United States District Judge
Rodney W. Sippel
Courtrooms will be Requirements
designated in the order
setting the hearing or
trial and will be posted on 1. Local and Federal Rules.
the daily docket.
Address Many answers to frequently asked questions are contained in the
111 S. 10th Street, Local Rules of the Eastern District of Missouri, the Federal Rules of
26th Floor
St. Louis, MO 63102 Civil Procedure, the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, and the
Phone
(314) 244-7430
Federal Rules of Evidence. All counsel are expected to know these rules
and to follow them.
Judicial Assistant
Brian Crow
[email protected]
2. Rule 16 Conferences in Civil Cases
Case Management Team
Nikki Phillips
(314) 244-7928 After all defendants have answered a civil complaint, a Rule 16
Katie Kratzer Conference will be set. The attorney preparing and trying the case must
(314)244-7936
Kayla Zenon
appear for the conference unless permission is granted by this Court for
(314)244-7095 another to appear. If you believe that the parties are ready for a
Lauren Rabbitt
(314)244-7021 scheduling conference and one has not been set, please notify the
Judicial Assistant for an expedited conference.
___________________
Law Clerks
Chris Keefe
3. Case Management Orders in Civil and Criminal Cases
Jeanette Valentine Rose
Jack Hueseman
The deadlines set forth in the Civil and Criminal Case Management
Orders will be strictly enforced. Modifications should be requested by
Court Reporter
Shannon White filing an appropriate motion to amend and will be granted only upon a
(314)-244-7966 showing of exceptional circumstances.
4. Alternative Dispute Resolution in Civil Cases
All civil cases (except Habeas Corpus) will be referred to Alternative
Dispute Resolution unless either party convinces this Court that the case
may only be decided by a ruling of law. Most ADR referrals are for a
sixty-day period. Plaintiff's counsel will be designated as lead counsel,
who shall work with opposing counsel to select a neutral and notify the
court clerk of the agreed neutral no later than twenty (20) days from the
start of referral.
A list of approved neutrals and the court's ADR referral procedures may be obtained from the
court. If a settlement is reached, this Court shall be notified immediately and parties shall file a
Stipulation for Dismissal within thirty (30) days.
5. Courtesy Copies of Dispositive Motions and Pretrial Compliance Materials.
Parties shall submit a paper courtesy copy to chambers of (1) any motions to dismiss, motions for
judgment on the pleadings, or motions for summary judgment, together with the
memorandum in support and any exhibits; (2) any opposition memorandum, including exhibits;
(3) any reply memorandum in support, including exhibits; (4) all pretrial compliance materials.
Courtesy copies may be mailed or hand-delivered to chambers at 111 South Tenth Street, 26th
floor, St. Louis, Missouri 63102 and (5) the administrative record in social security appeals.
6. Sealed Documents
Attorneys are referred to the provisions of E.D.Mo. Local Rule 13.05 concerning sealed
documents and files.
7. Proposed Orders
Proposed orders may be emailed to my Judicial Assistant, Brian Crow, at the following email
address:
[email protected].
8. Pretrial Conferences in Civil and Criminal Cases
Parties are required to appear for trial 30 minutes before the scheduled jury selection for a final
pretrial conference, in the designated Courtroom, on the record. For a 9:00 a.m. jury selection,
you must be in the designated Courtroom at 8:30; for a 1:15 p.m. jury selection, you must be in
the courtroom no later than 12:45. We will use this time to discuss any evidentiary problems,
motions in limine, and scheduling issues.
9. Real-time court reporting
My court reporter, Shannon White, uses real-time court reporting. Shannon’s phone number is
314-244-7966; her email address is
[email protected]. If you wish to order a
daily copy of the trial transcript, please contact her at least two weeks before trial so she can
make appropriate arrangements. Daily copy requests are accommodated whenever possible but
only if the court docket allows for it.
10. Jury Instructions in Civil and Criminal Cases
The 8th Circuit Model Instructions should be used when possible. The basic introductory and
boilerplate instructions must be based on the 8th Circuit model instructions. If instructions from
any other source are proffered, they must be accompanied by case authority.
Parties are required to meet and confer regarding jury instructions and whenever possible submit
one package of jury instructions to the court on behalf of all the parties. Parties shall submit a
"clean" copy and a "dirty" copy of each instruction proffered. A "clean" copy for the jury will
reflect only "Instruction No. ___" at the top with no further explanatory comments.
The parties shall also submit their proffered jury instructions to the Court in Word format by
email to my Judicial Assistant, Brian Crow at the following e-mail address:
[email protected].
11. Available Courtroom Technologies
The Court has evidence presentation equipment available, including an evidence camera
(ELMO), VCR, DVD, monitors, and hook-ups for computer stored evidence or computer
presentations. Please call the Case Management Team in the Clerk's office to schedule training
before trial. Training usually takes no more than 30 minutes, and gives you the opportunity to get
comfortable with our equipment configuration before trial. If you intend to use your computer
with the Evidence Presentation System, you must confer with the clerk’s office before trial to be
sure your settings and connections are appropriate for our system. Counsel is expected to use
this equipment for all trials.
