Hon. Jeannice W. Appenteng

• [Motions Requirements]
• Discovery Motions The Court will not hear or consider any discovery motions unless the parties have complied with the meet and confer requirement under Local Rule 37.2 . Any discovery motion must state with specificity when and how the movant complied with Local Rule 37.2 . Parties are reminded that compliance with Local Rule 37.2 requires a good faith effort to resolve discovery disputes and, other than in exceptional circumstances, communication that takes place face to face or by telephone . The mere exchange of correspondence will not normally be sufficient to comply with Local Rule 37.2 . Parties who fail to indicate that they have met in person or by telephone to attempt to resolve their dispute risk having their motion stricken. Parties are not allowed to file a brief in response or reply of a discovery motion without leave of Court. The Court reminds the parties of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(a)(5), which requires the Court to award the winning side fees and costs unless the losing party’s position was substantially justified or awarding fees and costs would be unjust. Other Motions The meet and confer requirement can have the same effect on other disputes that it has in connection with discovery disputes. A candid discussion between the parties prior to filing motions to dismiss, motions for summary judgment, and motions in limine , among others, can limit the scope of such motions or eliminate the need for them to be filed at all. Thus, the Court will apply the meet and confer requirement not just to discovery motions, but to all motions that a party wishes to file. The comments above concerning what must be done to comply with the meet and confer requirement will be applied with equal force, and in the same way, with respect to all other motions.

Courtesy Copies Policy Judge Appenteng does not require courtesy copies of court filings. If a courtesy copy is required, the Court will request it from the parties. Important Information Communications with Chambers for case-related matters : Parties should not Chambers by telephone. All case-related communication shall be by email , copying opposing counsel, to the Court’s Courtroom Deputy at Kym_Lozano@ilnd.uscourts.gov . Communications with Chambers for non case related matters : Please send an email to Chambers_Appenteng@ilnd.uscourts.gov . Proposed Orders : All proposed orders should be sent to: Proposed_Order_Appenteng@ilnd.uscourts.gov . Settlement Correspondence : All settlement position statements, letters, and correspondence should be sent to: Settlement_Correspondence_Appenteng@ilnd.uscourts.gov . Parties must submit courtesy copies of any submissions (inclusive of exhibits) longer than ten (10) pages. Calendar Schedule Judge Jeannice W. Appenteng --> Procedures to be followed in cases assigned to Judge Jeannice W. Appenteng Confidentiality Agreements and Protective Orders Protective Orders Entered by the Court If the parties require a protective order entered by the Court, they should file a motion (indicating whether it is agreed or opposed) and email a copy of their proposed protective order to the Court in Microsoft Word format, Century Schoolbook 12-point font , as outlined in the Court’s procedures for Submitting a Proposed Order, Agreed or Otherwise, for Electronic Entry by the Judge. The parties are directed to use the following model protective order: Model Confidentiality Order . Parties may deviate from the model order, but when submitting their proposed order to the Court’s e-mail address they must include both a clean version of their order and a redline version showing any changes made from the model order. Source ↗

Motions for Summary Judgment In-Person Status Conference and Status Report Properly prepared motions for summary judgment require considerable Court and attorney time and client expense. Sometimes such motions are unnecessarily filed. A careful examination of the record prior to filing may reveal contested factual issues making the granting of the motion impossible. In many cases after fact discovery has closed, it is helpful for the Court to hold a status conference to discuss whether the filing of a summary judgment motion is advisable given the state of the record. No motions for summary judgment shall be made prior to the status hearing. One week in advance of the status conference, the party who wishes to seek summary judgment shall file a status report addressing the applicable law and explaining in detail why there are no genuine issues of material fact and why the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. During the status conference, that intended moving party shall be prepared to point out the uncontested facts that support the relief being sought, and the opposing party should be prepared to speak to whether those facts are contested. This conference shall be requested and scheduled before any substantive work is done preparing the motion. No party will ever be prevented from filing a dispositive motion, but the goal of the conference is to have a careful, informed discussion of the issues before significant time and expense have been incurred. In some cases, the Court may determine that a conference would not be helpful. Parties, however, should always inquire with the Court prior to filing a summary judgment motion. Motions for Summary Judgment The Court requires strict compliance with Local Rules 56.1(a) and 56.1(b) in the briefing of all summary judgment motions. In addition, to assist the Court in reviewing the factual record submitted in connection with summary judgment motions, the Court requires the following: A courtesy copy of the memorandum of law, depositions and other materials relied upon in support of the motion (as required by Local Rule 56.1(a)(1)-(3) ) or in opposition to the motion (as required by Local Rule 56.1(b)(1)-(3) ) must be delivered to chambers within 24 hours of when it is filed on the CM/ECF system. The courtesy copy of the compendium must be securely bound, must separately tab each document, and must contain an index identifying what document is contained under each tab. It must also have the CM/ECF header. All statements of undisputed material facts offered by the moving party under Local Rule 56.1(a)(3) , or statements of additional facts offered by the opposing party under Local Rule 56.1(b)(3)(C) , must list the facts in short, numbered paragraphs that refrain from argument. Argument must be reserved for the moving party’s memorandum of law. Each numbered fact statement must contain a specific citation to affidavits, depositions or other materials that support the fact statement, as well as to the tab(s) in the compendium where those materials may be found. Failure to provide support for a statement of fact may result in that alleged "fact" being disregarded. Friend v. Valley View Community Unit School Dist. 365U , 789 F.3d 707, 710-11 (7th Cir. 2015). All responses to statements of undisputed material facts offered by the opposing party under Local Rule 56.1(b)(3)(B) , or responses to statements of additional facts offered by the moving party under Local Rule 56.1(a) , shall be in a format similar to that used in answering a complaint: that is, the response must repeat each numbered paragraph of the fact statement, and then immediately following each numbered statement must state whether the alleged fact is "undisputed" or "disputed." As with the fact statements submitted under Local Rules 56.1(a)(3) and 56.1(b)(3)(C) , the responses to those fact statements must refrain from argument. The significance or lack of significance of a disputed or undisputed fact may be argued in the respondent’s legal memorandum. If a particular fact is "undisputed," nothing more should be said in the response. If a particular fact assertion is "disputed" in whole or in part, the response must state what part of the assertion is disputed and must contain a specific citation to the supporting affidavits, depositions or other materials as well as to the tab(s) in the compendium where those materials may be found. Failure to provide support for an alleged fact dispute may result in that fact being deemed admitted. Curtis v. Costco Wholesale Corp. , 807 F.3d 215, 218-19 (7th Cir. 2015). In accord with Local Rule 56.1 , absent prior leave of Court, a movant shall not file more than 80 separately numbered statements of undisputed material fact, and a party opposing a summary judgment motion shall not file more than 40 separately numbered statements of additional facts under Local Rule 56.1(b)(3)(C) . The Court reminds parties that the fact statements under Local Rule 56.1(a)(3) and Local Rule 56.1(b)(3)(C) “shall consist of short numbered paragraphs.” Motions to strike or deemed admitted Local Rule 56.1 statement of facts will not be accepted by the Court. These concerns should be raised in the parties’ briefs. Source ↗