(a) Assignment of New Cases. Unless otherwise provided in a statute, federal rule, or order
of the Court en banc, the Clerk must assign newly filed matters among the qualified judges
by blind draw. Judges are considered qualified unless they have given blanket recusal
instructions to the Clerk in writing.
(b) Temporary Case Management by Another Judge. If a judge assigned to a case is
unavailable or so requests, any other judge may enter an order in that case, subject to Rule
72.1.
(c) Transfer of Cases. The Clerk must transfer a case to another judge if:
1. The transferring judge and the receiving judge mutually consent;
2. The case is on a joint trial docket, and the Chief District Judge certifies that
reassigning the case would promote its prompt and efficient disposition;
3. The case is a refiling of a previously dismissed case, in which instance the refiled
case must be transferred to the judge last handling the dismissed case; or
4. The case is related to another case filed in the District, in which instance the later
filed case must be transferred to the judge with the earlier-filed case, regardless of
whether the earliest filed case is pending.
