Standing Order Governing Criminal Pretrial & Trial Procedures
This Standing Order applies to all criminal pretrial and trial procedures. The
purpose of these requirements is to promote a fair and expeditious trial. The Court
will set a deadline for the filing of the pretrial filings described below.
1. Joint Pretrial Statement. The parties shall file on the docket a Joint
Pretrial Statement with the following items, and also email the complete Statement
to Judge Chang’s Proposed Order email account in MS Word format:
a. Case Statement. The parties shall confer and provide a concise
agreed statement of the case to be read by the Court to the jury pool during
jury selection. This is a neutral description of the case, with just enough
information to introduce the case to the jury and to ask potential jurors
whether they happen to know anything about the case. After reading the case
statement, Judge Chang also ordinarily reads the third paragraph of Pattern
Instruction 1.02: “The indictment is simply the formal way of telling the
defendant what crimes he is accused of committing. It is not evidence that the
defendant is guilty. It does not even raise a suspicion of guilt.”
b. Trial Length / Number of Jurors. State the estimated number of
trial days, including jury selection and deliberations, premised on six-hour
trial-testimony days (the six hours already accounts for lunch and breaks).
Provided estimated sub-totals for the government’s case and the defense case
(if any is anticipated). Propose time limits for opening statements and closing
arguments, per side. Propose the number of alternate jurors.
c. Voir Dire Questions. Attached to this Standing Order is the juror
letter with standard background questions that the Court asks prospective
jurors during voir dire (the background letter is provided to the jurors when
they are in the Jury Department room). For additional questions, the parties
must file a list divided into (a) agreed-upon questions and (b) proposed
questions to which there is an objection. A short basis for any objection must
accompany the list. Each side is limited to 15 proposed disputed questions,
unless a motion is filed before the pretrial conference that explains good cause
for proposing more than the limit. Each side shall provide the other with
proposed voir dire questions 5 business days before the due date of the Joint
Pretrial Statement, and confer by 2 business days before the due date in order
to generate this section of the Statement.
d. Stipulations and Uncontested Facts. In numbered paragraphs, set
forth any stipulations and uncontested facts. No later than 5 business days
before the pretrial conference, the parties must serve on each other proposed
stipulations. No later than 2 business days before the due date, the parties
must confer in good faith to arrive at as many stipulations and uncontested
facts as possible.
2. Witness Description Lists. On the same date as the Joint Pretrial
Statement, each party shall file a list of witnesses (and email an MS Word version to
Judge Chang’s Proposed Order email account), including expert witnesses, divided
into (a) witnesses who will be called; and (b) witnesses who might be called. For each
witness, provide a very concise (one or two sentences) description of the witness and
the witness’s role in the case. For example: “Martha Washington is the case agent for
the case. She also participated in executing the search warrant.” Or: “George
Washington is XYZ Corporation’s Chief Operating Officer. He questioned the
defendant about the allegedly fraudulent accounting entries.” The names of witnesses
on the lists will be read to the jury during jury selection to ensure that potential jurors
do not personally know any witnesses.
3. Exhibit Lists and Proposed Exhibits at Pretrial Stage. Each party must
file an exhibit chart (and email an MS Word version to Judge Chang’s Proposed Order
email account) on the same date as the Joint Pretrial Statement. The charts must
state the following: (a) the exhibit number; (b) the date of the document or exhibit, if
applicable; (c) a concise, neutral description of the exhibit; (d) a concise statement of
the exhibit’s relevance; and (e) whether there is an objection to the exhibit’s
admission, and if so, a concise explanation of the objection. The chart’s format shall
be substantially similar to the example below (landscape orientation is encouraged).
No. Date Description Relevance Objection
1 02/15/06 2005 Performance Proves record of R. 402 relevance; R.
Review satisfactory job 403 confusion.
performance Plaintiff fired in
2011.
Because of the need to work together to create the charts (because of the
objection column), the parties must exchange their respective proposed exhibit charts
10 business days before the deadline for filing the charts, and the objecting side
must return the chart with the objection column filled in 5 business days before the
deadline.
With regard to creating and naming the electronic versions of the exhibits, the
parties must use the exhibit-file format and exhibit-naming convention for the
Jury Evidence Recording System (JERS). Information on JERS is attached to this
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Standing Order.1 No later than 5 business days before the pre-trial conference,
the parties must submit to chambers a USB storage device, DVD, or CD with all of
the proposed exhibits. In addition to the disc, the parties also must supply 2 sets of
exhibit binders containing copies of objected-to exhibits only. Unless the parties
agree otherwise, the party that is objecting to an exhibit is responsible for providing
the copy of the objected-to exhibit. During the pretrial conference, the parties should
raise any objections to exhibits that can be resolved before trial, in order to promote
an expeditious trial and to avoid sidebars.
4. Motions in Limine. The motions in limine must be briefed as thoroughly
as possible (the Court will set a briefing schedule in each case). The Court’s goal is to
be in a position to decide as many of the motions in limine before the pretrial
conference by relying on the briefs; any remaining motions in limine will be decided
at the pre-trial conference, if at all possible. Unless set separately, the deadline on
motions in limine includes Santiago motions by the government to allow co-
conspirator statements. Santiago motions must be specific in identifying the offered
statements, so that the parties may brief, and the Court may analyze, the propriety
of each statement.