12. Voir Dire in Civil and Criminal Cases
I will begin voir dire by asking counsel to introduce themselves and the persons at counsel table,
including the parties to the case. I will then ask introductory questions, covering such things as
the nature of the charges or claims, burden of proof, prior jury service, length of the trial, etc. If
you want me to ask any specific questions please submit them in writing.
Each party must provide me with a list of potential witnesses the morning of trial, so that I may
ask if the potential jurors know any of the potential witnesses.
Counsel will be allowed twenty minutes voir dire to ask questions. After all questioning has been
completed, the venire panel will be removed from the courtroom and I will immediately ask for
challenges for cause. No challenges for cause or statements that the panel is acceptable may be
made in front of the jury panel. After any persons are stricken for cause, the plaintiff will make
its strikes and then the defense will make its strikes. The first jurors remaining after the strikes
will be seated. The number of alternates depends on the length of trial.
After the jury is selected, all copies of jury lists must be returned to the clerk.
13. Trial
a. Time of Trial: Times for starting and adjourning the trial day will be announced at the
start of trial. Court will begin promptly and the jury will not be kept waiting. In particular,
counsel are warned not to raise preliminary matters at the start of the trial day, when the jury and
all others are ready to proceed. The Court will be available to resolve preliminary matters 15
minutes prior to the scheduled start of the trial day, or during the lunch break, or at the
conclusion of the trial day. Trial time and jury time will not, however, be lost.
b. Evidentiary Objections: No evidentiary objections shall be argued in the presence of
the jury. There will be no speaking objections. Counsel must state the legal basis for their
objections in a word or, at most, a phrase without elaboration or argument (unless called to the
bench). Bench conferences during trial are discouraged. For purposes of "protecting the record"
and assisting the Court of Appeals, counsel may explain their positions and the Court may
explain its ruling on the record after the jury has been excused for a scheduled break or lunch.
c. Recross: Recross is not allowed as a matter of right. Recross is only allowed if
something new is brought out on redirect.
d. Closing arguments: Twenty minutes is the presumptive time limit. The clerk will
provide you with a warning if you request.
14. Decorum and General Courtroom Rules
a. Notify the Deputy Clerk upon arrival and introduce additional counsel, support staff and
parties.
b. Stand when the jury enters the courtroom; stand at all times when speaking. No eating,
drinking (other than water), gum chewing, or audible electronics or watches are allowed. Cell
phones and other electronic devices shall be turned off.
c. Counsel shall treat each other and all witnesses, including adverse witnesses, professionally
and courteously.
d. All witnesses must be addressed by their last names, with appropriate titles. Do not call any
witnesses by their first names, and please advise witnesses not to address counsel by their first
names. Only one lawyer per party may question a particular witness.
e. Children are not allowed as spectators unless they are accompanied by an adult seated with
them in the spectators' area. A party to the suit (defendant, attorney, case agent, etc.) cannot
qualify as the attending adult.
f. All statements by counsel should be directed to the Court and not to opposing counsel.
g. Counsel shall disclose the identity and order of witnesses as far in advance as possible, but in
no event less than 24 hours before the beginning of the trial day on which the witnesses are to
be called.
h. Unless otherwise stipulated, examining counsel must show each exhibit to opposing counsel
prior to showing it to a witness. Demonstrative and summary exhibits must be shown to
opposing counsel in advance of trial, even if not offered into evidence. All exhibits should be
marked in advance.
i. Counsel must stand for all objections. Counsel should instruct their witnesses not to answer a
question while an objection is pending. Non-examining counsel should remain seated during
witness examination unless standing to make an objection.
j. Verbal or Facial Contact with the Jury: All persons at counsel table shall not make any verbal
comments, facial expression, laughter, or other expressions, verbal and non-verbal with the
jury which would be interpreted as conveying a comment one way or the other with respect to
any testimony, argument or event that may occur during trial. Nor shall any such persons offer
gratuitous comments about witness testimony or opposing counsel. Any persons violating this
rule may be summarily ejected from the courtroom. Any signaling to a witness in the stand
will be treated as contempt of court.
k. Sidebars are disfavored. Counsel are directed to "raise" all anticipated issues during breaks
when the jury is not in the room.
l. If there are tapes to be used in a case, counsel for both sides shall resolve any dispute between
any alleged inaccuracy of the transcripts and the tape recordings. If it proves impossible for
counsel to resolve the dispute, they shall so advise the Court at least five (5) days before trial
so that the Court will not be confronted mid-stream with this problem and the resulting delay
and expense to the parties and the Court.
Well tried cases or even famous trials don't just happen. A well tried case is the result of hard
work, preparation and good lawyering.
Additional sources of information which may help answer your questions include:
The Federal Judiciary Homepage;
The Federal Judicial Center; and
The United States Sentencing Commission.
Courtroom
