UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
JOSHUA M. DIVINE
Chambers 12N Judge’s Requirements (Revised June 2026)
Address
111 S. 10th Street Suite 12.148
Parties are ordered to comply with each of the
St. Louis, MO 63102 directives set forth below. The Court will hold the
parties responsible for following these directives;
Phone failure to conform to this Order’s directives may,
(314) 244-7428 when appropriate, lead to sanctions.
Chambers Email
[email protected]
I. Local and Federal Rules
Case Management Team
Counsel must know the following rules and follow
John Bernsen them. The Local Rules of the Eastern District of
(314) 244-7941 Missouri, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the
[email protected] Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, and the
Federal Rules of Evidence.
Lauren Sutton
(314) 244-7937 You may find many answers to frequently asked
[email protected] questions in the following materials. Before
Cassie Thoele contacting the Court, please reference the Court’s
(314) 244-7542 Local Rules, the Federal Judiciary Homepage, the
[email protected] Federal Judicial Center, and the United States
Sentencing Commission.
Tiffany Roskowski
(314) 244-7451 II. Point of Contact
[email protected]
Contact the case management team for all routine
Law Clerks
matters. Email the clerk assigned to your case for
Monica Maiman
case-specific matters.
(314) 655-6893
[email protected]
III. Assignment of Clerks
scourts.gov
Brady Marzen Clerks are generally assigned to cases, both civil and
(314) 655-6895 criminal, as follows:
[email protected]
ourts.gov Cases ending in 1, 2, or 3: Monica Maiman
Cases ending in 4, 5, or 6: Brady Marzen
Nicholas Mauer Cases ending in 7, 8, or 9: Nicholas Mauer
(314) 655-6894
[email protected] If your case ends with a 0, use the last nonzero digit.
courts.gov
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IV. Entries of Appearance
Unless otherwise permitted by the Local Rules, you must be admitted to practice before this
Court to represent any party in any case. You must file an entry of appearance for each
case. Failure to comply with this Requirement will bar your appearance on pleadings,
participation in a case, and representation of a party.
V. Emergency Matters
If you have an emergency motion that you believe requires a formal hearing on the record,
call to notify chambers and to request a hearing. You also must follow up with an email to
[email protected].
In the extraordinary circumstance where a party seeks relief on the same day a motion is
filed, counsel shall call the clerk assigned to the case.
VI. Proposed Orders
Any proposed order or proposed judgment must be filed electronically as a PDF attachment
to the motion or memorandum to which it pertains. In addition, the proposed order or
judgment must be emailed to the clerk assigned to your case in a word-processing format.
Motions for routine miscellaneous matters, such as extension of time, do not need a
proposed order emailed to a clerk.
VII. Criminal Case Scheduling
Requesting a Change of Plea Hearing: Counsel can request a change of plea hearing by
emailing the clerk assigned to your case. The email should include a copy of the agreed-
upon plea agreement as an attachment. The Court generally does not conduct consolidated
plea-and-sentencing hearings.
Continuances:
(a) In General: A trial date is firm. The Court will not continue trial without a showing
of exceptional cause.
(b) Motions to Continue: If a criminal defendant has a true showing of exceptional cause
for continuing a trial date or change-of-plea date, the criminal defendant can file a
motion to continue. That motion to continue must include the length of the
requested continuance or a proposed date as well as the United States’s position on
both the motion itself and on the length of the continuance or the proposed date.
The criminal defendant must also file a waiver of their right to a speedy trial, and
both the defendant and counsel must sign it.
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(c) Multiple Defendants: In cases with multiple defendants, a motion to continue will
not be considered unless all defendants agree to the continuance of the trial date
and all defendants file waivers of speedy trial.
(d) Sentencing Hearings: If a party must seek a sentencing hearing continuance, that
party must file a motion as far in advance of sentencing as possible but no later than
10 days before the hearing, unless the grounds for the continuance could not have
been known at that time. Belated requests for continuances inconvenience many
people, including witnesses, victims, court personnel, attorneys, and others, and
hinder the Court’s scheduling of other matters.
