(a) Assignment According to Court Order. The clerk must assign cases to
judicial officers according to the method that the court orders from time to time.
(b) Assignment Sequence Is Confidential. No one in the clerk's office may
reveal to any person, other than a judge, the sequence in which cases are assigned.
(c) Punishment for Tampering with Assignments. The court may punish a
person for contempt if the person causes or attempts to cause a court employee to:
(1) reveal the sequence in which cases are assigned; or
(2) assign a case inconsistent with the court's order.
(d) Notice of Related Action. A party must file a notice of related action:
(1) upon filing an appeal from a bankruptcy case, if another appeal arising
out of the same case (including from an adversary proceeding) has already been
filed; or
(2) as soon as it appears that the party's case and another pending case:
(A) arise out of the same transaction or occurrence;
(B) involve the same property; or
(C) involve the validity or infringement of the same patent, trademark, or
copyright.
This Notice requirement is not satisfied by indicating that a case is related on
the Civil Cover Sheet.
(e) Transfer of Related Cases. When the court determines that two cases are
related, the case filed later may, in the court’s discretion, be transferred to the
judicial officer handling the earlier-filed case.
(f) Reassignment of Cases. The court may reassign cases among judicial officers
if workload and the speedy administration of justice so require. If it is necessary to
reassign a case for reasons other than workload, the chief judge will refer the case to
the clerk and the clerk must reassign the case using a system similar to that used
when cases are first filed.
(g) Remands for New Trials. The clerk must assign cases remanded for a new
trial under Seventh Circuit Rule 36 by random lot unless:
(1) the remand order directs otherwise; or
(2) within 15 days after the mandate for a new trial is docketed, all parties in
the case file a request that the judge previously assigned to the case retry it.
(h) Direct Assignment of Cases. Certain case types will be directly assigned as
follows:
(1) Habeas petitions brought under 28 U.S.C. §2255 are assigned to the judge
of the underlying criminal case;
(2) Any cases for which assignment is mandated by statute or rule will be
assigned accordingly.
