Procedures for Civil Discovery and Settlement Matters
1. For any opposed motion, counsel should indicate in their briefing whether they
request a hearing on the motion and, if so, whether they request it be conducted
telephonically or in person.
2. If materials must be sent to the Court for any reason, they should be sent
electronically to
[email protected] or by mail to: Judge
Gregory Wormuth, 100 N. Church Street, Las Cruces, NM 88001. Please do not send
by facsimile. Opposing counsel must be copied on all written or email
communications that counsel conduct with the Court with the exception of the
confidential letter sent in anticipation of a settlement conference.
3. Unless otherwise requested and ordered, all settlement conferences with Judge
Wormuth are held in the Organ courtroom of the U.S. District Courthouse in Las
Cruces.
4. The Court does not provide interpreters for settlement conferences. If a participant
requires an interpreter, counsel must ensure one is present.
5. Even if stipulated, parties seeking an extension in excess of ten (10) days for any
filing deadline must file a Motion to Extend with the Court by the day of the original
deadline. If the parties agree to a filing extension of less than ten (10) days which
does not interfere with other established case management deadlines, they must file
a notice as required by Local Rule 7.4(a).
6. Proposed orders must be sent to
[email protected] after the
filing of any unopposed motion. They should be submitted in Microsoft Word
format (as .docx files), should have 1” margins, be non-justified, include two spaces
between each sentence, and use Palatino Linotype Font, size 12. In civil cases, the
case number should be presented as follows: Civ. No. ###-### [Presiding Judge
initials] / [Referral Judge initials]. Further, they should indicate the approval of all
parties by including the electronic signature of all parties at the end of the
document.
7. Individual exhibits attached to a filing on CM/ECF must be filed as separate
attachments such that each exhibit has a unique docket sub-number. For example,
Exhibit A should be Attachment 1, Exhibit B should be Attachment 2, and so on. If
the final docket number for the filing is 10, Exhibit A will be labeled as doc. 10-1, and
Exhibit B will be labeled as doc. 10-2.
8. Parties must clearly label all exhibits attached to a filing on CM/ECF. For example,
rather than merely labeling an exhibit “Exhibit A,” parties must provide additional
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description, such as “Exhibit A: Deposition of Plaintiff Jones,” or “Exhibit A:
Defendant Smith’s Responses to Interrogatories.”
9. For telephonic conferences or hearings, counsel must call into the conference line no
later than three (3) minutes before the conference or hearing begins.
10. Judge Wormuth is available to resolve discovery disputes informally. If the meet-
and-confer process does not resolve a dispute and counsel agree to attempt to
resolve it informally, counsel may call or email chambers to coordinate a telephonic
conference with the judge. Counsel should give a brief summary of the issue and
the availability of all counsel. If counsel agree that it would be helpful, they may
provide written materials that summarize or are relevant to the dispute. Obviously,
any such material must be copied to opposing counsel. Keep in mind that the nature
of such an informal process means that the issues should be relatively narrow and
discrete.
11. Counsel are reminded that when Judge Wormuth is assigned as the
discovery/referral judge, the parties may consent to him presiding over the case
pursuant to Local Rule 73.2. Counsel is advised that Judge Wormuth will conduct
trials in Albuquerque or Roswell if the parties unanimously request it. Should the
parties wish to do so, they must fill out Form AO 85 – “Notice, Consent, and
Reference of a Civil Action to a Magistrate Judge.” The form must be returned to the
Clerk’s Office and should not be sent directly to either assigned judge. Form AO 85
is provided on Judge Wormuth’s webpage within the “Resources” tab through the
“Court Forms” link.
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