Judge Robert Kirsch Judicial Preferences

=== Judge Robert Kirsch Judicial Preferences === The Court’s Rules and Procedures, including Section (I)(A)–(B) regarding Pre-Motion Conferences and Pre-Summary Judgment Conferences and Section (II)(E) regarding Courtesy Copies, have been amended as of June 2026. Please review carefully.

RULES AND PROCEDURES

Hon. Robert Kirsch, U.S.D.J. Chambers Unites States District Court District of New Jersey Clarkson S. Fisher Building & U.S. Courthouse 402 East State Street Trenton, NJ 08608 Tel: (609) 989-2123 Courtroom: 4E Courtroom Deputy Patti Markey (609) 989-2109 Court Reporter Paula Horovitz (609) 815-2381 Unless otherwise ordered, the following rules and procedures apply to all matters before this Court: I. Civil Motion Practice A. Pre-Motion Conference 1. Letter Request for Pre-Motion Conference In an effort to resolve cases expeditiously, before bringing a motion to dismiss, motion for a more definite statement, motion to remand, motion for change of venue, motion to compel arbitration, or motion for a 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. Affidavits and exhibits are not permitted unless directed by the Court.

A proffer by the attorney, however, of the content of any such affidavit(s) and/or exhibit(s) shall suffice. 2. Meet and Confer Within seven (7) days of the filing of this letter, the movant and all adversaries must meet and confer regarding the issues and substance of the movant’s letter in an attempt to resolve some or all of the issues therein. The parties’ meet and confer efforts must include substantive verbal communications, whether by phone or in person.

Exchange of letters or emails is not sufficient. A party’s failure to meaningfully and in good faith participate in meet and confer efforts, or in this pre- motion process, could result in denial of the relief sought or other sanctions by the 1 Court. If the parties require additional time to meet and confer, there will be a one- time automatic extension of five (5) days upon request by any party. 3.

Joint Letter Advising of Resolution, or Movant Certification and Non-Movant Response In the event the parties then resolve some or all of the outstanding issues, the parties must file a joint letter within seven (7) days of the meet and confer advising the Court of such resolution. If the matter remains unresolved following the parties’ meet and confer, the movant must file, within seven (7) days of the meet and confer, a letter certifying that the parties met and conferred regarding the issues and substance of the movant’s letter, consistent with the above. It is not sufficient to report that either party was unavailable or that the parties made “reasonable efforts.” In addition, if the matter remains unresolved, all non-movant adversaries must file, within seven (7) days of the meet and confer, a response letter, not to exceed three (3) single-spaced pages, that sets forth the non-movant’s objections to the movant’s original letter, proposes a course of action to resolve the deficiencies identified by the movant, or states that the non-movant does not intend to file a letter responding to the movant’s original letter.1 Affidavits and exhibits are not permitted unless directed by the Court. A proffer by the attorney, however, of the content of any such affidavit(s) and/or exhibit(s) shall suffice.

In the event an adversary does not file a letter within seven (7) days, they will be precluded from filing a letter that the Court will consider at the pre-motion conference. Reply letters, if any, must be filed within five (5) days of the non-movant’s response letter. If the parties have complied with the foregoing and the matter remains unresolved, the parties should await further direction from the Court as to next steps. No motion should be filed in the interim.

Generally, the Court will schedule a pre-motion conference in due course, see infra Section (I)(A)(4), or in some cases may authorize the filing of the proposed motion without such a conference. 4. Pre-Motion Conference The Court will attempt to resolve the dispute(s) at a pre-motion conference (in person or via telephone/videoconference), to the extent possible. Unless otherwise directed by the Court, all parties, including any parties or co-parties who did not file a pre- motion letter or response letter, shall appear and participate in any such pre-motion 1 The prior version of the Court’s Rules and Procedures provided that non-movant adversaries “may” file a letter responding to the movant’s pre-motion letter.

