The Court’s Rules and Procedures, including Section (I)(A)–(B) regarding Pre-Motion Conferences and
Pre-Summary Judgment Conferences and Section (II)(E) regarding Courtesy Copies, have been amended
as of June 2026. Please review carefully.
RULES AND PROCEDURES
Hon. Robert Kirsch, U.S.D.J.
Chambers Courtroom Deputy
Unites States District Court Patti Markey
District of New Jersey (609) 989-2109
Clarkson S. Fisher Building & U.S. Courthouse
402 East State Street
Trenton, NJ 08608 Court Reporter
Tel: (609) 989-2123 Paula Horovitz
Courtroom: 4E (609) 815-2381
Unless otherwise ordered, the following rules and procedures apply to all matters before this Court:
I. Civil Motion Practice
A. Pre-Motion Conference
1. Letter Request for Pre-Motion Conference
In an effort to resolve cases expeditiously, before bringing a motion to dismiss,
motion for a more definite statement, motion to remand, motion for change of
venue, motion to compel arbitration, or motion for a judgment on the pleadings,
a party must submit a letter, not to exceed three (3) single-spaced pages, requesting
a pre-motion conference. The letter must set forth the basis for the anticipated motion
and include citations to relevant authority. Affidavits and exhibits are not permitted
unless directed by the Court. A proffer by the attorney, however, of the content of
any such affidavit(s) and/or exhibit(s) shall suffice.
2. Meet and Confer
Within seven (7) days of the filing of this letter, the movant and all adversaries must
meet and confer regarding the issues and substance of the movant’s letter in an
attempt to resolve some or all of the issues therein. The parties’ meet and confer
efforts must include substantive verbal communications, whether by phone or in
person. Exchange of letters or emails is not sufficient. A party’s failure to
meaningfully and in good faith participate in meet and confer efforts, or in this pre-
motion process, could result in denial of the relief sought or other sanctions by the
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Court. If the parties require additional time to meet and confer, there will be a one-
time automatic extension of five (5) days upon request by any party.
3. Joint Letter Advising of Resolution, or Movant Certification and Non-Movant
Response
In the event the parties then resolve some or all of the outstanding issues, the parties
must file a joint letter within seven (7) days of the meet and confer advising the Court
of such resolution.
If the matter remains unresolved following the parties’ meet and confer, the movant
must file, within seven (7) days of the meet and confer, a letter certifying that the
parties met and conferred regarding the issues and substance of the movant’s letter,
consistent with the above. It is not sufficient to report that either party was
unavailable or that the parties made “reasonable efforts.”
In addition, if the matter remains unresolved, all non-movant adversaries must file,
within seven (7) days of the meet and confer, a response letter, not to exceed three
(3) single-spaced pages, that sets forth the non-movant’s objections to the movant’s
original letter, proposes a course of action to resolve the deficiencies identified by
the movant, or states that the non-movant does not intend to file a letter responding
to the movant’s original letter. 1 Affidavits and exhibits are not permitted unless
directed by the Court. A proffer by the attorney, however, of the content of any such
affidavit(s) and/or exhibit(s) shall suffice. In the event an adversary does not file a
letter within seven (7) days, they will be precluded from filing a letter that the Court
will consider at the pre-motion conference. Reply letters, if any, must be filed within
five (5) days of the non-movant’s response letter.
If the parties have complied with the foregoing and the matter remains unresolved,
the parties should await further direction from the Court as to next steps. No motion
should be filed in the interim. Generally, the Court will schedule a pre-motion
conference in due course, see infra Section (I)(A)(4), or in some cases may authorize
the filing of the proposed motion without such a conference.
4. Pre-Motion Conference
The Court will attempt to resolve the dispute(s) at a pre-motion conference (in person
or via telephone/videoconference), to the extent possible. Unless otherwise directed
by the Court, all parties, including any parties or co-parties who did not file a pre-
motion letter or response letter, shall appear and participate in any such pre-motion
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The prior version of the Court’s Rules and Procedures provided that non-movant adversaries “may” file a
letter responding to the movant’s pre-motion letter. For the sake of clarity and expediency, the Court now
requires that all adversaries must file a letter response within seven (7) days of the parties’ meet and confer,
even if that letter merely advises that the non-movant does not wish to substantively respond to the movant’s
original letter.
