Hon. Amy Totenberg

Keri Gardner, the Courtroom Deputy Clerk, is your principal point of contact on matters related to this case. Where possible, communications with Ms. Gardner should be via email (keri gardner@gand.uscourts.gov) or telephone (404-215-1437). Please note that Ms. Gardner is often in the courtroom, so telephone messages may not be returned for 24 hours. Counsel and parties representing themselves are prohibited from engaging in ex parte communications with the Court or the Court's staff regarding the substance of any matter before the Court. "Ex parte communications" are 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. Exceptions: This prohibition does not apply to communications regarding purely administrative matters with the Court's Deputy Clerk in Judge Totenberg's chambers, Ms. Keri Gardner. Ms. Gardner may periodically engage in ex parte communications with counsel or parties regarding routine administrative matters such as filing logistics, the scheduling of hearings or conferences, bringing equipment into the courthouse, etc. Ex parte communications of that ilk are not improper. Nor is it improper for counsel to provide the Court with confidential notice of that counsel's desire for an alternative dispute resolution ("ADR") process, as provided in LR 16.7(D)(3), NDGa. However, outside of the ADR context, counsel and parties should err on the side of caution by including opposing counsel in any communication they initiate with the Court regarding substantive matters or questions.

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.

Parties frequently forward copies of motions or other filings directly to chambers for the Court's convenience. Courtesy copies are not required except for motions for summary judgment or motions with voluminous exhibits. Courtesy paper copies of motions for summary judgments, including all exhibits, or motions with voluminous exhibits, may be either hand-delivered to chambers in Room 2388 on the 23rd floor of the Richard B. Russell Federal Building located at 75 Ted Turner Drive, SW, or submitted via regular mail to the attention of the Courtroom Deputy Clerk at the above provided address. Courtesy copies of motions and exhibits should be printed double-sided directly from the docket on the CM/ECF system with the docket header across the top of the document so that the case number, docket number, and page numbers appear on each page. Courtesy copies should be assembled in a tabbed, indexed three-ring binder. The parties are REQUIRED to submit courtesy paper copies of motions for summary judgment, including all exhibits, to chambers.

For any type of consent motion filed with the Court, the parties must attach a proposed order as an exhibit to the motion. With respect to the following types of motions only, the moving party must send a copy of the proposed order in Word format to the Courtroom Deputy Clerk at keri gardner@gand.uscourts.gov: - Protective Orders - Consent Decrees - Default Judgment Orders - Orders Approving Settlement

In this Court, confidentiality of proceedings is the exception, not the rule. See Chicago Tribune Co. v. Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc., 263 F.3d 1304, 1311 (11th Cir. 2001). Rule 26 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure allows a court to enter a protective order rendering documents or portions thereof unavailable to the public after a showing of good cause. Good cause is determined by balancing the public's "interest in obtaining access" against the "party's interest in keeping the information confidential." Mere agreement by the parties that documents should be designated as confidential does not automatically satisfy the Rule 26(c) good cause standard. Good cause will generally only be established where the materials (e.g., documents or testimony) contain trade secrets, personal identifying information, and sensitive commercial information, or where public disclosure would result in "annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden or expense." Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c)(1). "It is the general policy of this Court not to allow the filing of documents under seal without a Court order, even if all parties consent to the filing under seal." LR App. H, Section II.J.1., NDGa. To request to file material under seal, the parties should follow the mechanism described in Section II.J. of Appendix H to the Court's Local Civil Rules. If a document contains some discrete material that is deemed confidential and subject to protection from public disclosure under Rule 26(c), the parties will be entitled to redact only those portions of the document deemed confidential. The Court cautions that only in rare instances will it be appropriate to seal an entire document from public access. Thus, pleadings, motions, or briefs which mention or reference a document containing confidential information, without disclosing the nature or contents of the protected information, shall not be sealed or filed in a redacted format.

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. The Court will strongly consider granting oral argument in any case where a lawyer with less than five (5) years experience will be chiefly responsible for oral argument.

Requests to appear at a hearing before the Court by videoconference are disfavored and will not be permitted absent exceptional circumstances and with explicit permission of the Court. Counsel or witnesses who are permitted to appear by videoconference must comport themselves as though they are appearing in person in a courtroom.

The parties shall not file discovery motions (including motions to compel, motions for protective order, and motions for sanctions) without prior permission from the Court. These disputes are often resolved in a conference with the Court, thus avoiding a delay of discovery. In the event a discovery dispute arises, the parties are required to meet and confer in an effort to resolve the dispute. Counsel or pro se litigants are required to confer, by telephone or in person, in good faith before bringing a discovery dispute to the Court. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c) and 37(a)(1); LR 37.1(A), NDGa. The duty to confer is NOT satisfied by sending a written document, such as a letter, email, or fax, to the adversary, UNLESS repeated attempts to confer by telephone or in person are unsuccessful due to the conduct of the adversary. If the dispute cannot be resolved, the parties shall file on the case docket via the CM/ECF system a Consolidated/Joint Discovery Statement outlining their positions on each of the discovery items in dispute. The consolidated submission is not to exceed 8 pages if there are 4 or less issues. For 5-10 issues, the statement should not exceed 12 pages, and if there are more than 10 issues, the consolidated statement should not exceed 15 pages. The statement should be formatted in a logical order, i.e., identify each issue in dispute followed by a discussion from each of the parties setting forth an explanation of its respective position on the issue and if needed, provides a response to the opposing party's position. The parties are required to attach as an exhibit to the Consolidated Statement an excerpt of the relevant discovery requests including only the language of the specific requests and, potentially, the disputed responses, that are the subject of the dispute. The parties should not attach an entire copy of their Interrogatories, Requests for Production of Documents, or Requests for Admission. No other exhibits are allowed without prior permission from the Court. Normally, the Court will hold a phone conference with counsel after review of the discovery submission and promptly resolve the discovery dispute. In some instances, further briefing may be required. All discovery conferences will be recorded by a court reporter. If the differences cannot be resolved during the conference with the Court, the Court will direct further proceedings.