Lorenz Criminal Pretrial and Trial Procedures; Lorenz Standing Order for Civil Cases

=== Lorenz Criminal Pretrial and Trial Procedures ===

HONORABLE M. JAMES LORENZ UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE CRIMINAL PRETRIAL & TRIAL PROCEDURES Please note: The Court provides this information to counsel and parties for general guidance. Counsel must still strictly adhere to all Court Orders and the Court may vary these procedures as appropriate in any case. COURT CALENDAR Criminal Matters are generally heard on Mondays at 8:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. unless otherwise scheduled by the Court. PRETRIAL MOTIONS Magistrate Judges will schedule the motion hearing/trial setting on the Monday calendar four weeks from the initial appearance before the Magistrate Judge. All motions, except motions in limine and those pertaining to sentencing matters shall be filed at least 14 calendar days before the hearing date. Opposition briefs shall be filed at least 7 calendar days before the hearing date. Applications for an Order Shortening Time are disfavored and must be supported by a non-conclusory affidavit signed by counsel setting forth facts establishing specific good cause. Criminal motions requiring a predicate factual finding shall be supported by declaration(s). See Crim. LR 47.1(g)(1). The Court need not grant an evidentiary hearing where either party fails to properly support its motion or opposition. DISPOSITION HEARINGS Rule ll guilty pleas may be entered before a Magistrate Judge unless the parties anticipate immediate sentencing. Counsel shall contact the courtroom deputy for the Magistrate Judge assigned to the case or the Duty Magistrate Judge to schedule the disposition. See Crim. LR 11.2. On a related note, all guilty pleas to a lesser offense, superseding information, or less than all counts of the indictment must be entered 2 calendar days prior to trial unless the Court has been advised. Failure to adhere to this requirement may result in the defendant (or his/her counsel) being assessed the costs of the jury. EX PARTE REQUESTS Counsel shall submit an accompanying declaration on ALL ex parte motions including motions for extraordinary relief. The motion and accompanying declaration must be non-conclusory and must plainly set forth (in detail) the specific reasons for the request. PROPOSED ORDERS Parties should submit all proposed orders to the Chamber’s e-mail address in WordPerfect format to [email protected]. Although not encouraged, the Court will accept proposed orders in Word format if necessary. COURTESY COPIES Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, parties MUST deliver a hard copy of the filing to the Clerk’s Office or mail directly to the Chambers, within 24 hours after filing, any criminal case filing which exceeds 20 pages in length including attachments and exhibits. In addition, where a party makes multiple filings in a case on the same day, and those filings cumulatively exceed 20 pages, a courtesy copy must be provided to the Court. If the nature of the filing is such that the need for the Court’s immediate attention is anticipated or desired, a courtesy copy MUST be delivered on the same day as the filing. SENTENCING Sentencing procedures are set forth in Criminal Local Rule 32.1. If the parties request, the Court may elect to proceed with immediate sentencing in immigration cases but only where the Court has sufficient information in the record to perform the meaningful exercise of sentencing authority. A party seeking a continuance of a sentencing hearing must notify the Courtroom Deputy Clerk at the earliest possible time, but in no event later than noon Friday prior to the following week’s sentencing date. Counsel shall file a sentencing summary chart and/or sentencing memorandum no later than seven (7) days before the sentencing hearing required in Criminal Local Rule 32.1 a. 9. Late filings are unacceptable. All counsel are hereby advised that the filing dates set forth in Criminal Local Rule 32.1 are critical. Absent a showing of good cause, any late filings by counsel may result in a continuance, at minimum. Please be advised that the Court will keep track of such occurrences, and any counsel that repeatedly fails to abide by the timing requirements set forth in Rule 32.1 will be subject to possible fine or other punitive action by the Court. TRIAL PROCEDURES A. B. Motions in limine : Motions are due two weeks before the hearing, with any opposition due one week before the hearing unless otherwise set by the Court. Trial Briefs: The parties may submit trial briefs no later than five court days before the date of trial concerning all significant disputed issues of law, including any and all foreseeable procedural and evidentiary issues with citation of relevant statutes, ordinances, rules, cases and other authorities. See Crim. LR 23.1. C. Voir Dire/Verdict Forms: Counsel may file proposed voir dire questions and verdict forms no later than three court days before the date of trial. The Court will conduct the initial voir dire. On a case by case basis, the Court may permit follow-up voir dire conducted by the attorneys. If voir dire is permitted, ten minutes per side will generally be allowed on routine cases. D. Proposed Jury Instructions: The parties are encouraged to submit proposed jury instructions to the Court no later than the first day of trial, unless otherwise ordered by the Court. Supplemental instructions must be filed as soon as the need for the instruction becomes apparent. The Court prefers to use the Model Jury Instructions for the Ninth Circuit whenever possible. However, the Court will accept other proposed jury instruction(s) as the need arises, but counsel must cite the authority supporting the proposed instruction(s). Any proposed instruction from statutory