For the sake of clarity and expediency, the Court now requires that all adversaries must file a letter response within seven (7) days of the parties’ meet and confer, even if that letter merely advises that the non-movant does not wish to substantively respond to the movant’s original letter. 2 conference. If the dispute cannot be resolved at the pre-motion conference (or if the Court determines that a conference would not be helpful, and advises the parties of same), the moving party may proceed with filing its motion. In all cases, the Court will advise the movant if the proposed motion may be filed.

5. Effect and Application of Pre-Motion Procedure 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.

Any party wishing to file or join a motion listed in Section (I)(A)(1) must file or join a pre-motion letter and participate in meet and confer efforts as outlined above. Any pre-motion letter must be filed by the movant’s Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(a) deadline, unless additional time is stipulated or the Court so orders. 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 seven (7) days to file after its Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(a) deadline, unless additional time is stipulated or the Court so orders.

This letter exchange procedure does not apply in cases in which either side is pro se or in bankruptcy or social security appeals. B. Pre-Summary Judgment Conference Before any summary judgment motions may be filed and before a summary judgment briefing schedule is set, the parties shall file a letter requesting a pre-motion conference with Judge Kirsch. The Court will generally hold a Status/Settlement Conference at this juncture. Unless the Court directs otherwise, this requirement does not apply in cases in which either side is pro se.

C. Bundling Briefing After a party has obtained leave from the Court to file a motion for summary judgment, motion to dismiss, motion for a more definite statement, motion to remand, motion for change of venue, motion to compel arbitration, or motion for a judgment on the pleadings, see supra Section (I)(A)(1), the parties shall exchange all briefing prior to filing any motion papers on the docket, unless the Court directs otherwise. The Court will generally provide the movant with a deadline by which to first serve its motion on the non-movant; thereafter, the non-movant will have fourteen (14) 3 days to serve its opposition on the movant, and the movant will then have seven (7) days to serve its reply papers. Once all papers have been served, movant shall, within seven (7) days thereafter, file the moving papers, the opposition papers, and the reply papers simultaneously under three separate docket entries. Unless the Court directs otherwise, this “bundling” procedure does not apply in cases in which either side is pro se.

D. Seeking Concurrence In civil cases in which no magistrate judge is assigned (generally, bankruptcy appeals, social security appeals, and habeas corpus actions), before filing a motion or request, counsel shall confer with all parties in a reasonable and meaningful attempt to secure consent in the relief sought. Counsel shall certify in their motion that opposing counsel’s consent was sought (or provide the reasons the movant was unable to seek consent) and whether consent was obtained, particularly whether the motion is unopposed. In particular, counsel shall make every effort to secure the consent of all parties regarding requests to seal, requests for pro hac vice admission, and requests for extensions or adjournments of time. See infra Section (I)(F).

If the requested relief is unopposed, the parties should submit a stipulation and order, consent order, or joint letter in lieu of a motion.2 Unless the Court directs otherwise, this Section does not apply in cases in which either side is pro se. E. Motion Days and Oral Argument After any motion is filed with the Court, the Clerk’s Office dockets an automatically generated message stating, “Set Deadlines as to [Motion]. Motion set for [date]….” The only purpose of that “motion date” is to determine the briefing schedule for that motion, which may at https://www.njd.uscourts.gov/motion-days-0. This briefing schedule applies unless the Court directs otherwise.

The Court generally will not hear oral argument on the motion day, and no appearances are required on that date. Rather, if the Court decides to hear oral argument on any issue, it will advise counsel of the argument date via a separation communication on the docket. the District’s website viewed on be F. Adjournments All requests for adjournments or extensions of time, other than those pursuant to Local Rule 7.1(d)(5), must comport with Local 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 ruling; (3) the reason for the current request; and (4) whether the adversary consents and, if not, the reason given by the adversary for refusing to consent. If the requested extension affects any other scheduled dates/deadlines, the request must list the proposed change for all such other dates/deadlines. This Rule 2 Before filing a motion to seal in a bankruptcy appeal, the parties are encouraged to review Local Civil Rule 601.5(c)(iv), which provides: “Records sealed in the Bankruptcy Court are sealed on appeal without the need for filing an additional motion to seal.

