UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT
STANDING SCHEDULING ORDER – SOCIAL SECURITY CASE
Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, the parties shall adhere to the following
Scheduling Order. To the extent any prior scheduling order was entered in this case, the terms
and conditions of this Scheduling Order shall be controlling. Further, to the extent that the
CM/ECF notification system automatically enters deadlines that are inconsistent with any
deadline specifically addressed in this Scheduling Order, the terms and conditions of this
Scheduling Order shall be controlling.
I. Deadlines:
(a) Defendant shall file an Answer and the Administrative Record no later
than 60 Days following service of the Complaint on the agency, the
Attorney General and the United States Attorney.
(b) Within 60 Days after the filing of the Answer, the plaintiff must serve and
file a Motion for Order Reversing the Commissioner’s Decision, or for
other relief, and a supporting memorandum.
(c) Within 60 Days after the plaintiff files a Motion for Order Reversing the
Commissioner’s Decision, the defendant must serve and file a Motion for
Order Affirming the Decision of the Commissioner, and a supporting
memorandum.
(d) The Court will construe the defendant’s motion and supporting
memorandum as a response to plaintiff’s motion and memorandum.
Thus, within 14 Days after the defendant files a Motion for Order
Affirming the Decision of the Commissioner, and a supporting
memorandum, the plaintiff may file a reply pursuant to Local Rule 7(d).
(e) After 7 months from the filing of the complaint, if there is no action by
either party, a Local Rule 41(a) notice will issue.
(f) Any Motion for Attorney's Fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act, 28
U.S.C. § 2412, shall be filed no later than 30 Days from the date a
judgment becomes final. [The date of entry of judgment starts the
60-day period for appeal. After the expiration of these 60 days, a party
has the 30 days specified by the Equal Access to Justice Act to file a
Motion for Attorney's Fees]. A party filing such a Motion must attest
therein that he or she first attempted to settle the issue of attorney fees
under the Equal Access to Justice Act with opposing counsel.
II. Requests for Extensions of Time:
(a) Given the deadlines set in Section I supra, requests for extensions of time
are discouraged, and unless circumstances dictate otherwise, counsel
should generally seek an extension of time for a maximum of thirty (30)
days. Any such motion shall include a showing of good cause, as
required by Local Rule 7(b)(2).
III. Form and Content of Motions and Supporting Memoranda:
(a) In accordance with Local Rule 7(a)(2), except by permission of the Court,
briefs or memoranda of law shall not exceed forty (40) pages. In cases
where the administrative record is not voluminous or novel issues of law
have not been raised, the Court would appreciate counsel limiting their
briefs or memoranda of law to twenty-five (25) pages.
(b) All motions and memoranda filed with the Clerk shall meet the following
requirements:
(1) all text in the body of the document must be
double-spaced, except that text in block quotations and
footnotes may be single-spaced;
(2) extensive footnotes and block quotations may not be used
to circumvent page limitations;
(3) documents must have one-inch margins on all four sides;
and
(4) pages must be consecutively numbered.
(c) The parties should avoid boilerplate discussions of the governing legal
standards as the Court is familiar with the standard of review and the
sequential evaluation process employed in the analysis of Social Security
disability applications. The parties should focus on applying relevant and
controlling legal authority to the facts germane to each disputed issue.
Citations to unreported decisions of other district courts are discouraged;
if such citations are nonetheless used, the unreported decision must be
attached as an exhibit to the memorandum.
SO ORDERED at Hartford, Connecticut.
/s/ Robert A. Richardson
United States Magistrate Judge
Rev 1/19/16
