Standing Order No. 1 - Signature Stamp; Pretrial Order (Contested Matter Form); Final Pretrial Order (Standard Trial Form)

=== Standing Order No. 1 - Signature Stamp ===

UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS WESTERN DIVISION STANDING ORDER NO. 1 Signature Stamp By direction of this Court and pursuant to the provisions of 28 U .S.C. § 956 of the United States Code: IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the staff of this Court is authorized to use a full signature stamp of the Judge which will be initialed by the Courtroom Deputy, Law Clerk or any employee of the Bankruptcy Court who has been authorized for all original orders appropriately entered before this Court. ENTERED: Date: January 2, 2013

=== Pretrial Order (Contested Matter Form) ===

PTO (Short Form) UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS WESTERN DIVISION In re: Debtor(s). Plaintiff(s), v. Defendant(s). Bankruptcy No. Chapter Judge Lynch Adv. No. PRETRIAL ORDER (Contested Matter Form) Upon due notice, and all parties being afforded due and sufficient opportunity to be heard, the Court has scheduled an evidentiary hearing on this matter (ECF No. __) which shall begin at __:__ _.m. on ____________. The following terms shall govern the future course of this proceeding. FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ORDER WILL RESULT IN THE IMPOSITION OF APPROPRIATE SANCTIONS PURSUANT TO FED. R. CIV. P. 16(f), which may include waiver of claims or defenses, dismissal, default, exclusion or admission of evidence, fines or monetary sanctions or such other sanction as justice may require. 1. 2. TRIAL OF THIS MATTER SHALL BE CONDUCTED AS FOLLOWS: Continuances. No continuance of the trial date or other relief from this Pretrial Order will be granted except for good cause shown. Exhibits. On or before _______________, the parties must exchange with one another all exhibits that they anticipate offering into evidence. No other exhibits may be introduced at trial, except for rebuttal purposes. Group exhibits are not allowed. In addition, each party shall provide to the Court an electronic copy in PDF format of their exhibit list and all exhibits via email to [email protected] on or before _______________. Each exhibit should be marked with an exhibit number and attached to the email as a separate PDF file. The Plaintiff / Movant shall number exhibits numerically and the Defendant / Respondent shall number exhibits alphabetically. Each page of each exhibit shall be consecutively numbered. Unless otherwise ordered, exhibits will be presented at trial through the Court’s evidence presentation system and counsel should familiarize themselves with that system before trial. 1 PTO (Short Form) 3. Witnesses. On or before _______________, the parties must identify all persons whose testimony they anticipate presenting at trial. In addition, no later than _______________, each party shall file with the Court their list of witnesses which must include the names and addresses of expert witnesses, if any, and for each expert identified: the subject of the proposed expert testimony and whether the expert had prepared a written report. Only witnesses disclosed on the filed witness list will be permitted to testify, except for rebuttal witnesses. 4. No Recording. Any electronic, photographic or mechanical recording of these proceedings by any party, witness or observer, by any means, is strictly prohibited. Anyone who violates this provision may be subject to a Rule to Show Cause as to why they should not be held in contempt of court. Date: ENTER: _________________________ Thomas M. Lynch United States Bankruptcy Judge 2

=== Final Pretrial Order (Standard Trial Form) ===

PTO (Standard Form) UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS WESTERN DIVISION In re: Debtor(s). Plaintiff(s), v. Defendant(s). Bankruptcy No. Chapter Judge Lynch Adv. No. FINAL PRETRIAL ORDER (Standard Trial Form) The following terms shall govern the future course of this proceeding. FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ORDER WILL RESULT IN THE IMPOSITION OF APPROPRIATE SANCTIONS PURSUANT TO FED. R. CIV. P. 16(f), which may include waiver of claims or defenses, dismissal, default, exclusion or admission of evidence, fines or monetary sanctions or such other sanction as justice may require. UPON DUE NOTICE, the Court having held a Final Pretrial Conference on this date at which time all parties of record and their counsel appeared, all parties being afforded due and sufficient opportunity to present all matters necessary for the Court’s consideration, and the Court being further advised in the premises; IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that this matter is set for _______________, to begin at __:__ _.m. The Court has determined that a total of __ hours will be allotted for trial. The trial shall be conducted as follows: 1. 2. 3. 4. Counsel of Record. Unless permitted otherwise by the Court, argument and the examination of witnesses will be conducted by the following attorneys: Continuances. No continuance of the trial date or other relief from this Final Pretrial Order will be allowed except for good cause shown. Discovery. All discovery [is closed / shall be completed by _______________]. Pleadings and Dispositive Motions. All amendments to pleadings and any dispositive motions must be filed by _______________. 1 PTO (Standard Form) 5 . 6. Stipulations and Joint Pretrial Statement. On or before _______________, the parties shall jointly file a brief statement of each party’s respective theory of each claim and each defense, together with a statement of stipulated facts in numbered paragraphs. The parties should include a statement as to the Court’s jurisdiction to hear and enter final judgment in this matter. Exhibits. On or before _______________, the parties must exchange with one another all exhibits that they anticipate offering into evidence. No other exhibits may be introduced at trial, except for rebuttal purposes. Group exhibits are not allowed. In addition, each party shall provide to the Court an electronic copy in PDF format of their exhibit list and all exhibits via email to [email protected] on or before _______________. Each exhibit should be marked with an exhibit number and attached to the email as a separate PDF file. The Plaintiff / Movant shall number exhibits numerically and the Defendant / Respondent shall number exhibits alphabetically. Each page of each exhibit shall be consecutively numbered. Unless otherwise ordered, exhibits will be presented at trial through the Court’s evidence presentation system. Counsel should familiarize themselves with that system before trial. 7. Objections. On or before _______________, each party shall file a list stating as to each exhibit proposed by their counterparty whether they object to its admission and, if so, stating the specific grounds for the objection. Relevance objections, however, are reserved for trial and need not be listed. Any other objection not listed or specific ground not identified may be deemed waived. 8. Witnesses. On or before _______________, the parties must identify all persons whose testimony they anticipate presenting at trial. In addition, no later than _______________, each party shall file with the Court their list of witnesses which must include the names and addresses of expert witnesses, if any, and for each expert identified: the subject of the proposed expert testimony and whether the expert had prepared a written report. Only witnesses disclosed on the filed witness list will be permitted to testify, except for rebuttal witnesses. 9. [Exclusion of Non-Party Witnesses. (Optional) ] 10. No Recording. Any electronic, photographic or mechanical recording of these proceedings by any party, witness or observer, by any means, is strictly prohibited. Anyone who violates this rule may be subject to a Rule to Show Cause as to why they should not be held in contempt of court. Date: ENTER: _________________________ Thomas M. Lynch United States Bankruptcy Judge 2