Sealed documents must be in a separate volume, filed under a separate docket entry as sealed documents, and listed in the table of contents of the appendix as sealed documents.” 4 and Procedure applies to all civil cases, including bankruptcy and social security appeals. G. Participation by Junior Attorneys The Court encourages the participation of less experienced attorneys (i.e., those with less than four years’ experience) in all proceedings, including pretrial conferences, hearings on discovery disputes, and oral arguments, particularly where that attorney played a substantial role in drafting the underlying filing. The Court is also more likely to grant oral argument if a junior attorney will present the argument. Therefore, consistent with Local Rule 78.1, a party shall clearly mark on the first page of the notice of notice and/or the brief that a junior attorney will present the argument.

The Court is amenable to permitting more than one lawyer to argue for one party if this creates an opportunity for a junior lawyer to participate. II. Submissions A. Electronic Submissions (ECF) All parties, with the exception of pro se parties, shall file all documents, in both civil and criminal matters, electronically via ECF. All papers electronically submitted, including any supporting exhibits, shall, to the extent possible, be submitted in a text-searchable PDF format.

As such, parties are strongly encouraged to convert briefs from Word to PDF format and to obtain PDF versions of deposition transcripts and emails (as examples), rather than scanning and filing a hardcopy of any brief or other paper. Telephone calls to Chambers are permitted only in emergent situations which require immediate attention. B. Proposed Orders If any relief is being sought, the CM/ECF filing must be accompanied by a proposed order in text-searchable PDF format. C. Pro se Filings All filings by pro se litigants shall be mailed to or filed directly with the Clerk’s Office, NOT Judge Kirsch.

D. Confidential Information Any documents filed under seal shall comply with Local Rule 5.1. E. Courtesy Copies Unless otherwise directed by the Court, the parties shall provide one (1) courtesy copy of any sealed filing, regardless of length.3 In all other cases, the parties shall 3 This courtesy copy requirement as to sealed filings includes, but is not limited to, Sentencing Memoranda in criminal cases. For other policies and procedures governing access to and service of sealed documents, the parties should review the District’s Notice to the Bar and Standing Order (2025-05) from September 25, 2025: 5 provide one (1) courtesy copy of any filing that exceeds 75 pages. If a brief and its supporting exhibits total 75 pages or less, the document shall be filed electronically on ECF only.

Courtesy copies should be copies of the e-filed version of the document, printed from ECF with the automatically generated CM/ECF header on the top of each page. Courtesy copies shall be clearly labeled, dated, tabbed, and indexed. Preferably, courtesy copies should be bound or bindered (no specific binding type is required) and double-sided.

III.

Communications with Chambers A. Faxes and E-Mails Chambers does not accept faxes or email, unless an emergency. B. Letters All communications with Chambers shall be by letter electronically filed via ECF. No hard copies or courtesy copies of letters shall be delivered to the Court. Pro se parties are exempt from this requirement.

IV. Electronic Devices A. Photography, use of audio or video recording devices, and use of broadcasting, online posting or streaming, or televising devices are strictly prohibited in the courtroom and areas immediately adjacent thereto. B. Electronic devices having a primary function of wireless communication, including but not limited to cell phones, laptops, and tablets, are permitted in the courtroom but must be silenced and may not be used to transmit, record, or broadcast audio or visual feeds, updates or messages in any form. C. Any person in violation of the rules regarding electronic devices will have their devices confiscated and risk being removed from the courtroom or courthouse at the discretion of the court, U.S. Marshals Service, and/or Court Security Officers.

D. Additional information relating to media coverage and use/possession of electronic equipment is provided through Local Civil Rules 401.1 and 501.1. https://www.njd.uscourts.gov/news/notice-bar-and-standing-order-re-procedures-access-and-service-sealed- documents. 6