VIII. Civil Pleadings
After filing a complaint, counterclaim, or crossclaim, the party must provide a copy of the
filed pleading to opposing counsel in .doc or .docx format.
When preparing an answer to a complaint, counterclaim, or crossclaim, responding parties
must: (1) work directly from the .doc or .docx version of the pleading it is responding to, and
(2) include the response to the allegation in a non-numbered paragraph below the
allegation.
For example, if Plaintiff’s complaint alleges in paragraph twelve that Defendant John Doe
is a citizen of Missouri, Defendant John Doe’s answer would respond to that allegation
directly in the complaint word document provided by opposing counsel like the right-hand
column below:
[Original complaint text] 12. Defendant John Doe is a citizen of Missouri.
[Defendant’s answer text] Admitted.
Note that the provisions of this section do not apply to pro se parties or appeals (e.g., Social
Security, Bankruptcy, and the like).
Any amended pleadings shall be accompanied by a redline comparison of the original and
amended pleading. The redline shall be filed as the final attachment.
IX. Motions and Memoranda
1. Format: Memoranda of points and authorities filed in support of or in opposition to
any motion may not, without leave of the Court, exceed 15 pages. Reply memoranda
may not, without leave of the Court, exceed 8 pages. All margins must be set at one
inch; all text must be double-spaced (except footnotes); and the font must be set to
11-point Century Schoolbook (including footnotes). The Local Rules apply for
calculating exclusions from the page count.
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Each submission longer than 10 pages shall be accompanied by a table of contents
and a table of authorities. Counsel shall place asterisks in the margin to the left of
those cases or authorities on which counsel chiefly relies. Tables do not count
toward the page count.
For motions where a party is expected to seek the opposing side’s consent (such as
an extension motion), the first word or phrase of the motion heading should be
“Opposed,” “Unopposed,” or an appropriate variation.
2. Waiver: When a party fails to file a memorandum in opposition to a given motion or
fails to respond to arguments, the Court may treat the motion or specific arguments
as conceded.
3. Extension Requests: Motions for extensions of time and to reschedule hearings are
strongly discouraged. A request for a first extension greater than three weeks, or
a subsequent extension of any time, will be granted only in exceptional or
compelling circumstances. Parties should not expect the Court to grant extensions.
The Court will not entertain or honor joint stipulations for extensions of time or to
reschedule hearings; parties must file a written motion in accordance with the
following instructions:
(a) Extension motions must be filed at least four business days before the first affected
date.
(b) All motions for extensions of time or to reschedule a hearing must include the
following or they will not be considered:
a. The current deadline or date;
b. The amount of time requested for the extension or, for rescheduling, alternative
dates that have been agreed to by all parties;
c. The specific grounds for the extension or the rescheduling;
d. The number of previous extensions or continuances, if any, granted to each party;
e. A statement of the effect the requested extension or rescheduling would have on
all other previously set deadlines; and
f. A proposed schedule for any other affected deadlines, to be proposed only after
consulting with opposing counsel;
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4. Certificate of Conference: Make serious, timely, good-faith efforts to seek agreement
on all disputed matters and requests for relief. A certificate of conference is required
for any motion where a party is expected to seek consent of the other parties, e.g.,
motions to extend. The certificate of conference should be included at the end of the
motion. This statement shall recite the date, time and manner of such conference and
the names of the individuals participating therein or shall state with specificity the
efforts made to confer with opposing counsel.1
A certificate of conference is not required for dispositive motions or motions seeking
injunctive relief. If a conference was impossible or impractical, the certificate of
conference must explain why.
The Court may strike motions that do not include a required certificate of conference.
