UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
Eastern District of Pennsylvania
JUDGE SLOMSKY’S SCHEDULING
AND MOTION POLICIES AND
PROCEDURES
I. Communications with Chambers
A. Correspondence
Written communications with the Court concerning any case assigned to Judge
Slomsky’s calendar should be by the filing of a pleading, motion, application or other similar
filing provided for in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, or Local Rules of Civil
Procedure.
Correspondence regarding the following is permitted, provided the letter states that
counsel agrees or disagrees with the request:
(1) When counsel are specifically requested by the Court to communicate some
information to the Court by letter;
(2) When there is an uncontested request for a continuance of the Rule 16
Scheduling Order deadlines not affecting the dates for filing a summary
judgment motion and trial;
(3) When the participation of counsel in the case is expected to be affected by
an unanticipated personal matter concerning counsel, a party, a witness or
counsel's immediate family, such as medical problems, vacation plans or
other personal problems; or,
(4) To confirm or advise the Court that a case has been settled, dismissed or
otherwise finally disposed.
Counsel should not send copies of correspondence among and between counsel
to the Court.
B. Telephone Calls
Law clerks may not render advice to counsel and have no authority to grant
continuances or to give advice on substantive or procedural matters. Therefore, unless
counsel is contacted by a law clerk, counsel should not ordinarily communicate with the law
clerks.
When a written communication concerning a case cannot timely address a problem,
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counsel may initiate necessary telephone communications with chambers. Issues
appropriately addressed by telephone contact include: scheduling of conferences or
proceedings, including pretrial and trial conferences; attendance of witnesses; exhibit
handling or arrangements for video replay; and, arrangements for telephone conferences
regarding discovery disputes.
Telephone inquiries should be directed as appropriate to either one of the following:
Courtroom Deputy: Kelly Haggerty - 267-299-7341
[email protected]
Contact for matters relating to civil scheduling, case
management and general procedures.
Counsel are advised to submit current telephone and fax numbers to the Clerk’s
Office, the Courtroom Deputy and the Judicial Secretary.
C. Faxes
Facsimile transmittal of pleadings, motions, other filings or correspondence to
chambers is not permitted.
D. Electronic Case Filing (“ECF”) and Courtesy Copies
Counsel shall file all pleadings electronically through ECF. Notwithstanding
compliance with this procedure regarding use of ECF, counsel shall send to Chambers two
(2) courtesy copies of any motions (and related briefs) filed with the Clerk of the Court. In
addition, in the unusual case where counsel does not file using ECF or counsel is
requested to do so, two (2) courtesy copies of all pleadings and motion papers shall be
delivered to Chambers, Room 5614, United States Courthouse, 601 Market Street,
Philadelphia, PA 19106.
II. Pretrial Procedure
A. Rule 16 Conference and Rule 26(f) Meeting
A preliminary pretrial conference as described in Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b) and (c) will
be scheduled shortly after a defendant has filed an appearance or pleading. At least
three business days prior to the pretrial conference, counsel must file with the Clerk a
joint report of the Rule 26(f) meeting with a provisional discovery plan adopted at the
conference in the form of the attached sample.
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The Court relies on counsel's good faith compliance in all respects with Rule 26(f).
The Rule 26(f) meeting shall take place as soon as possible and, in any event, no later
than fourteen (14) days after the date of the Order scheduling the Rule 16 conference.
The meeting should not be viewed as perfunctory but rather as a meaningful and
substantive discussion among professionals to formulate the proposed discovery plan
required by the Rule.
Outstanding motions will not excuse the requirements of holding the meeting and
submitting the plan. Compliance is mandatory. Parties who do not comply will have no
voice at the scheduling conference and may be subject to additional sanctions.
Topics addressed at the initial pretrial conference are those listed in Local Rule of
Civil Procedure 16.1(b), Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16(b) and (c), the progress of self-
executing disclosure under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a), discovery, the
preservation and production of electronically stored information, settlement and mediation
proposals. A Rule 16 Scheduling Order is issued at the conclusion of the conference.
Lead trial counsel, not an associate, must attend the Rule 16 conference.
Counsel shall have a thorough comprehension of the facts and shall be prepared to
discuss all claims and defenses in detail, including settlement, and have authority from
their clients to do so.
B. Threshold Motions
Motions to dismiss, amend, transfer, add parties and other threshold motions should
be filed before the Rule 16 conference. Counsel shall be prepared to discuss the merits
of any outstanding motions at the conference.
C. Settlement Conferences
Counsel are required to attend a settlement conference with Magistrate Judge Carol
Sandra Moore Wells as set forth in the Scheduling Order. Counsel must adhere to
Magistrate Judge Well’s requirements regarding the conduct of the conference. The
parties and/or persons with full authority to settle must accompany counsel to the
mediation before Judge Wells unless excused in advance by Judge Wells.
D. Mediation
In addressing settlement or early disposition of the case, counsel are reminded that
participation in an early alternative dispute resolution effort is strongly encouraged.
Counsel should be familiar with the Court’s mediation program and Local Rule 53.2.1.
Counsel are required to explore the feasibility of ADR, including court-annexed mediation,
not only between themselves but with their clients as well. The specific reason for any
decision not to participate in a form of early ADR shall be delineated in the Rule 26(f)
report.