authority or the Ninth Circuit Model Instructions must state specifically the modification and the authority supporting the modification. Before the case is submitted to the jury, the Court will provide each party with the jury instructions the Court intends to use. It is each party’s responsibility to carefully review the instructions and make suggestions to the Court if modifications seem necessary. Presentation of Evidence: Please do not enter the well, except during voir dire, opening statements and closing argument. When addressing the jury, do not come any closer than the edge of the Court Reporter’s desk. Conduct all examination of witnesses from the podium and please seek permission from the Court before approaching any witness. Also, please keep your visit to the witness stand brief. For example, quickly orient the witness with an exhibit and return to the podium. Objections: When objecting state only the legal ground for the objection, i.e., “objection, hearsay.” Speaking objections are not permitted, unless the Court requests further information from counsel. When a party has more than one lawyer, only one lawyer may conduct the examination of a given witness and that lawyer alone may make objections concerning that witness. Exhibit Lists: Government counsel must provide a list of exhibits and give it to the Courtroom Deputy Clerk on the first day of trial. All exhibits must be pre-marked on the first day of trial. Exhibit stickers may be obtained from the Clerk of the Court or from the Courtroom Deputy Clerk, in advance of trial. Trial Schedule: In general, criminal trials are scheduled from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., beginning on Tuesdays (civil trials may be more flexible. Jury deliberations proceed from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Court will notify the parties of deviations from this schedule and when possible will attempt to accommodate jurors, witnesses and counsel, should conflicts arise. E. F. G. I.

=== Lorenz Standing Order for Civil Cases ===

HONORABLE M. JAMES LORENZ UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE STANDING ORDER FOR CIVIL CASES Except as ordered by the court herein or on a case-by-case basis, all parties shall comply with this District’s Local Rules and Electronic Case Filing Administrative Policies and Procedures Manual (“ECF Manual”). Failure to comply with the applicable orders and rules, including the ECF Manual, may result in the noncomplying documents being stricken from the record pursuant to ECF Manual Section 2(a) and sanctions being imposed pursuant to Civil Local Rule 83.1. Telephone Calls to Chambers Absent unavoidable circumstances, counsel of record shall personally make any telephone calls to chambers. Before calling chambers with a procedural question, the caller must familiarize him- or herself with the pertinent rules, including Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Local Rules of this District, the ECF Manual and the instant Standing Order for Civil Cases. Court staff is not authorized to interpret orders or give legal advice, including advice on procedural matters. Courtesy Copies Courtesy copies of filings exceeding 20 pages shall be delivered directly to chambers. Unless expressly required by the court, courtesy copies must be identical to the electronically-filed documents. The pages of each pleading must be firmly bound at the top. In no event shall a courtesy copy of a pleading be delivered unbound. If a pleading has more than 3 (three) exhibits, the exhibits must be tabbed. Signature Certification To meet the signature certification requirement of Section 2(f)(4) of the ECF Manual, the following language must be included when required for joint motions or other documents with multiple signatures: “Pursuant to Section 2(f)(4) of the Electronic Case Filing Administrative Policies and Procedures Manual, I hereby certify that the content of this document is acceptable to [insert the name of opposing or co-counsel whose electronic signature will be included], counsel for [insert name of the party], and that I have obtained [Mr./Ms. [name of counsel]]’s authorization to affix [his/her] electronic signature to this document.” This statement must be placed under a heading “Signature Certification,” located at the end of the document after the signatures, and must be signed by the filing attorney. 11/27/2017 1 Proofs of Service A proof of service for an electronic filing must be filed as an attachment to the filing in the manner specified in ECF Manual Section 2(g)(2). Settlement and Dismissal If a case settles, the parties must immediately notify this court and the assigned Magistrate Judge. Any joint motion for dismissal of action which includes a provision that the court will retain jurisdiction will be rejected unless: (1) it is accompanied by a fully executed Consent to Exercise Jurisdiction by a United States Magistrate Judge covering all disputes arising out of the settlement agreement, including interpretation and enforcement of the settlement agreement; and (2) includes in the joint motion and proposed order the following provision: “The Magistrate Judge shall retain jurisdiction over all disputes between and among the parties arising out of the settlement agreement, including but not limited to the interpretation and enforcement of the terms of the settlement agreement. Ex Parte Applications Before filing an ex parte application, the parties must meet and confer in an attempt to resolve the issue. If the parties are unable to resolve it, the applicant shall attach a declaration documenting the meet and confer efforts and explain the reason for failure to reach a resolution, or explain why a meeting and conference is not appropriate in the context of the request. The court will rule upon simple administrative requests without