5. Joint Motions Required: In cases with multiple plaintiffs or multiple defendants,
parties must avoid duplicative filings of motions, including statements of undisputed
facts. For example, when multiple movants raise the same or similar issues, they
must file a joint motion, with one memorandum in support (if a memorandum is
needed). In turn, the respondents must file one joint memorandum in opposition,
and the movants must file one joint reply memorandum. The Court will not accept
separate motions raising the same or similar issues. The same page limits as
described in Section IX(1) of these rules shall apply to a joint memorandum.
6. Summary Judgment and Daubert Motions: Parties must avoid multiple filings of
summary-judgment motions and motions under Federal Rule of Evidence 702 or 703
(colloquially referred to as Daubert motions). For summary judgment, a movant
may file only one motion incorporating all claims and defenses on which summary
judgment is sought. Likewise, a movant may file only one 702 or 703 motion
incorporating all challenged experts.
Parties are required to file a joint motion of undisputed facts no later than 10 days
after dispositive motions are fully briefed.
7. Multiple Movants / Respondents: On summary-judgment motions, multiple movants
must file one consolidated statement of material facts; if necessary, the movants
may include sections demarcating facts asserted only by certain movants. Likewise,
multiple respondents must file one consolidated response to the statement of
1
Sample Language:
If conferred: I certify that I have conferred with all other parties (name all parties) about the
merits of this motion on (date, time) via (manner) with the following results: (add name of
opposing counsel or pro se party) opposes motion/does not oppose motion/agrees with
motion/would not say whether motion is opposed.
If did not confer: I certify that I have made a reasonable attempt to confer with all other parties
(name all parties) about the merits of this motion on (date, time) via (manner) with the following
results: (state results).
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material facts, also including sections demarcating responses asserted only by one
movant. The same applies to replies to responses to statements of facts. The goal
here is to minimize the number of separate documents that the parties and the
Court need to refer to for the facts.
8. Statement of Material Facts: Each party submitting a motion for summary
judgment must attach a statement of material facts for which that party contends
there is no genuine dispute, with specific citations of those portions of the record
upon which the party relies in fashioning the statement. After filing a statement of
material facts, the party must provide a copy of the statement to opposing counsel in
.doc or .docx format.
9. One-Document Rule: When preparing a response to a statement of material facts,
responding parties must: (1) work directly from the .doc or .docx version of the
statement it is responding to, and (2) for any statement that the party contends is
genuinely disputed, explain the dispute in a nonnumbered paragraph below the
statement. (This process is parallel to the process for responding to pleadings,
explained in Part VIII.) Any statement not responded to will be deemed admitted.
10. Additional Facts: If the responding party has additional facts that are not directly
relevant to its response, it must identify those facts in consecutively numbered
paragraphs in a separate filing. If additional factual allegations are made, the
opponent must file a responsive statement of its own, complying with these same
rules.
The parties must furnish precise citations of the portions of the record on which they
rely; the Court need not consider materials not specifically identified. See Fed. R.
Civ. P. 56(c)(3).
11. Protective Orders: Parties may move for the Court to approve protective orders in
civil cases. Parties must email a copy of the protective order to the clerk handling
their case. If the protective order contains any condition that mentions sealing any
documents, it must also contain a term about removal of sealed documents at the
conclusion of the case. For example: Within thirty (30) days after the case’s
conclusion, the parties shall request the Court to remove from the docket any sealed
documents. Any sealed documents not removed will be unsealed by the Court.
12. Sealing of Documents: Local Rule 13.05 details rules for the sealing of materials,
which requires filing an unsealed motion containing general information about
items to be sealed, legal grounds for sealing, and the requested duration of sealing.
The public generally has a right to access material filed with the Court, so the Court
strongly prefers redaction of documents instead of requests to seal. Under Rule
13.05(3), the fact that documents are deemed confidential under a protective order is
not dispositive of whether the material will be sealed.
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X. Exhibits
Exhibits shall be properly edited to exclude irrelevant material and to direct the Court’s
attention to the pertinent portions. Parties are strongly encouraged to highlight
relevant parts of exhibits in PDF documents.
