(a) RANDOM ASSIGNMENT.
Except as otherwise provided by these Rules, civil, criminal and miscellaneous cases
shall be assigned to judges of this Court selected at random in the following manner:
(1) The Clerk shall create a separate assignment deck in the automated system for
each subclassification of civil and criminal cases established by the Court
pursuant to LCrR 57.9 of these Rules and a separate deck for miscellaneous
cases 3. The decks will be created by the Liaison to the Calendar and Case
For the purpose of this Rule, miscellaneous cases that will be randomly assigned will
include, but not be limited to, these proceedings: (a) actions to perpetuate testimony as in
Rule 27, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure; (b) actions to enforce administrative
Management Committee or the Liaison's backup and access to this function shall
be restricted to these individuals to protect the integrity and confidentiality of the
random assignment of cases. The Calendar and Case Management Committee
will, from time to time, determine and indicate by order the frequency with which
each judge's name shall appear in each designated deck to effectuate an even
distribution of cases among the active judges.
(2) At the time a civil complaint is filed or an indictment or information is returned in
a criminal case, the case shall be assigned to the judge whose name appears on the
screen when the appropriate deck is selected. The Clerk shall also stamp on the
indictment, information, complaint or other initial pleading of each case, and on
the file jacket, the number of the case and the name of the judge to whom it is
assigned. The numbering and assignment of each case shall be completed before
processing of the next case is begun. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a civil case,
requiring an emergency hearing, which is filed after normal business hours, shall
not be assigned to a judge until the next business day.
(b) ASSIGNMENT TO VISITING AND SENIOR JUDGES.
Cases may be assigned to visiting and senior judges in accordance with procedures
adopted from time to time by the Calendar and Case Management Committee.
(c) PROCEEDINGS AFTER ASSIGNMENT.
All proceedings in a case after its assignment shall be conducted by the judge to whom
the case is assigned, except as otherwise provided in these Rules. A judge who declares a
mistrial shall retain the case for subsequent proceedings including, where appropriate,
retrial.
(d) WIRETAP ORDER APPLICATIONS.
Applications by the United States Attorney for orders authorizing interception of wire or
oral communications shall be assigned in rotation by seniority among the active judges,
excluding the Chief Judge.
COMMENT TO LCrR 57.10: To ensure an even distribution of cases filed on the
miscellaneous docket these cases will now be randomly assigned to a judge of this Court
at the time of filing. The assigned judge will maintain jurisdiction of the miscellaneous
case for all purposes. The assignment of miscellaneous cases does not affect the duties of
the Motions Judge as specified in LCvR 40.8 (a)(b)(c).
subpoenas and summonses; (c) proceeding ancillary to an action pending in another
district; (d) supplementary proceedings brought in aid of execution; (e) motions for return
of property in criminal proceedings; and (f) requests for judicial assistance.