requiring a response from the opposing party. If a party intends to oppose, the party must immediately contact chambers and request an opportunity to file an opposition. Proposed Orders All extraneous information (i.e., attorney and firm name, headers, footers and watermarks) must be removed from the proposed order. Motion Briefing When the same party is noticing multiple motions for the same hearing date, the motions must be briefed together in one memorandum of points and authorities. If multiple parties are moving for substantially the same relief, they shall make every effort to obtain the same hearing date for their motions. If multiple parties are moving for substantially the same relief, or opposing a motion seeking substantially the same relief sought against them, noticed for the same hearing date, counsel shall make every effort to coordinate and consolidate the briefing or use the notice of joinder procedure so as to avoid duplication in briefing. If the briefing is not coordinated or consolidated, counsel for each party must file an affidavit 11/27/2017 2 concurrently with the briefing describing the efforts and explaining why they were not successful. Motions for Class Certification Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(c), class certification motions should be determined "at an early practicable time after" a putative class action is filed. Accordingly, any motions for class certification shall be filed no later than 60 calendar days before the motion cut-off date set by the Magistrate Judge in the case management order. Summary Judgment Motions and Cross-Motions If upon being served with a summary judgment motion an opposing party determines that it intends to file a cross-motion, the party must contact chambers well in advance of the due date for the opposition to the first-filed summary judgment motion. Any separate statements of disputed or undisputed facts will be rejected. Ten days before the hearing date, the parties shall meet and confer in person to arrive at a joint statement of undisputed facts, which shall be filed no later than the reply brief. Daubert Motions Any motions to exclude expert testimony shall be filed at the stage of the case when the challenged expert opinion is being proffered. For example, if a party wishes to exclude expert opinions offered in support of or in opposition to a pretrial motion, then Daubert arguments must be raised either in opposition to or reply in support of the motion. If the challenge is to expert testimony at trial, then the arguments must be raised in a motion in limine or as early as practicable at trial. Motions to Reconsider Motions to reconsider may be filed without first obtaining a hearing date from chambers. The memorandum of points and authorities in support of the motion shall be no more than ten (10) pages in length. If the court finds the motion merits further briefing, a scheduling order will issue. Memoranda of Contentions of Fact and Law This court does not require memoranda of contentions of fact and law. Trial Briefs This court does not require trial briefs for the cases or issues tried to the jury. Motions in Limine The hearing date and briefing schedule for motions in limine will be set in the order issued after the final pretrial conference. 11/27/2017 3 Before filing any motions in limine, the parties must meet and confer in person in an attempt to resolve the issues. If the parties are unable to resolve them, the moving party shall attach a declaration documenting the meet and confer efforts and explain the reason for failure to reach a resolution. Parties must not present summary judgment motions or motions to dismiss under the label of motions in limine. Any such motions must be filed within the time provided in the case management order. Parties are encouraged to be selective with their motions in limine and not to file mundane, boilerplate or unnecessary motions. Exhibits The parties shall avoid duplication of exhibits as much as possible. If the same exhibit is referred to in more than one motion noticed for the same day, the exhibit should be filed only once. Similarly, if both sides refer to the same exhibit relative to a motion noticed for the same day, only one side should file the exhibit. The parties shall use citations to assist the court in locating such exhibits. Interpreters and Translations It is the sole responsibility of the party presenting foreign language testimony to arrange for an interpreter. Well in advance of calling the witness, the party shall file a stipulation showing that the parties agree to the interpreter or a declaration showing that the interpreter is court-approved. Any foreign language exhibits must be accompanied by a translation together with a stipulation that the parties agree to the translation or a declaration showing that the document was translated by a court-approved translator. Audio and Video Exhibits Any party relying on audio or video exhibits in motion briefing, at a hearing or at trial, must simultaneously file or introduce a transcript of the exhibit. The transcript shall either be certified by a court reporter or stipulated to by the opposing party. Electronic, Audio and Video Equipment Parties shall notify the courtroom deputy at least five (5) court days before a hearing or trial of any electronic, audio or video equipment they intend to use in the courtroom and jointly prepare and lodge a proposed order seeking leave to use the equipment in the courtroom. The proposed order shall itemize all equipment and list the dates when it will be used in court. The order must be presented to the security personnel when the equipment is brought into the courthouse. Trial Exhibits Trial exhibits must be pre-marked. Any questions regarding marking trial exhibits shall be directed to the Courtroom Deputy. 11/27/2017 4