XI. Electronic Filing
Disclosure Statement: Every nongovernmental corporate party or nongovernmental
corporation that seeks to intervene in any case, and every party or intervenor in an action
in which jurisdiction is based upon diversity under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a), must file a
disclosure statement with the Court under Local Rule 2.09.
Text Searchability: All documents filed electronically shall be submitted in text-searchable
PDF files, directly converted from the word-processing format into PDF to preserve their
searchability and readability.
For exhibits that must be scanned because they exist only in paper format, parties
represented by attorneys must run an optical character recognition on these scans so that
they are text searchable.
Retention of Copy: Electronically filing a document that contains a declaration, verification,
certificate, sworn statement, oath or affidavit certifies that the original signed document is
in the possession of the attorney or pro se party responsible for the filing and that it is
available for review upon request by a party or the Court.
Technical Issues: Technical difficulties do not necessarily constitute “good cause” or
“excusable neglect” justifying an extension of the applicable deadline(s). See Fed. R. Civ. P.
6(b). No allowance can be made for late filing documents whose time limits are
jurisdictional.
Docketing: Because the description of the type of document and requested relief becomes
the official docket entry recorded in the case, attorneys are to be precise in their
descriptions when making electronic filings with the Court. Failure to be accurate and
thorough in the description of documents electronically filed may lead to action adverse to
the attorney or party.
XII. Courtesy Copies
The Court does not need courtesy copies. Do not file courtesy copies unless instructed to do
so by the Court. The only exception is for trials. Bring a courtesy copy of exhibits to trial.
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XIII. Rule 16 Conferences
Setting Conferences: The Court will set the conference (if one is needed) after all
defendants have filed a responsive pleading.
Requesting an Expedited Conference: If a party believes there is need to have a conference
sooner, that party should contact the law clerk assigned to the case to request an expedited
conference. Parties must seek the position of opposing counsel before seeking an expedited
conference.
Joint Scheduling Plans on Court-Provided Template: The Court will issue an order setting
the conference. That order also requires the parties to meet before the conference to
prepare a joint scheduling plan. Only one plan, which must be signed by counsel for all
parties, may be submitted in any case. The Court expects the parties to reach an
agreement about its contents. The plaintiff’s counsel is responsible (unless the Court orders
otherwise) for initiating the pre-conference meeting and submitting the plan.
The parties shall fill in their proposed deadlines using the PDF template “Case
Management Order and Order Setting Forth Civil Trial Procedures.” This template is
posted on the Court website under Judge Divine’s webpage. The parties shall submit
this completed template as their joint scheduling plan. The Court will then date,
sign, and enter that document as the case management order.
Before submitting their plan, the parties must discuss—and be prepared at the conference
to discuss—the following items:
1. The nature, facts, and basis of the parties’ claims and defenses;
2. The possibilities for a prompt resolution of the case, specifically (1) the potential
for settlement; (2) whether settlement demands or offers have been
exchanged, without revealing the content of any offers or demands; and (3) the
suitability for alternative dispute resolution.
3. The formulation of a discovery plan and any issues related to preserving
discoverable information;
4. Any issues related to disclosure or discovery of electronically stored information,
including (1) the form in which it should be produced; (2) the topics for it and the
time period for which it will be sought; (3) the various sources of it within a party’s
control that should be searched for such information; and (4) whether the
information is reasonably accessible to the possessing party, in terms of the burden
and cost of retrieving and reviewing it;
5. Any issues related to claims of privilege or of protection as trial-preparation
material, including—if the parties agree on a procedure to assert such claims after
production—whether to ask the Court to include their agreement in an order;
6. Any case-dispositive threshold issues for the Court to rule on; and
7. Any other topics in Rules 16 and 26(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
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All dates in the plan shall conform to the ranges for the applicable track:
Track 1: Expedited Track 2: Standard Track 3: Complex
*Disposition w/i 12 mos of filing *Disposition w/i 18 mos of filing *Disposition w/i 24 mos of filing
*120 days for discovery *180-240 days from R16 Conf. for *240-360 days from R16 Conf. for
discovery/dispositive motions discovery/dispositive motions
The Court prefers dispositive motions to be fully briefed 120 days before a trial and will
generally not grant extensions.
