All local rules for D.N.J., integrated with this judge's published requirements.
(b) Applications for orders to show cause, and for consent and ex parte orders, shall be filed with the Clerk, who shall promptly deliver each application to the District Judge to whom the case has been assigned. D.N.J. L.Civ.R. 65.1(b) ↗
Please do not contact Chambers with legal or procedural questions that are covered by these Rules, the Local Rules of this Court, or the Federal Rules of Civil or Criminal Procedure. Chambers does not accept fax or e-mail. All communications with Chambers shall be by letter electronically filed via CM/ECF. No hard copies or courtesy copies of letters shall be delivered to the Court. Pro se parties are exempt from this requirement. For docketing, scheduling, or calendar matters, please contact Courtroom Deputy Larry MacStravic at (856) 757-5433 between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
(b) Any brief shall include a table of contents and a table of authorities and shall not exceed 40 ordinary typed or printed pages (15 pages for any reply brief submitted under L.Civ.R. 7.1(d)(3) and any brief in support of or in opposition to a motion for reconsideration submitted under L.Civ.R. 7.1(i)), excluding pages required for the table of contents and authorities. Briefs of greater length will only be accepted if special permission of the Judge is obtained prior to submission of the brief. D.N.J. L.Civ.R. 7.2(b) ↗
(b) Any brief shall include a table of contents and a table of authorities and shall not exceed 40 ordinary typed or printed pages (15 pages for any reply brief submitted under L.Civ.R. 7.1(d)(3) and any brief in support of or in opposition to a motion for reconsideration submitted under L.Civ.R. 7.1(i)), excluding pages required for the table of contents and authorities. Briefs of greater length will only be accepted if special permission of the Judge is obtained prior to submission of the brief. D.N.J. L.Civ.R. 7.2(b) ↗
(b) Any brief shall include a table of contents and a table of authorities and shall not exceed 40 ordinary typed or printed pages (15 pages for any reply brief submitted under L.Civ.R. 7.1(d)(3) and any brief in support of or in opposition to a motion for reconsideration submitted under L.Civ.R. 7.1(i)), excluding pages required for the table of contents and authorities. Briefs of greater length will only be accepted if special permission of the Judge is obtained prior to submission of the brief. D.N.J. L.Civ.R. 7.2(b) ↗
(c) All briefs shall be in black lettering on paper size 8.5 x 11 inches. All margins shall be not less than one inch on sides, top, and bottom. (d) Each page of a brief shall contain double-spaced text and/or single-spaced footnotes or inserts. Typeface shall be in 12-point non-proportional font (such as Courier New 12) or an equivalent 14-point proportional font (such as Times New Roman 14). If a 12-point proportional font is used instead, the page limits shall be reduced by 25 percent (e.g., the 40 page limit becomes 30 pages in this font and the 15 page limit becomes 11.25 pages). Footnotes shall be printed in the same size of type utilized in the text. D.N.J. L.Civ.R. 7.2(c)–(d) ↗
(1) No application will be heard unless the moving papers and a brief, prepared in accordance with L.Civ.R. 7.2, and proof or acknowledgment of service on all other parties, are filed with the Clerk at least 24 days prior to the noticed motion day. The brief shall be a separate document for submission to the Court, and shall note the motion day on the cover page. D.N.J. L.Civ.R. 7.1(d)(1) ↗
(a) Except during vacation periods of the Court, the regular motion days for all vicinages are the first and third Monday of each month. Whenever a regular motion day falls on a holiday, the motion day becomes the following non-holiday. The Clerk shall publish a list of all regular motion days for each calendar year, and corresponding filing deadlines, on the website of the Court and in appropriate legal publications. D.N.J. L.Civ.R. 78.1(a) ↗
Unless otherwise directed by the Court, the parties shall provide one (1) courtesy copy of their supporting briefs only; courtesy copies of all exhibits and other supporting papers shall be filed electronically on CM/ECF only. Exhibits shall be clearly labeled. Exhibits shall be separately filed as related attachments to the document they support (i.e., a declaration/certification summarizing the exhibits). Exhibits shall not be compiled into a single PDF unless that PDF properly hyperlinks and bookmarks the location of each exhibit within that PDF. The Court will strike electronic submissions that fail to comply with this rule.
(e) Preparation of Order All filed motions shall have annexed thereto a proposed order. If the proposed order does not adequately reflect the Court’s ruling, the prevailing party, if directed by the Court, shall submit an order within seven days of the ruling on the motion on notice to all other parties. Unless the Court otherwise directs, if no specific objection to that order with reasons therefor is received within seven days of its receipt by the Court, the order may be signed. If such an objection is made, the matter may be listed for hearing at the discretion of the Court. D.N.J. L.Civ.R. 7.1(e) ↗
If any relief is being sought, a proposed order must accompany the party's submission.
All parties, with the exception of pro se parties, shall file all documents, in both civil and criminal matters, electronically via CM/ECF. All papers electronically submitted shall, to the extent possible, be submitted in a text-searchable PDF format.
