(a) Initial Assignment of Cases. All cases shall be initially assigned to a United States
District Judge.
(b) Duties of the Proponent of the Litigation. The plaintiff or the removing party in a
removal action must serve the Case Assignment Notice, the Notice of Availability of a United
States Magistrate Judge to Exercise Jurisdiction, and the Joint Stipulation of Consent to Exercise
of Jurisdiction by a United States Magistrate Judge form on all parties with the complaint or notice
of removal.
(c) Duty of All Parties. The parties or their counsel may consent to United States
Magistrate Judge jurisdiction at any time. The parties or their counsel must discuss the issue of
consent to the jurisdiction of a United States Magistrate Judge as part of their Initial Attorney’s
Conference (Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(f) Conference) and certify such within the Certificate of Initial
Attorney’s Conference. If all parties consent, the executed Joint Stipulation of Consent to Exercise
of Jurisdiction by a United States Magistrate Judge form must be filed. The completed form must
be returned by the deadline established in LCvR 16.1(c).
(d) Failure to File the Joint Stipulation. Where the Joint Stipulation is not filed within
the time provided, such failure is presumed to be a declination of consent.
(e) Consents after the Deadline. Where the parties wish to consent after such deadline,
the presumption of declination may be overcome by the filing of the Joint Stipulation and approval
of the reassignment by the United States District Judge to whom the case is assigned.
(f) Addition of Parties. When the initial parties to an action consent and additional
parties are joined during litigation, the plaintiff or removing party must provide such parties with
the documents specified in Section (b). The new party must inform the Clerk of Court, in a notice
accompanying its first responsive pleading, whether the party consents to the United States
Magistrate Judge’s jurisdiction. Such notice of election must be communicated to the Clerk of
Court and not disclosed to the Court.
(g) Cases Transferred From Another Federal Judicial District. When a case is
transferred into this district from another federal judicial district, the Clerk of Court shall send all
parties the information required by this Rule and establish an appropriate deadline for the
completion and electronic filing of the consent of the newly added parties. The procedures
specified in Sections (a) through (f) otherwise apply to cases transferred from another federal
district.