5. Jury Instructions / Verdict Forms. The parties must confer in order to
attempt to agree on as many jury instructions as possible, as well as the verdict form.
Where applicable, the Court generally prefers the Seventh Circuit’s Pattern
Instructions, but of course the parties may propose modifications to the Pattern and
may propose additional, non-Pattern Instructions. The proposed jury instructions
must state, on an instruction-by-instruction basis, the following information: the
proponent of the instruction, the legal authority for the instruction, and whether
there is an objection to the instruction. If an instruction is disputed, the proponent of
the instruction should concisely explain the basis for the instruction, if more
explanation is required beyond the identified legal authority (often citing to the
Pattern or to a case will be explanation enough). Moreover, if an instruction is
disputed, the objecting party must concisely state—on the page immediately
following the instruction—the grounds for the objection, as well as any proposed
modification or alternative. The same principles apply to proposed verdict forms. The
jury-instructions filing also must be emailed to Judge Chang’s Proposed Order email
account in MS Word format (a deadline will be set in each case).
6. Jury Selection. As noted above, in the Jury Department, jurors are
provided with a letter stating the general background questions each juror will
answer during voir dire. Jurors will be seated in the jury box and in the gallery
according to the random-order list. The Court will ask the background questions of
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Ideally, any exhibit in .pdf format will have undergone Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
and be text-searchable.
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all jurors. After each juror answers, the Court will ask the additional questions
approved, during the pre-trial conference, for voir dire. After that questioning,
counsel will have a chance to propose follow-up questions at a side-bar (though the
Court will ask the questions). After that last round of questioning, counsel will
exercise for-cause challenges. That will leave the qualified pool on which peremptory
strikes will be made (double-strikes count against both sides). The first 12 non-struck
jurors on the random-order jury list will comprise the jury. Then the parties will
exercise their peremptory (or peremptories, if more than one) challenge for the
alternate (or alternates, if more than one).
7. Exhibits at Trial Stage. Just as at the pretrial stage, when preparing
exhibits for the trial itself, once again use the JERS exhibit format and naming
convention. As stated in the JERS instructions, five business days before trial,
each party shall supply (a) the exhibits in digital format on a USB drive, DVD, or CD;
and (b) the exhibits in paper copy (just 1 set), double-sided in three-ring binders. The
exhibit binders should separate the exhibits with tabs that correspond to the exhibit
number.
8. Displaying Exhibits on the Video Monitors. If you need instruction on
the courtroom display technology equipment, please call the Systems Department
(312.435.6045) within the Clerk’s Office. Please note that the courtroom’s evidence-
display technology has separate controls for the counsel-table video monitors, the
witness’s monitor, and the jury’s monitors. The judge will leave the counsel-table
monitors set to display during the entire trial. Generally, the judge also will leave the
witness’s monitor set to display during the entire trial, because usually the other side
does not have an objection to the witness being shown the proposed exhibit. But in
order to give the other side time to object to even that step, the offering party should
state something to the effect of, “Your Honor, I’d like to show Government’s Exhibit
1 to the witness.” If the opposing party objects to even showing the witness the
exhibit, that is the time to object. Otherwise, the offering party may display the
exhibit to the witness via the offering party’s laptop or the document camera.
To publish the exhibit to the jury, preface your request with something to the
effect of, “Your Honor, may we publish Government’s Exhibit 1 to the jury?” The
Court will ask whether there is an objection, and then if publication is allowed, the
Court will turn on the jury’s video monitors. When done with that exhibit, say
something to the effect of, “Your Honor, we’re done with that exhibit,” and the Court
will turn off the jury’s video monitors (and that also will be a signal to your co-counsel
or assistant if you have someone putting on and off an exhibit via a laptop).
As we get deeper into the trial, we might be able to avoid turning off the jury
monitors at certain points. For example, if you’re asking a witness about an exhibit
or set of exhibits already allowed into evidence and already published, you may signal
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that you’re going to move onto an exhibit that’s already been published (e.g., “Your
Honor, we’re done with that exhibit, and I’d now like to show Government’s Exhibit
1, which has already been published.” The Court will ask whether there’s any
objection, and if not, the jury monitors will remain on.
9. Witness Examinations / Jury Addresses. In order to respect the jury’s
time, always have enough witnesses available so that we make use of the full trial
day. All witness examinations must be conducted from the podium unless otherwise
allowed by the Court. The only alternative site is the end of the jury box, but you
must speak loudly enough for the witness, judge, jury, and court reporter to easily
hear you, and speak into the microphone at the end of the jury box so that the
audio-recording system can record you. Jury addresses must take place at the
podium as well: even if you speak loudly for us to hear you, again the audio-recording
system relies on the microphones to record what you say, and the recording is
necessary for transcript preparation or to resolve a dispute over what a transcript
says.
10. Objections. When you object, you must stand so that the Court and the
witness are on alert that an objection will be made. Before trial, counsel should
instruct their witnesses not to answer a question when they see the opposing lawyer
stand and while an objection is pending. You must state a short, non-argumentative
basis for the objection (e.g., relevance, hearsay), and responses must be similarly
short and non-argumentative. Ideally, there will be little or no need for a side-bar if
objections and responses are succinct.
ENTERED:
_______________________
EDMOND E. CHANG
Revised: July 17, 2026
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