UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE
EASTERN AND WESTERN DISTRICTS OF KENTUCKY
JOINT GENERAL ORDER No.16-0l
IN RE: AMENDMENTS TO JOINT LOCAL RULES
Pursuant to LR 83.14 and LCrR 57.7 of the Joint Local Rules of the Eastern and Western
Districts of Kentucky, and pursuant to the authority granted by Rule 83 of the Federal Rules of
Civil Procedure and Rule 57 ofthe Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, upon recommendation
of the Joint Local Rules Commission, and upon the close of the comment period without
comment, the Judges of the Eastern and Western Districts hereby ORDER that the following
amendments be made to the Joint Local Rules:
A. LR 5.2(d), (c)- Pro Sc Actions- is amended ao;; follows in order to clarify
procedures for non-prisoner prose litigants and to better enable the Courts to
contact non-prisoner prose litigants;
(d) Disclosure of Contact Information; Sanctions, ln addition to the requirements of
LR 5.1 (a), all pro se litigants must include, if available, in the caption of the litigant's first filing,
the litigant's current telephone number, residential address, and, if different, mailing address.
Failme to provide the required address and telephone iriformation upon request may result in the
dismissal of the litigant's case or other appropriate sanctions.
(e) Notification of Change in Address; Sanctions. All prose litigants must provide
written notice of a change of residential address, and, if dit1erent. mailing address, to the Clerk
and to the opposing party or the opposing party's counsel. Failure to notify the Clerk of an
address change may result in the dismissal of the litigant's case or other appropriate sanctions.
B. A new LR 5.7- Filing Documents Under Seal is added as follows in order to
clarify the procedures for seeking leave to file documents under seal:
LR5.7 FILING DOCUMENTS UNDER SEAL
(a) Presumption of public access. Parties and counsel should presume that all
documents tiled in district court should be available for the public to access and that restricting
public access can occur only in limited circumstances, as set torth in this Rule.
(b) ''Scaled Document" defined. A "sealed document" is defined as a document or
motion filed pursuant to (1) a protective order restricting pubtic access, (2) an order granting
leave to file the sealed document or motion, in conjunction with a motion for leave to seal or a
previously-filed redacted document, or (3) included within a category of documents considered
sealed under a federal statute or federal rule of procedure, local ru~e, or standing order of this
court. A sealed document or motion is not available electronically, or by any other means, to the
pmiies, attorneys, or the public.
(c) Specific Authority or Motion Required; Protecth'e Orders. Absent a federal
statute or federal rule of procedure, local rule, or standing order of this court, a party seeking to
file a sealed document must electronically file a motion for l~ave to seaL The motion must state
why sealing is required and must establish that the document sought to be filed under seal is
entitled to protection from public disclosure. Reference to a stipulation that allows a party to
designate certain documents as confidential is not sufficient grounds to establish that a
document, or portions thereof, warrm1ts filing under seal.
(d) Electronic Filing Rules and Procedures. All procedures tor tiling documents
under seal, whether pursuant to this Rule or a federal statute or federal rule of procedure, are
contained in the court's Amended Electronic Case Filing Administrative Policies and
Procedures, available from the Clerk's office on the following websites:
WDKY- http://www.kywd.uscourts.gov/
EDKY- http://~vw.kyed.uscourts.gov/
c. LR 54.4- Time for Filing Motion for Attorneys [sic) Fees and Nontaxable
Expenses- is amended as follows in order to update the Rule:
LR 54.4 TIME FOR FILING MOTION FOR ATTORNEV'.S FEES AND
NONTAXABLE EXPENSES
Unless otherwise provided by statute, a motion for attorney's fees and related nontaxable
litigation expenses, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(d)(2), must be filed no later than 30 days after
entry of judgment. If a motion for attomey's fees or nontaxable expenses is not filed within 30
days, such fees and nontaxable expenses shall be waived. The Court may, on motion tiled within
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the time provided for filing a motion for attorney's fees or nontaxable expenses. extend the time
for filing such a motion.
D. LR 83.6(c)- Substitution or Withdra\val of ~ttorney of Record- will be
amended as follows in order to cotTect a typogl·aphical error:
(c) In cases where an attorney seeks to be substituted for another as attorney of record,
and both attorneys are within the same partnership or other legal professional association, a
notice of substitution must be filed by the \Vit1ldrawing attorney and the substitute attorney with
an affirmative representationstating that the substitution is made with the client's consent; the
notice may, but need not be, signed by the client.
E. A new LCrR 49.6- Filing Documents Under Seal- is added as follows in
order to clarify the procedures for seeking leave to file documents under seal:
LCrR 49.6 FILING DOCUMENTS UNDER SEAL
(a) Presumption of public access. Parties and c6unsel should presume that all
documents filed in district court should be available for the public to access and that restricting
public access can occur only in limited circumstances, as set forth in this Rule.
(b) "Sealed Document" defined. A "sealed document" is defined as a document or
motion filed pursuant to (l) a protective order restricting public access, (2) an order granting
leave to file the sealed document or motion, in conjunction with a motion for leave to seal or a
previously-filed redacted document, or (3) included within a:category of documents considered
sealed under a federal statute or federal rule of procedure. local rule, or standing order of this
court. A sealed document or motion is not available electronically, or by any other means, to the
parties, attorneys, or the public.
(c) Specific Authority or Motion Required; Pr.otective Orders. Absent a federal
statute or federal rule of procedure, local rule, or standing order of this court, a party seeking to
file a sealed document must electronically file a mo~ion for leave to seal. The motion must state
why sealing is required and must establish that the document sought to be filed under seal is
entitled to protection from public disclosure. Reference to a stipulation that allows a party to
designate certain documents as confidential is not sufficient grounds to establish that a
document, or portions thereof, wa\Tants filing under seal.
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