UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
EASTERN DIVISION
STANDING ORDER OF JUDGE GETTLEMAN
REGARDING JOINDER, PERSONAL JURISDCTION, AND
DEFAULT JUDGMENT IN “SCHEDULE A” LITIGATION
1. This standing order applies to all “Schedule A” cases, defined as any case alleging that
multiple defendants (commonly listed in an attachment to the complaint entitled
“Schedule A”) engaged in copyright, patent, or trademark infringement.
2. Within 2 weeks of filing a “Schedule A” case, plaintiff shall file a memorandum, not to
exceed 10 pages:
a. demonstrating why the defendants are properly joined under Federal Rule of Civil
Procedure 20; and
b. demonstrating that this court has personal jurisdiction over each defendant. See Liu
v. Monthly, No. 25-2074, __ F.4th __, 2026 WL 880018, at *2-3 (7th Cir. Mar. 31,
2026) (explaining that “[i]n the context of Schedule A litigation, a defendant’s
operation of an online store accessible in the forum state, combined with completed
sales in the forum state, has been found sufficient to subject that defendant to personal
jurisdiction,” but that “merely operating a website, even a highly interactive website,
that is accessible from, but does not target, the forum state is not enough to sustain
jurisdiction,” and holding that “the district court clearly erred in finding that sales
took place in Illinois, and therefore legally erred in finding that it had personal
jurisdiction over the [Schedule A] defendants” (internal quotation and citation
omitted)).
3. In any “Schedule A” case where defendants are located abroad, in accordance with the
Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extra-Judicial Documents in
Civil and Commercial Matters, before or upon filing a motion for default judgment,
plaintiff shall file a memorandum, not to exceed five pages, addressing:
a. whether the addresses of defendants are known; and
b. if the addresses of defendants are not known, the efforts that plaintiff undertook to
discover defendants’ addresses.
ENTER:
__________________________________________
Robert W. Gettleman
United States District Judge
DATE: April 4, 2026
