Civil Case Management
Judge McKay follows the Local Civil Rules for the Northern District of Texas and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (available at http://www.txnd.uscourts.gov/rules-and-orders).  Counsel and self-represented (pro se) parties must read and follow the applicable rules and comply with the mandates set forth in Dondi Props. Corp. v. Commerce Savs. & Loan Ass’n, 121 F.R.D. 284 (N.D. Tex. 1988) (en banc) (per curiam) (available at http://www.txnd.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Dondi.PDF).

Electronic Filing
Pursuant to Local Civil Rule 5.1(e), Judge McKay allows parties to file pleadings, motions, or other filings on paper.  Filing by electronic means is permitted but not required.  Parties are not, however, automatically exempt from registering for electronic filing and consenting to receiving filings by electronic means.  All attorneys and unrepresented parties, except prisoners appearing pro se, must register as an electronic case filing (“ECF”) system user and agree to receive filings electronically unless excepted by the court for good cause shown.  Information about how to register for the ECF System is available at https://www.txnd.uscourts.gov/file-registration.  Questions concerning electronic filing procedures should be directed to the ECF Help Desk at (866) 243-2866.  Enrollment in the ECF System helps to ensure that all interested parties receive copies of court orders and other filings and to preserve an official record of the case.  Communications through e-mail or phone, as opposed to the ECF System, lack important safeguards, and they do not constitute official filings included as part of the record. 

Pre-Motion Conference
Before filing a non-dispositive motion, the moving party’s counsel, or an unrepresented moving party, must meaningfully confer with the attorney for each party, or any unrepresented party, affected by the requested relief to determine whether the motion is opposed.  Conferences are not required for motions to dismiss, motions for judgment on the pleadings, motions for summary judgment, or when a conference is not possible.  Each motion for which a conference is required must include a certificate of conference that complies with Local Civil Rule 7.1(b).  When a conference is not possible, the certificate must explain why a conference is not reasonably possible.  Motions filed after a superficial attempt or no attempt to confer are subject to denial.

Motion Practice
The default deadlines and page limits contained in the court’s local rules apply absent an order otherwise.  Judge McKay strictly enforces Local Civil Rules 7.1(i) and 56.6, which apply to the presentation of materials used to support a motion or response.  Parties are required to cite supporting materials in the brief by using the appendix page number.  See Local Civil Rules 7.2(e), 56.5(c).

Courtesy Copies
Judge McKay does not require paper copies of electronically-filed documents.

Proposed Orders
Movants should submit proposed orders via the Court’s Electronic Case Filing system.  When a party presents an agreed proposed order, the party must send a Word version of the proposed order to [email protected].  

Oral Argument
Judge McKay generally rules based on the written briefs, see Local Civil Rule 7.1(g), but may hold oral argument sua sponte or on a party’s request.  With respect to oral argument, Judge McKay strongly encourages litigants to be mindful of opportunities for junior lawyers to conduct hearings or oral argument, particularly where the junior lawyer drafted or contributed heavily to the motion at issue.  When a party requesting oral argument requests a hearing and represents that the hearing will be primarily handled by a junior lawyer, Judge McKay will weigh that in favor of holding a hearing, although that does not guarantee that a hearing will be held.

Local Counsel
Judge McKay strictly enforces Local Civil Rule 83.10(a).  Parties that seek exception from the rule’s requirement for local counsel must file a motion to proceed without local counsel and state good cause.

Sealed Materials
Parties must not unreasonably file pleadings, motions, or other papers under seal.  Rather, the parties must attempt to file unsealed as much of a pleading, motion, or other paper as they reasonably can without undermining the protections conferred by any applicable protective order.  Private or sensitive information, including social-security numbers, taxpayer-identification numbers, financial-account numbers, minors’ names, and dates of birth, should be redacted from any document filed with the Court.

Consent
In a case before Judge McKay, parties may consent to have all proceedings in the case conducted by him pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c).  Consent to the authority of the magistrate judge is voluntary, and any party is free to withhold consent without adverse substantive consequences.  However, a magistrate judge may often be in the best position to provide a speedy, just, and inexpensive adjudication of a civil case while still preserving the right of direct appeal to the court of appeals.  The parties may use the electronic-consent option available through Court’s Electronic Case Filing system (ECF) at https://ecf.txnd.uscourts.gov to evidence their consent.  Alternatively, they may complete “Notice and Election Regarding Consent to Proceed Before a United States Magistrate Judge," which is available by searching on the Court’s website at https://www.txnd.uscourts.gov/court-forms-records.

Communications with the Court
Attorneys and parties are strongly discouraged from contacting chambers other than through court filings and should not contact staff to ask questions that are answered by the rules or court orders. Case information can be obtained from the clerk’s office by calling the ECF Help Desk at (214)753-2633.  Angelica Aguilar, Courtroom Deputy Clerk, may be contacted at (214)753-2183 only when necessary to alert the court to a matter than genuinely needs urgent attention. 

Law Clerk Application Procedures
Law clerk applicants must use the OSCAR system (available at https://oscar.uscourts.gov) and follow the application requirements, including strict observation of any deadlines.  Extern applicants may send a cover letter, resume, and current law school transcript to Judge McKay’s chambers.