If needed, counsel may submit an appendix to their plan discussing any additional
deadlines or special circumstances. An appendix may be especially appropriate when the
discovery plan requires any agreements about (1) provisions for disclosure or discovery of
electronically stored information; (2) asserting claims of privilege or of protection as trial-
preparation material after production; or (3) whether discovery should be conducted in
phases or limited to certain issues.
If the parties fail to resolve plan-related disagreements after meaningfully speaking in
person or by telephone, they must set forth in an appendix to the joint scheduling plan (1)
their respective positions on the issue and (2) the means used when trying to resolve the
disagreement (whether they spoke in person or by telephone). The Court will not accept
separate plans, even if the parties disagree on issues. The Court will resolve the dispute at
or shortly after the conference.
If any party appears in the case pro se, that party must (unless incarcerated) meet with all
other parties or counsel, participate in the preparation and filing of the plan, and appear for
the scheduling conference, all in the same manner as otherwise required.
The appended civil trial procedures are for informational purposes. Counsel are
encouraged to familiarize themselves with these requirements.
Rule 16 Conferences: Lead trial counsel must attend the Rule 16 conference. The
attendance of lead counsel advances the purposes of Rule 16, and (1) it is Judge Divine’s
first opportunity to manage the case and meet counsel, (2) it is counsels’ first opportunity to
help the Judge manage the case by advising of any particular issues requiring Judge
Divine’s attention or guidance, and (3) it allows counsel for both sides to further discuss the
case with each other. This requirement will not be waived absent exceptional
circumstances.
XIV. Case Management Orders
Because Judge Divine manages his docket proactively, parties can expect to go to trial
during the window set in the case management order. The Court strictly enforces the
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deadlines set forth in the order. “Exceptional circumstances” does not include generic
“press of other business,” discovery taking longer than expected, or parties’ delay in
initiating or pursuing discovery.
Counsel should read the case management order carefully and refer to it throughout the
case. If a party needs to amend any part of the order that is not covered by Rule 29 of the
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, that party must file a motion to amend and include an
updated draft case management order at least four business days before that deadline
passes. This includes any motion to extend a deadline in the case management order.
Parties are expected to seek the consent of the other parties. The Court will grant the
motion only if the movant shows that exceptional circumstances justify the amendment.
Where the Court grants a party’s motion to amend the order, all other deadlines not
explicitly discussed remain unchanged.
XV. Discovery Disputes
Prohibition on Motions: The parties shall not file a discovery motion without the Court’s
approval. If, in what should be the unusual case, the parties are unable to resolve their
discovery dispute, counsel shall email the clerk assigned to their case to inquire about a
telephone conference with the Court. This email must include a certificate of conference, as
explained below.
Meet-and-Confer Requirement: Before approaching the Court with a discovery-related
motion, you must meet and confer with opposing counsel and attempt to resolve the
dispute. Sending letters, emails, or text messages to one another does not fulfill the meet-
and-confer requirement. Counsel’s email to their designated clerk requesting a telephone
conference MUST include a certificate of conference noting the date, time and manner of
such conference and the names of the individuals participating therein or shall state with
specificity efforts made to confer with opposing counsel.
Conference with Nonparties: In addition, if any party has a dispute with a nonparty (e.g.,
regarding a subpoena), the same meet-and-confer requirement applies. Parties must
promptly inform the nonparty of the Judge’s discovery-dispute requirements. If the
nonparty needs the Court to resolve the dispute, it should follow the procedure explained
above.
