
6 party has an objection to evidence that is claim- or case-dispositive, the party must state
7 the objection in the appropriate section of the Joint Brief. Both parties are encouraged to
8 include an explanation for why the objection should be overruled/sustained in the third
9 column.
10 F. HEARING
11 1. Oral Argument Time Limits.
12 If oral argument is permitted, each party will have 10 minutes, unless the Court states
13 otherwise. If the Court believes the matter warrants less or more time, it will advise counsel
14 at the hearing.
15 2. Submission Without Oral Argument.
16 Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 78 and Local Rule 7-15, the Court may deem a matter
17 appropriate for decision without oral argument. If the Court does so, it will notify the
18 parties via minute order before the hearing.
19 3. Remote Appearances.
20 Remote appearances are not permitted absent good cause. The Court strongly
21 prefers counsel to appear in person for MSJ hearings. If exceptional circumstances exist,
22 counsel may file an application to appear remotely detailing such circumstances.
23 4. Settlement.
24 Counsel must notify the Court at least two weeks before the scheduled hearing if the
25 parties are conducting settlement discussions that may render the motion moot and must
26 notify the Court immediately if a settlement is reached. A belated notice of settlement
27 wastes scarce judicial resources.
28 G. FAILURE TO COMPLY
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1 If it appears that the parties have not met and conferred in good faith, have not
2 worked to fully integrate the Joint Brief, JAF, JAE, or JAO, or have otherwise failed to
3 fully comply with this Order, the motion may be stricken, and the parties may be required
4 to repeat the process. The deadline for hearing the motion will not be continued for failure
5 to comply with this Order, absent good cause.
6
7 IT IS SO ORDERED.
8 Dated: _____________________________________
HON. SERENA MURILLO
9
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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