Procedures for Civil Discovery, Settlement Matters, and Consent
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 Fouratt, 100 N. Church Street, Suite 550, 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
confidential letters (and associated materials) sent in anticipation of a settlement
conference.
3. Unless otherwise requested and ordered, all settlement conferences with
Judge Fouratt are held in the Doña Ana 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 justified, and use Times New
Roman Font, size 12. In civil cases, the case number should be presented as follows:
Case No. ###-cv-### [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. 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 description, such as “Exhibit A: Deposition of Plaintiff Jones,” or
“Exhibit A: Defendant Smith’s Responses to Interrogatories.”
8. For telephonic conferences or hearings, counsel must call into the conference
line no later than three (3) minutes before the conference or hearing begins.
9. Judge Fouratt 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 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.
10. Counsel are reminded that when Judge Fouratt is assigned as the
discovery/referral judge, the parties may consent to him presiding over the
case pursuant to Local Rule 73.2. 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
Fouratt’s webpage within the “Resources” tab through the “Court Forms” link.