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conference. If the dispute cannot be resolved at the pre-motion conference (or if the
Court determines that a conference would not be helpful, and advises the parties of
same), the moving party may proceed with filing its motion. In all cases, the Court
will advise the movant if the proposed motion may be filed.
5. Effect and Application of Pre-Motion Procedure
To be clear, this procedure does not preclude a party from filing any of the above
motions pursuant to Local Civil Rule 12.1. Rather, the Court hopes to use this
procedure to advance the case efficiently and minimize the costs of litigation to the
parties. In addition, compliance with this procedure shall not be deemed a waiver of
any parties’ defenses as to lack of personal jurisdiction, improper venue, insufficient
process, or insufficient service of process.
Any party wishing to file or join a motion listed in Section (I)(A)(1) must file or join
a pre-motion letter and participate in meet and confer efforts as outlined above. Any
pre-motion letter must be filed by the movant’s Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(a) deadline, unless
additional time is stipulated or the Court so orders. A party’s submission of a pre-
motion letter will toll that party’s time to file its motion (or answer) through (i) the
date of the pre-motion conference or (ii) the Court’s decision not to conduct such a
conference. If the Court determines that a pre-motion conference would not be
helpful and instructs a party to proceed with filing its proposed motion without a
conference, that party shall have an additional seven (7) days to file after its Fed. R.
Civ. P. 12(a) deadline, unless additional time is stipulated or the Court so orders.
This letter exchange procedure does not apply in cases in which either side is pro se
or in bankruptcy or social security appeals.
B. Pre-Summary Judgment Conference
Before any summary judgment motions may be filed and before a summary judgment
briefing schedule is set, the parties shall file a letter requesting a pre-motion
conference with Judge Kirsch. The Court will generally hold a Status/Settlement
Conference at this juncture. Unless the Court directs otherwise, this requirement does
not apply in cases in which either side is pro se.
C. Bundling Briefing
After a party has obtained leave from the Court to file a motion for summary
judgment, motion to dismiss, motion for a more definite statement, motion to remand,
motion for change of venue, motion to compel arbitration, or motion for a judgment
on the pleadings, see supra Section (I)(A)(1), the parties shall exchange all briefing
prior to filing any motion papers on the docket, unless the Court directs otherwise.
The Court will generally provide the movant with a deadline by which to first serve
its motion on the non-movant; thereafter, the non-movant will have fourteen (14)
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days to serve its opposition on the movant, and the movant will then have seven (7)
days to serve its reply papers. Once all papers have been served, movant shall, within
seven (7) days thereafter, file the moving papers, the opposition papers, and the reply
papers simultaneously under three separate docket entries. Unless the Court directs
otherwise, this “bundling” procedure does not apply in cases in which either side is
pro se.
D. Seeking Concurrence
In civil cases in which no magistrate judge is assigned (generally, bankruptcy
appeals, social security appeals, and habeas corpus actions), before filing a motion
or request, counsel shall confer with all parties in a reasonable and meaningful
attempt to secure consent in the relief sought. Counsel shall certify in their motion
that opposing counsel’s consent was sought (or provide the reasons the movant was
unable to seek consent) and whether consent was obtained, particularly whether the
motion is unopposed. In particular, counsel shall make every effort to secure the
consent of all parties regarding requests to seal, requests for pro hac vice admission,
and requests for extensions or adjournments of time. See infra Section (I)(F). If the
requested relief is unopposed, the parties should submit a stipulation and order,
consent order, or joint letter in lieu of a motion. 2 Unless the Court directs otherwise,
this Section does not apply in cases in which either side is pro se.
E. Motion Days and Oral Argument
After any motion is filed with the Court, the Clerk’s Office dockets an automatically
generated message stating, “Set Deadlines as to [Motion]. Motion set for [date]….”
The only purpose of that “motion date” is to determine the briefing schedule for that
motion, which may be viewed on the District’s website at
https://www.njd.uscourts.gov/motion-days-0. This briefing schedule applies unless
the Court directs otherwise. The Court generally will not hear oral argument on the
motion day, and no appearances are required on that date. Rather, if the Court decides
to hear oral argument on any issue, it will advise counsel of the argument date via a
separation communication on the docket.
