All local rules for E.D. Pa., integrated with this judge's published requirements.
Communication with chambers is permitted by e-mail, telephone, letter, or facsimile regarding scheduling and non-substantive matters only, with the exception of the procedures for raising discovery disputes with the Court. Any attachments to e-mail communications are to be submitted in Microsoft Word format or pdf format, unless otherwise specified. All other issues must be addressed by motion or other filing. Under no circumstances may any party or counsel communicate ex parte with any chambers personnel concerning substantive matters. Telephone inquiries are to be directed to the civil or criminal deputy, as appropriate, at the telephone numbers listed below. If the appropriate deputy is unavailable, attorneys may speak to the law clerks regarding scheduling matters; however, law clerks may not render advice.
Silent on page limits for civil motions. The local rules set no district-wide page limit for motions or supporting briefs. Each judge's individual practices govern; consult the assigned judge's chambers procedures. E.D. Pa. L.R. 7.1 ↗
Silent on page limits for opposition briefs. The local rules set no district-wide page limit. Each judge's individual practices govern. E.D. Pa. L.R. 7.1 ↗
Silent on page limits for reply briefs. The local rules set no district-wide page limit. Each judge's individual practices govern. E.D. Pa. L.R. 7.1 ↗
Parties may submit reply briefs without leave of Court in support of any motion. A reply brief is not to exceed ten (10) pages and is to address only issues raised in opposition to the motion, without repeating arguments included in the initial brief. Parties shall file a reply brief no later than seven (7) days after the opposition is served. A party may file a sur-reply brief only with permission of the Court upon good cause shown. The sur-reply brief may not exceed five (5) pages.
Response to motion due within 14 days of service E.D. Pa. L.R. 7.1(c) ↗
Calendar control and other matters affecting the conduct of court business shall be governed by written policy statements on file in the Clerk's Office, which may be adopted or modified by the court in the implementation of the local rules (but not in derogation thereof), and also in the implementation of operating agreements that may be in effect between this court and certain other courts concerning conflicting engagements of counsel, recognition of busy-slips, and the like. E.D. Pa. L.R. 40.3 ↗
Yes
Courtesy copies should not be provided to chambers unless specifically required by the Court.
Proposed order required with every motion E.D. Pa. L.R. 7.1(a) ↗
A proposed order shall accompany each motion or other request for relief. The order shall be formatted for the Judge's signature (for example, do not include the word "proposed" in the text of the order). All motions shall be accompanied by a Certificate of Concurrence or Non-Concurrence.
A party who seeks to file a document (or portions thereof) under seal must file a motion for permission to file the document under seal. The motion must contain the following items, all of which shall be filed publicly on ECF, with the exception of an unredacted copy of the document, which shall be filed in paper copy with the Clerk of Court: (i) Brief Supporting the Motion -- the brief must explain why there is good cause for the document (or portions thereof) to be sealed; (ii) Certificate of Concurrence or Non-Concurrence; (iii) Proposed Order -- the proposed order must be narrowly tailored to seal only the sealable material; (iv) Redacted Version of the Document filed publicly on ECF; (v) Unredacted Version of the Document filed in paper copy with the Clerk of Court.
Oral argument at court's discretion; no automatic right E.D. Pa. L.R. 7.1(f) ↗
If the Court determines that oral argument will be helpful in deciding a matter, the Judge will schedule it. A party desiring oral argument should request it by letter or in the body of the motion or responsive pleading. Counsel are encouraged to bring their clients to oral argument on dispositive motions.
Counsel must immediately notify the Court upon learning of any unavoidable and compelling professional or personal conflicts affecting the trial schedule. Requests for continuances are strongly discouraged and rarely granted. Counsel must present good cause for the request. A continuance must be sought as soon as possible. Requests for continuances must be in writing and should be e-mailed to chambers with a copy to opposing counsel. If the scheduling conflict pertains to another court matter, counsel is required to identify the other court, the caption of the other case, the presiding judge in the other case, and the docket number of the other case. A formal motion is not required.
Discovery disputes referred to assigned magistrate judge E.D. Pa. L.R. 72.1 ↗
Counsel must exhaustively address all discovery disputes among themselves before requesting the Court's intervention. If the parties are unable to resolve a discovery dispute on their own, counsel are to initially send correspondence to the Court briefly describing the dispute and the parties' respective positions and must certify that all counsel have already made a good faith effort to resolve the issue themselves as required by Local Rule of Civil Procedure 26.1, which must describe in detail the efforts the parties made to resolve the dispute on their own. The Court may thereafter schedule a telephone conference with counsel to address the dispute or direct the parties to file motions and briefs.