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E. Pro Hac Vice Motions
Counsel moving for the pro hac vice admission of an attorney may file a motion
with the Court by submitting the Attorney Admissions Application (Pro Hac Vice) form.
F. Confidentiality Agreements
Judge Slomsky will consider entry of stipulated confidentiality or sealing orders if the
proposed order includes a detailed statement demonstrating that good cause exists for the
order. See Pansy v. Borough of Stroudsberg, 23 F.3d 772, 786 (3rd Cir. 1994). All such
orders must contain the following language (or language substantially similar):
“The Court retains the right to allow disclosure of any subject covered
by this stipulation or to modify this stipulation at any time in the interest
of justice.”
III. Discovery
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure call for voluntary, cooperative discovery in a
timely manner. The information required to be disclosed pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)
is required to be exchanged no later than fourteen (14) days after the date of the Order
scheduling the Rule 16 conference. Compliance with the Rules is mandatory. Counsel
are expected to act in accordance with both the letter and the spirit of the Rules.
The parties are required to commence discovery immediately upon receipt of notice
of the Rule 16 conference. Pending motions do not excuse counsel from proceeding with
discovery. Counsel will be required to report on the progress of discovery at the Rule 16
conference.
When timely discovery is not forthcoming after a reasonable attempt has been made
to obtain it, the immediate assistance of the court should be sought after compliance with
Local Rule 26.1(f). The certification must state in detail what efforts were made to resolve
the dispute.
The court encourages the submission of discovery disputes by telephone
conference. If a discovery motion is filed, it may be acted upon before a response is filed
either with or without a telephone conference.
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Electronic Discovery
It is expected that the parties will reach an agreement on how to conduct electronic
discovery. In the event the parties cannot reach such an agreement before the Rule 16
scheduling conference, the court will enter an order incorporating default standards. The
default order can be viewed at www.paed.uscourts.gov.
The parties shall discuss the parameters of their anticipated e-discovery at the Rule
26(f) conference and shall be prepared to address e-discovery at the Rule 16 scheduling
conference with the court.
IV. Motions Practice
A. Oral Argument
Oral argument is not routinely scheduled. A party desiring oral argument should
request it by letter or in the body of the motion or responsive pleading.
B. Reply Briefs
Reply briefs, addressing only issues raised in the brief in opposition and not
repeating arguments in the initial brief, may be filed within seven days of service of the
opponent’s brief in opposition and shall be limited to ten pages. No further briefs may be
filed.
V. Rule 56 Motions
Any motion for summary judgment filed pursuant to Fed. R.Civ.P. 56 shall include
a separate Statement of Undisputed Facts which sets forth, in numbered paragraphs, the
material facts that the moving party contends are undisputed and entitle the movant to
judgment as a matter of law. Only those facts which bear on dispositive material issues
shall be included in the Statement of Undisputed Facts.
The papers opposing a motion for summary judgment shall include a separate
statement of material facts, responding to the numbered paragraphs set forth in the
Statement of Undisputed Facts, which the respondent contends present genuine issues
to be tried. The responding party also shall set forth, in separate numbered paragraphs,
any additional facts which the respondent contends preclude summary judgment. All
material facts set forth in the statement required to be served by the moving party shall be
admitted unless controverted by the opposing party.
Statements of material facts in support of or in opposition to a motion for summary
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judgment shall include specific and not general references to the parts of the record that
support each of the statements. Each stated fact shall cite the source relied upon,
including the page and line of any document or deposition to which reference is made.
VI. Final Pretrial Conference
The filing of a Pretrial Memorandum as described in Local Rule 16(1)(c) will be
required. In the pretrial memoranda, counsel must detail the substance of the testimony
of each witness. Identifying a witness as giving testimony on liability and/or damages is
insufficient.
The parties shall provide the Court with one copy of each exhibit and three copies
of a schedule of exhibits which shall briefly describe each exhibit. At the trial, the parties
shall provide the Court with two copies of each exhibit. Exhibits shall be arranged and
tabbed in a single three ring binder containing all exhibits numbered consecutively.
Sidebar conferences and objections to evidence which should have been
anticipated are discouraged and are to be avoided at trial. Consequently, one of the goals
of the final pretrial conference, which counsel can expect to last two to four hours, is to
resolve all evidentiary issues to avoid delay at trial and to provide counsel with advance
notice of evidentiary requirements. Therefore, rulings on all outstanding motions and
objections to witnesses and exhibits will be made at the final pretrial conference.
Counsel shall be prepared to state their objections to witnesses and exhibits, and
to respond to opposing counsel’s objections. It is expected that counsel have discussed
and have attempted to resolve all objections to exhibits and testimony prior to the final
pretrial conference, leaving for the Court only those objections the parties could not
resolve.
Any party intending to use depositions, written or video, at trial must notify all other
parties in the pretrial memorandum. Objections to deposition testimony shall be made
prior to the pretrial conference in writing, setting forth the page and line numbers of the
challenged testimony and a clear statement for the basis of the objection. The objecting
party must provide the Court with a copy of the deposition transcript with the challenged
testimony highlighted.
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