F. Adjournments
All requests for adjournments or extensions of time, other than those pursuant to
Local Rule 7.1(d)(5), must comport with Local Rule 6.1 and include: (1) the date or
dates sought to be extended; (2) the number of previous requests for extensions and
the Court’s ruling; (3) the reason for the current request; and (4) whether the
adversary consents and, if not, the reason given by the adversary for refusing to
consent. If the requested extension affects any other scheduled dates/deadlines, the
request must list the proposed change for all such other dates/deadlines. This Rule
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Before filing a motion to seal in a bankruptcy appeal, the parties are encouraged to review Local Civil Rule
601.5(c)(iv), which provides: “Records sealed in the Bankruptcy Court are sealed on appeal without the need
for filing an additional motion to seal. Sealed documents must be in a separate volume, filed under a separate
docket entry as sealed documents, and listed in the table of contents of the appendix as sealed documents.”
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and Procedure applies to all civil cases, including bankruptcy and social security
appeals.
G. Participation by Junior Attorneys
The Court encourages the participation of less experienced attorneys (i.e., those with
less than four years’ experience) in all proceedings, including pretrial conferences,
hearings on discovery disputes, and oral arguments, particularly where that attorney
played a substantial role in drafting the underlying filing. The Court is also more
likely to grant oral argument if a junior attorney will present the argument. Therefore,
consistent with Local Rule 78.1, a party shall clearly mark on the first page of the
notice of notice and/or the brief that a junior attorney will present the argument. The
Court is amenable to permitting more than one lawyer to argue for one party if this
creates an opportunity for a junior lawyer to participate.
II. Submissions
A. Electronic Submissions (ECF)
All parties, with the exception of pro se parties, shall file all documents, in both civil
and criminal matters, electronically via ECF. All papers electronically submitted,
including any supporting exhibits, shall, to the extent possible, be submitted in
a text-searchable PDF format. As such, parties are strongly encouraged to convert
briefs from Word to PDF format and to obtain PDF versions of deposition transcripts
and emails (as examples), rather than scanning and filing a hardcopy of any brief or
other paper. Telephone calls to Chambers are permitted only in emergent situations
which require immediate attention.
B. Proposed Orders
If any relief is being sought, the CM/ECF filing must be accompanied by a proposed
order in text-searchable PDF format.
C. Pro se Filings
All filings by pro se litigants shall be mailed to or filed directly with the Clerk’s
Office, NOT Judge Kirsch.
D. Confidential Information
Any documents filed under seal shall comply with Local Rule 5.1.
E. Courtesy Copies
Unless otherwise directed by the Court, the parties shall provide one (1) courtesy
copy of any sealed filing, regardless of length. 3 In all other cases, the parties shall
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This courtesy copy requirement as to sealed filings includes, but is not limited to, Sentencing Memoranda in
criminal cases. For other policies and procedures governing access to and service of sealed documents, the
parties should review the District’s Notice to the Bar and Standing Order (2025-05) from September 25, 2025:
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provide one (1) courtesy copy of any filing that exceeds 75 pages. If a brief and its
supporting exhibits total 75 pages or less, the document shall be filed electronically
on ECF only.
Courtesy copies should be copies of the e-filed version of the document, printed
from ECF with the automatically generated CM/ECF header on the top of each page.
Courtesy copies shall be clearly labeled, dated, tabbed, and indexed. Preferably,
courtesy copies should be bound or bindered (no specific binding type is required)
and double-sided.
III. Communications with Chambers
A. Faxes and E-Mails
Chambers does not accept faxes or email, unless an emergency.
B. Letters
All communications with Chambers shall be by letter electronically filed via ECF.
No hard copies or courtesy copies of letters shall be delivered to the Court. Pro se
parties are exempt from this requirement.
IV. Electronic Devices
A. Photography, use of audio or video recording devices, and use of broadcasting,
online posting or streaming, or televising devices are strictly prohibited in the
courtroom and areas immediately adjacent thereto.
B. Electronic devices having a primary function of wireless communication, including
but not limited to cell phones, laptops, and tablets, are permitted in the courtroom
but must be silenced and may not be used to transmit, record, or broadcast audio or
visual feeds, updates or messages in any form.
C. Any person in violation of the rules regarding electronic devices will have their
devices confiscated and risk being removed from the courtroom or courthouse at the
discretion of the court, U.S. Marshals Service, and/or Court Security Officers.
D. Additional information relating to media coverage and use/possession of electronic
equipment is provided through Local Civil Rules 401.1 and 501.1.
https://www.njd.uscourts.gov/news/notice-bar-and-standing-order-re-procedures-access-and-service-sealed-
documents.
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