UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
EASTERN DIVISION
REVISED STANDING ORDER
OF JUDGE GETTLEMAN
REGARDING BRIEFS, MOTION PRACTICE, DISCLOSURES,
AND PROTECTIVE ORDERS
RULES 1 AND 2.A-G APPLY TO CIVIL AND CRIMINAL CASES
1. ALL DOCUMENTS
A. A chambers’ copy of any document filed electronically that include
exhibits must be delivered to Room 1788 by 4:30 p.m. on the next business day after the
document is electronically filed.
B. Double-sided printing is not permitted.
C. All documents delivered to chambers must be bound properly; unbound
documents will be stricken. If a chambers copy has more than one exhibit, it must be
bound on the left side and include right-margin tabs for each exhibit, along with an
index of exhibits. Documents containing voluminous exhibits should, in addition to
complying with the above requirements, be bound in a three-ring binder.
D. Motions to file briefs exceeding 15 pages are looked upon with disfavor
and shall not be granted except in unusual circumstances. See L.R. 7.1. All briefs and
other submissions must be double-spaced. Briefs that use nonstandard typeface or
spacing or that improperly purport to incorporate another pleading (such as an L.R. 56.1
statement) to avoid the 15-page limitation will be stricken by the court. Excessive and/or
substantive footnotes are strongly discouraged and will be counted as doubles paced
passages when computing the number of pages in a brief.
E. L.R. 7.1 will be strictly enforced; all briefs that exceed 15 pages must
have a table of contents and a table of cases.
2. MOTIONS
A. The requirements in 1.B-D also apply to motions.
B. All motions should be filed without a notice of presentment.
Notices of filing are not necessary or desired so long as a certificate of service is attached
to the motion or brief.
C. For “routine” motions (e.g., leave to file amended pleadings, motions for
extensions of time, and motions that do not require briefing schedules), moving counsel
should check with the Courtroom Deputy, Claire Newman ((312) 435-5544) if an order
addressing the motion has not been entered within 3 business days after filing. The court
will attempt to rule on uncontested routine motions without requiring counsel to appear.
If in connection with any such otherwise "routine" motion moving counsel is
aware there will be an objection, this should be conspicuously noted in the body of the
motion. If the respondent intends to object to such a motion that does not note the
objection, respondent's counsel should so inform movant's counsel and the court's
courtroom deputy as soon as possible.
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D. Motions for Orders of Default, Default Judgment and Mortgage
Foreclosure: All such motions must be verified and recite the date each party was
served, the date all appearances were due and all other facts supporting the motion for
default. All such motions and notices thereof must be mailed to or otherwise served on
each party at his, her, or its last known address.
E. When a case is set for a status conference, any party may, within the time
periods and in the manner set forth above, file a motion with a notice to be heard at the
time of the status conference.
F. Discovery Motions: Civil discovery motions shall not be heard without a
statement pursuant to L.R. 37.2 and Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(a)(1)(A). In addition, no party
shall serve on any other party more than 25 interrogatories in the aggregate without leave
of court.
G. Summary Judgment Motions L.R. 56.1 will be strictly enforced. Unless
otherwise ordered, no statement filed pursuant to L.R. 56.1(a)(2) may contain more than
80 statements of uncontested fact, and no statement filed under L.R. 56.1(b)(3)(B) may
contain more than 40 statements of additional fact. All memoranda in support of, or in
opposition to, motions for summary judgment must contain a statement of facts section
citing to and supported by the pertinent L.R. 56.1 statements.
3. EXPERT WITNESS DISCLOSURES AND MOTIONS
A. Disclosures regarding experts' opinions, the basis and supporting data,
information and exhibits, qualifications, fees, and other cases in which the expert has
testified in the last four years are automatically required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2).
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B. Expert disclosures required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2) shall be made no
later than 60 days before the discovery cut-off date, unless otherwise ordered. Rebuttal
information required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2) must be provided no later than 30 days
before the discovery cut-off date, unless otherwise ordered.
C. Compliance with Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2) is required before an expert may
be designated as a trial witness in the final pretrial order.
D. Any motions concerning expert qualifications filed pursuant to Daubert v.
Merrill Dow Pharmaceuticals, 509 U.S. 579 (1993), and its progeny, shall be filed at least
60 days prior to trial, or 10 days prior to the discovery cut-off date, whichever is earlier.
4. PROTECTIVE ORDERS
In light of the holding in Jepson, Inc. v. Makita Elec. Works, Ltd., 30 F.3d 854, 858-59
(7th Cir. 1994), and its progeny with respect to protective orders:
A. All material sought to be protected should be described in sufficient detail
to justify such protection (e.g., "trade secrets," "personnel files," etc.). Parties should not
be given total discretion to mark whatever material they choose to be protected or kept
confidential.
B. This court will not require the inclusion of an express finding of good
cause in such orders. Instead it will review such orders with care and in detail before
signing them. Its issuance of the protective order in the light of this Standing Order will
constitute its determination, as required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c), that good cause existed
for such issuance.
C. Issuance of any protective order will not, however, be given binding effect
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as a determination of good cause for Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c) purposes if at any future time
either party moves for relief from the limitations of the protective order. At that time this
court will engage in an appropriate balancing of the interests between privacy and public
access in order to make a new determination of good cause in light of the facts then
before this Court. See Jepson, 30 F.3d at 859.
D. Whenever parties are contemplating their entry into a protective order that
includes the possibility that documents that are designated as "Confidential" or that are
otherwise subject to limited disclosure ("restricted documents" within the meaning of
L.R. 26.2(a)) may be filed in court, three special provisions must be included:
1. No filing under seal, or any other designation as a restricted document, is
to be permitted without previously-obtained court approval (see Citizens First
Nat'l Bank v. Cincinnati Ins. Co., 178 F.3d 943 (7th Cir. 1999)).
2. After the case is closed in the District Court (this requirement differs from
L.R.26.2(e), which speaks of the case's "final disposition including appeals"), the
parties may obtain the return of any previously-sealed or previously-restricted
documents by a motion filed within a specified time period after the case is
closed. Counsel are free to agree on that specified time period, but they should
not designate more than a 63-day period. Any documents that are not so
withdrawn will become part of the public case file, and the protective order must
so provide.
3. If the protective order contains any provision that would permit its
amendment by agreement of the parties without requiring court approval, that
power of amendment cannot extend to the subjects covered in paragraphs 1 and 2.
_________________________________________
Robert W. Gettleman
United States District Judge
DATE: March 25, 2024
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