At the time any case is filed and assigned to a district judge, the name of a magistrate judge shall
also be assigned in accordance with the procedures adopted pursuant to LR 40.2(a) when
applicable. The magistrate judge so assigned shall be the designated magistrate judge for that case.
Whenever a new case is assigned to a district judge directly and not by lot pursuant to LR 40.3(b),
the designated magistrate judge for the case originally assigned by lot will be the designated
magistrate judge for the later filed case.
Any judge wishing to refer a matter in a civil case pending on that judge’s calendar to a magistrate
judge may do so following procedures approved by the Executive Committee.
Where two or more cases are related, the designated magistrate judge in the lowest-numbered case
of the set of related cases will be the designated magistrate judge for all cases in the set. The
designated magistrate judge in the lowest-numbered case will remain the designated magistrate
judge for the set as long as any cases in the set are pending.
Except as ordered by the Executive Committee, the reassignment of a case from one district judge
to another shall not change the designated magistrate judge for that case.
Amended May 31, 2011 and June 27, 2024