Conference with Incarcerated Pro Se Litigants: In cases involving incarcerated pro se
litigants, the Court expects the parties to confer only in writing before filing a discovery
motion. Unlike in other cases, discovery motions are permitted without prior approval of
the Court.
Telephone Conference: Before a telephone conference, the parties must follow this
procedure:
1. After scheduling a conference, the party seeking the Court’s ruling on a discovery
issue must only file a one- to two-page single-spaced motion describing (a) the
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dispute, (b) how the parties tried to resolve the dispute, and (c) the party’s legal
position.
2. Opposing counsel must then file only a one- to two-page single-spaced response
agreeing with, clarifying, or disputing the assertions in the motion. Counsel
should file the response as soon as possible, but no later than three (3) business
days after the motion was filed. The opposing party must not raise additional
discovery issues in its response. If the party wishes to raise a separate dispute,
it must simultaneously file a motion according to the paragraph above.
3. If the dispute concerns an objection to a specific discovery request, the parties
must submit the specific request and objection simultaneously with the motion
or response.
XVI. Discovery Objections
Rules 33(b)(4), 34(b)(2)(B)–(C), and 36(a)(5) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure prohibit
boilerplate and general objections in response to discovery requests. Parties should not
carelessly raise “standard” objections such as attorney-client privilege, work-product
doctrine, overly broad/unduly burdensome, irrelevant, and not reasonably calculated to lead
to the discovery of admissible evidence. The Court will disregard or strike standard, non-
specific objections.
Similarly, parties must not include in a response to a discovery request a “Preamble” or a
“General Objections” section stating that the party objects to the discovery request “to the
extent that” it violates some rule pertaining to discovery. Instead, the party must raise
specific objections to each discovery request so that the opposing party and the Court will
know exactly what objection applies to each request.
XVII. Discovery Stipulations
Parties should strive to stipulate to discovery procedures as set forth in Rule 29 of the
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The parties should not file motions on matters covered by
Rule 29.
XVIII. Mandatory Certification Regarding Generative Artificial Intelligence
All attorneys and pro se litigants appearing before the Court must file a certificate on the
docket, together with their notice of appearance, attesting either that no portion of any filing
will be drafted by generative artificial intelligence (such as ChatGPT, Harvey.AI, or Google
Bard) or that any language drafted by generative artificial intelligence will be fully checked
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for accuracy by a human being, using print reporters or traditional legal databases.2 The
CM/ECF event for this is found under “notices” and is titled “AI notice.”
Litigants filing pro se must also file this certification and are equally barred from using
artificial intelligence without fully checking each assertion and case citation for accuracy.
The Court will not grant leniency to pro se litigants. The Court may issue sanctions for
submitting non-existent caselaw or for misrepresenting a case. These sanctions can include
fines, striking a document, and dismissing a case.
XIX. Alternative Dispute Resolution
The Court refers civil cases (except habeas corpus, Social Security appeals, and bankruptcy
appeals) to Alternative Dispute Resolution. The Court encourages parties to view ADR as a
process, not an event; for example, if necessary, schedule multiple mediation sessions over
multiple days or weeks to give parties time to investigate and absorb information learned in
mediation. When virtual, mediators often will schedule less-than-full-day mediation
sessions.
Designated Lead Counsel: Unless the parties agree otherwise, counsel for the plaintiff will
be designated lead counsel for purposes of coordinating ADR. If the parties agree that
someone other than counsel for the plaintiff will serve as lead counsel, they must notify the
Court, in writing, of the agreed-on lead counsel.
Selecting a Neutral: Lead counsel must work with opposing counsel to select a neutral.
Counsel can get a list of certified neutrals from the Clerk’s website
(http://www.moed.uscourts.gov/neutrals/). The parties must file a motion seeking
permission to appoint a neutral who is not on the list of certified neutrals. The non-
certified neutral must have special subject-matter expertise germane to the case.
