Hon. Mark H. Cohen

Lisa Enix, our Courtroom Deputy Clerk, is your principal point of contact on matters relating to this case. Where possible, communication with Ms. Enix should be by e-mail (Lisa_Enix@gand.uscourts.gov) or alternatively, by telephone (404-215-1315). Mailed, couriered, and hand-delivered communications should be addressed as follows: Ms. Lisa Enix Courtroom Deputy Clerk 1921 United States Courthouse 75 Ted Turner Drive, S.W. Atlanta, Georgia 30303-3309 If the parties are unable to reach Ms. Enix, they should call the chambers main line (404-215-1310) for assistance. Neither the parties nor their counsel should discuss the merits of the case with Ms. Enix or any of the Court's law clerks. Counsel are prohibited from engaging in ex parte communications with the Court or the Court's staff. "Ex parte communications" mean any form of contact with the Court outside the presence of the opposing party or opposing party's counsel. This includes, but is not limited to, telephone calls, written correspondence, or in-person contact, by one party or party's counsel. If counsel seeks court action, the appropriate procedure is to put the request in writing, in the form of a motion, file the motion with the Clerk's office, and serve the opposing party or party's counsel. See FED. R. CIV. P. 5; LR 5.1 and 5.2, NDGa; see also LR 7.4, NDGa. ("Communications to judges seeking a ruling or order, including an extension of time, shall be by motion and not by letter. A letter seeking such action ordinarily will not be treated as a motion. Counsel shall not provide the Court with copies of correspondence among themselves relating to matters in dispute."). Discovery disputes shall be handled in accordance with the procedure set forth in Section II.J., infra.

Parties seeking an extension of the page limit must do so by motion at least five (5) days in advance of the filing deadline and should explain with specificity the reasons necessitating an extension. If a party files a motion to extend the page limit at the same time a brief is due, the extension request shall be denied absent a compelling and unanticipated reason for violating the Rule. If a party files a brief that exceeds the page limitation and has not been granted leave by the Court, the Court will not consider any arguments made in pages which exceed the page limitation imposed by the Local Rules. Parties should also indicate whether opposing counsel consents to the extension. A proposed order should also be provided.

Except for emergency motions filed pursuant to the Local Rules of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia ("LR"), specifically LR 7.2B, NDGa, or motions for temporary restraining orders, the delivery of a hard copy of a document in addition to the electronically-filed copy is discouraged, as the Court prefers to rely on its electronic access to court filings. Courtesy copies of such emergency motions and motions for temporary restraining orders should be hand-delivered to chambers in Room 1921 on the 19th floor of the Richard B. Russell Building or to the Courtroom Deputy Clerk at the above-provided address. The Court may occasionally request a courtesy copy of pleadings but, if they are needed, Ms. Enix will contact counsel.

For all consent, unopposed, or joint motions, the filing party shall include therewith a proposed order granting the motion.

Because documents filed in Court are presumptively public, this Court generally does not favor the filing of documents under seal. However, the Court will agree to the sealing of documents that contain information protected from disclosure by statute, personal information (such as Social Security numbers), trade secrets, or sensitive security data. See also Standing Order No. 04-02 (regarding sensitive information and public access to case files). It should be noted that even these exceptions to public filing usually do not require that entire documents or pleadings be filed under seal, but only those portions of a pleading or document for which protection is authorized. If the parties find that a confidentiality agreement or protective order is necessary, the parties must follow the practice for filing and sealing documents as set forth in "Administrative Procedures for Filing, Signing, and Verifying Pleadings and Papers by Electronic Means," attached as Exhibit A to Standing Order 16-01, and included in Appendix H of this Court's Local Rules. See also LR NDGa., App. H., Ex. A, Section II(J). Any proposed agreement or protective order submitted for the Court's consideration must include the following language: Any documents (including briefs), tangible things or information designated as Confidential that are submitted to the Court in support of or in opposition to a motion or introduced at a hearing or during trial may retain their protected confidential status only by order of the Court in accordance with the procedures outlined in Appendix H of the Local Rules of the Northern District of Georgia. Specifically, if a party seeks to use information designated as confidential under this protective order in filings before the Court, it is the burden of the designating party to show "good cause" to the Court why the confidential information should be filed under seal.

In accordance with the Court's Local Rules, motions are usually decided without oral argument, but the Court will consider any request for hearing if the party or parties requesting oral argument specify the particular reasons argument may be helpful to the Court and what issues will be the focus of the proposed argument. Moreover, the Court shall grant a request for oral argument on a contested, substantive motion if the request states than an attorney who is less than seven (7) years out of law school will conduct the oral argument on at least one substantial issue in the case, it being the Court's belief that new attorneys need more opportunities for Court appearances than they usually receive.

Notwithstanding LR 37.1, NDGa., prior to filing any motion related to discovery, including but not limited to motions to compel discovery, to quash a subpoena, for a protective order, or for sanctions (with the exception of unopposed, consent, or joint motions to extend the discovery period), the movant, after conferring with the respondent in a good-faith effort to resolve the dispute by agreement, must contact Ms. Enix by email, copying opposing counsel, to notify her that there is a discovery dispute. Prior to scheduling a conference call, the Court will request that each side submit a brief statement by email of no more than two pages setting forth the issues in advance of the conference call. If the statements refer to specific discovery requests, those requests should be included with the parties' response. Ms. Enix will then schedule a conference call in which the Court will attempt to resolve the matter without the necessity of a formal motion, and a court reporter will be provided by the Court to take down the conference call. Any motions to compel, to quash a subpoena, or for sanctions will be denied without prejudice if this procedure is not followed by any party. In addition, if any party has a dispute with a non-party (e.g., regarding a subpoena), the party and the non-party must follow these instructions, and the party must promptly inform the non-party of this discovery-dispute policy. If the non-party requires the Court's involvement in resolving the dispute, it should not file a motion, but rather, should follow the procedure detailed in this subparagraph. The Court usually is available by telephone to resolve objections and disputes that arise during depositions. Counsel should not hesitate to call the Court (404-215-1310) if a bona fide dispute arises during a deposition that the parties cannot resolve despite a good-faith effort to do so.