Hon. Leigh Martin May

Brittany Poley, the Courtroom Deputy Clerk, is your principal point of contact on matters related to this case. Communications with Ms. Poley should be via email or in writing addressed as follows: Honorable Leigh Martin May ATTN: Brittany Poley Courtroom Deputy Clerk 2167 United States Courthouse 75 Ted Turner Dr., SW Atlanta, GA 30303-3309 Brittany_Poley@gand.uscourts.gov If a telephone call is necessary, you may reach Ms. Poley at 404-215-1514 (direct dial). Please note that Ms. Poley is often in the courtroom, so telephone messages may not be returned for 24 hours. Neither the parties nor their counsel should discuss the merits of the case with Ms. Poley or any of the Court's law clerks.

In accordance with Local Rule 7.1(E), motions are usually decided without oral argument, but the Court will consider any request for hearing.

Parties frequently forward copies of motions or other filings directly to chambers for the Court's convenience. Courtesy copies are not required. If parties want to send courtesy copies, they can be hand-delivered to chambers in Room 2167 on the 21st floor of the Richard B. Russell Federal Building or submitted via regular mail to the attention of the Courtroom Deputy Clerk at the above-provided address. The courtesy copies provided shall be stamped filed with the CM/ECF (Case Management/Electronic Case Filing) header.

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

For documents filed other than during a hearing or trial, as a general matter, this Court will seal only those items enumerated in the Court's Standing Order 04-02 regarding sensitive information and public access to electronic case files. Absent extraordinary circumstances making prior consultation impractical or inappropriate, the party seeking to file the documents shall first consult with the counsel for the party who designated the document as confidential to determine if some measure less restrictive than filing the document under seal may serve to provide adequate protection. As further clarification, the Court notes that a mere reference or discussion of confidential information does not warrant sealing of the entire document and all attachments to be filed. Instead, the Court is only interested in sealing (or filing in a redacted format) very specific portions of documents that contain or refer to confidential information. The parties should refrain from sealing an entire document when only certain information is confidential. In addition, the Court will normally not seal documents used in open court at a hearing or trial absent extraordinary circumstances.

In accordance with Local Rule 7.1(E), motions are usually decided without oral argument, but the Court will consider any request for hearing. If oral argument is requested, the party or parties should 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 that a lawyer of less than five years out of law school will conduct the oral argument (or at least a large majority), it being the Court's belief that new lawyers need more opportunities for Court appearances than they usually receive.

Prior to the filing of a discovery motion (except for unopposed, consent, or joint motions to extend the discovery period), the parties should email the Courtroom Deputy Clerk to request a conference with the Court, as the Court requires the parties to submit their discovery disputes to the Court before formal motions to compel or for a protective order are filed. The movant, after conferring with the respondent in a good faith effort to resolve the dispute by agreement, must send Ms. Poley (with a copy to all counsel of record) a one-page email summarizing the dispute and the relief sought. If the matter is time-sensitive, the movant should make that clear in the email. The Courtroom Deputy Clerk will provide the parties with the avenue by which they may brief the Court on the dispute (generally short, emailed statements), then she will schedule a conference with the Court following the conclusion of the briefing if the Court finds that a conference would be helpful. If the dispute involves an interrogatory or request for production, the text of the request at issue shall be provided in the statement or attached thereto. These disputes are often resolved in a conference with the Court, thus avoiding a delay of discovery. The conference will be recorded by a court reporter. Motions to compel, to quash a subpoena, for a protective order, or for sanctions ordinarily should NOT be filed without a prior conference with the Court.