ADR Deadlines: All ADR deadlines are binding and may be extended by Court order only.
If a deadline cannot be met, the designated lead counsel must file a motion requesting an
extension of the deadline at least four business days before the expiration of that
deadline.
2
Sample language: I, the undersigned attorney, hereby certify that I have read and will comply
with all judge-specific requirements for Judge Joshua M. Divine, United States District Judge for
the Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri.
I further certify that no portion of any filing in this case will be drafted by generative artificial
intelligence or that any language drafted by generative artificial intelligence—including
quotations, citations, paraphrased assertions, and legal analysis—will be fully checked for
accuracy by a human being using print reporters or traditional legal databases before it is submitted
to the Court. I understand that any attorney who signs any filing in this case will be held
responsible for the contents thereof according to applicable rules of attorney discipline, regardless
of whether generative artificial intelligence drafted any portion of that filing.
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Settlement: If the parties reach a settlement, they must notify the Court immediately.
The Court then will enter an order vacating all pending deadlines and requiring counsel to
file a stipulation for dismissal, a motion for leave to voluntarily dismiss, or a proposed
consent judgment within 30 days (with extensions upon request).
XX. Pretrial Conferences
At the final pretrial conference, counsel should be prepared to argue any preliminary
matters, including any motions in limine, so that the Court can rule on them before the
trial date. The Court will put any necessary arguments and all rulings on the record at the
end of the pretrial conference or before the trial starts.
XXI. Available Courtroom Technologies
For all proceedings in open court, the Judge prefers that counsel use the Court’s equipment.
Evidence Presentation Equipment: The Court has evidence presentation equipment
available, including an evidence camera (e.g., ELMO), monitors, and hook ups for
computer-stored evidence or computer presentation. Instructions for how to use this
equipment are available on the Court’s website at http://www.moed.uscourts.gov under
Courtroom Technology.
Evidence Camera/ELMO: Counsel are strongly encouraged to use the evidence camera or
ELMO for all trials. Please call the Judge’s 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 the equipment before trial. We do not conduct
training on the day of trial.
Use of Personal Computer at Trial: If you intend to use your computer with the Court’s
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. The Court does not provide
equipment to play audio tapes; you will need to bring your own device.
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XXII. Decorum and General Courtroom Rules
**The Court encourages counsel to save these rules in an easily accessible place and to send
this page to all anticipated audience members, invitees, and additional parties**
Counsel: Please be sure that your clients and witnesses observe these rules.
A. Courtroom Electronic Device Policy:
1. Photographs, audio or video recordings, and broadcasts are prohibited.
2. Laptops and tablets are permitted at counsel tables only. Counsel must get advance
approval from the Judge for an audience member to use laptops or tablets.
3. All cell phones and other electronic devices (including smartwatches) must be turned
off and may not be used during court proceedings without authorization from the Court.
B. General Courtroom Decorum
1. When counsel arrives, notify the Courtroom Deputy and introduce additional counsel,
support staff, and parties.
2. All courtroom attendees must treat each other, all Court personnel, and all witnesses
(including adverse witnesses) professionally and courteously.
3. Stand when the jury enters the courtroom; stand at all times when speaking.
4. Eating, drinking (other than water), or chewing gum are all prohibited in the courtroom.
C. Videoconference Protocol
To facilitate the flow of the conference and aid in the accuracy of the transcript, the Court
expects parties to observe the following protocol when participating in videoconferences:
1. Participate in a quiet place and be aware of your surroundings. Recognize that other
participants will have a clear view of the contents of your video frame, including items
around or behind you.
2. Ensure proper lighting. Be aware that lighting is best in front of your face, not behind
it. Avoid sitting with your back to the light source as this makes it difficult for the
Judge to see you.
3. Dress as if you are making a physical appearance in court.
4. Mute yourself when you are not speaking.
5. Avoid talking over others. Wait until the current speaker finishes talking before you
begin to speak.
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