(b) All motions and other applications will be decided on the papers submitted unless: (1) a party requests oral argument and the request is granted by the Judge; or (2) the Court, sua sponte, directs that oral argument be held. Any request for oral argument shall be clearly marked on the first page of the notice of motion and/or the brief filed by the party making such request. If oral argument is to be heard, the Court will so notify the parties and designate the day and time of the argument. D.N.J. L.Civ.R. 78.1(b) ↗
The only purpose of a motion's return date or "motion day" is to determine the briefing schedule for that motion. The Court generally will not hear oral argument on the motion's return date. Rather, if the Court decides to hear oral argument on any issue, it will advise counsel of the argument date. See L. Civ. R. 78.1(b) ("All motions and other applications will be decided on the papers submitted unless: (1) a party requests oral argument and the request is granted by the Judge; or (2) the Court, sua sponte, directs that oral argument be held.").
Yes — motions decided on the papers without oral argument.
All requests for adjournments or extensions of time, other than those pursuant to Local Civil Rule 7.1(d)(5), must comport with Local Civil Rule 6.1 and include: (1) the date or dates sought to be extended; (2) the number of previous requests for extensions and the Court's rulings; (3) the reason for the current request; and (4) whether the adversary consents and, if not, the reasons given by the adversary for refusing to consent. If consent is unreasonably withheld, the Court may impose attorneys' fees and costs. If the requested extension affects any other scheduled dates/deadlines, the request must list the proposed change for all such other dates/deadlines.
(a) Conference to Resolve Disputes (1) Counsel shall confer to resolve any discovery dispute. Any such dispute not resolved shall be presented by telephone conference call or letter to the Magistrate Judge. This presentation shall precede any formal motion. D.N.J. L.Civ.R. 37.1(a)(1) (discovery disputes presented to the Magistrate Judge before any formal motion) ↗
E. Summary Judgment 1. Pre-Motion Conference Before filing a motion for summary judgment, a party must first comply with the same pre-motion conference procedure as outlined above. See supra Section I.A. In general, the same rules apply. If the Court determines that a pre-motion conference would not be helpful and instructs a party to proceed with filing its proposed motion without a conference, that party shall have an additional five (5) business days to file its motion after its deadline pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(b), unless additional time is so stipulated or the Court so orders. Source ↗
I. Civil Motion Practice A. Pre-Motion Conference In an effort to resolve cases expeditiously, before filing a motion to dismiss, motion for a more definite statement, motion to remand, motion for change of venue, or motion for judgment on the pleadings, a party must submit a letter, not to exceed three (3) single-spaced pages, requesting a pre-motion conference. The letter must set forth the basis for the anticipated motion and include citations to relevant authority. Within five (5) business days after receipt of this letter, all adversaries must submit a written response, not to exceed three (3) single-spaced pages. No party may submit a reply letter unless directed by the Court. Affidavits and exhibits are not permitted unless directed by the Court. A proffer by the attorney, however, of the contents of any such affidavit(s) and/or exhibit(s) shall suffice. The Court will attempt to resolve the dispute(s) at a pre-motion conference (in person or via telephone/videoconference), to the extent possible. If the dispute cannot be resolved at the pre-motion conference (or if the Court determines that a conference would not be helpful), the moving party may proceed with filing its motion. To be clear, this procedure does not preclude a party from filing any of the above motions pursuant to Local Civil Rule 12.1. Rather, the Court hopes to use this procedure to advance the case efficiently and minimize the costs of litigation to the parties. In addition, compliance with this procedure shall not be deemed a waiver of any parties' defenses as to lack of personal jurisdiction, improper venue, insufficient process, or insufficient service of process. A party's submission of a pre-motion letter will toll that party's time to file its motion (or answer) through (i) the date of the pre-motion conference or (ii) the Court's decision not to conduct such a conference. If the Court determines that a pre-motion conference would not be helpful and instructs a party to proceed with filing its proposed motion without a conference, that party shall have an additional five (5) business days to file its motion after its deadline pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(a), unless additional time is so stipulated or the Court so orders. This letter exchange does not apply in cases in which either side is pro se or in bankruptcy or social security appeals. Source ↗
2. Statements of Material Fact Chief Judge Bumb requires strict compliance with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 and Local Civil Rule 56.1 in seeking or opposing summary judgment. A motion for summary judgment must be accompanied by a separately filed statement of material facts. Each fact must include a citation to the record evidence with a pin cite that supports that fact. Facts without citation to record evidence may be disregarded by the Court. If a summary judgment motion is opposed, the opposing party shall set forth, in a separately filed document, each paragraph of the moving party's statement of material facts. Directly below each paragraph, the opposing party shall denote whether that fact is disputed or undisputed. If the fact is disputed, the opposing party must include a citation to record evidence with a pin cite that supports the dispute. Any explanation must include a citation to record evidence with a pin cite. The opposing party shall not include legal argument or extraneous detail outside the scope of the moving party's statement. In addition to filing a responsive statement of material facts, the opposing party may submit a separately filed supplemental statement of material facts setting forth any relevant facts in support of its position, which the moving party shall respond to in turn. The Court may ignore a supplemental statement of material facts if it fails to include citation to record evidence. If a party fails to comply with these rules, the Court will likely strike that party's submission. Source ↗