Standing Order to Litigants, Regarding Letters to the Court; Joint Trial Memorandum Instructions; Standing Order Re: Jury Selection

=== Standing Order to Litigants, Regarding Letters to the Court ===

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT STANDING ORDER TO LITIGANTS, REGARDING LETTERS TO THE COURT The Honorable Omar A. Williams, the judge presiding over this action, does not review letters sent by a party (whether addressed to the Clerk of Court or to the judge), and instead asks that any such letters be returned to the sender, without first presenting them to the judge. This policy is designed to avoid ex parte communications not shared with all parties to a case, and to ensure proper documentation of all filed materials. Communications to the court in both civil and criminal cases should be docketed as a motion for specific relief, or as a notice of specific information. The motion or notice should have a caption which includes the name of the case and the case number, and it should comply with the Federal Rules of Civil or of Criminal Procedure (as appropriate), as well as with the District of Connecticut Local Rules – particularly Local Civil Rule 7 (Motion Procedures), most of which is incorporated by reference into the criminal rules via Local Criminal Rule 1(c). The District of Connecticut website links to the Local Rules (https://www.ctd.uscourts.gov/court-info/local-rules-and-orders), and also to a Guide for Self-Represented Litigants, which includes a sample motion and other helpful material (https://www.ctd.uscourts.gov/forms/guide-self-represented-litigants). Only motions or notices which comply with the Rules will be filed on the docket and reviewed by the judge. Self-represented parties who are not imprisoned may request resources and assistance from Attorney Cat Itaya at the Federal Pro Se Legal Assistance Program, by calling (203) 850-7720, or by emailing [email protected]. Additional information 1 about that program can be found on its website: https://law.qu.edu/academics/clinics- and-externships/federal-pro-se-legal-assistance-program/ Self-represented parties who are confined to a Connecticut prison may obtain resources and assistance through the Inmate Legal Assistance Program ("ILAP"). See State of Ct., Dep't of Corr., Administrative Directive 10.3, Inmate Legal Assistance (2006) (available at: https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/doc/pdf/ad/ad1003pdf.pdf). IT IS SO ORDERED at Hartford, Connecticut, this 31st day of October, 2025. /s/ OMAR A. WILLIAMS UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 2

=== Joint Trial Memorandum Instructions ===

HON. OMAR A. WILLIAMS’S STANDING ORDER ON JOINT TRIAL MEMORANDA IN CIVIL CASES The parties shall confer and jointly shall prepare and submit for the court’s approval a Joint Trial Memorandum in compliance with this district’s Standing Order Regarding Trial Memoranda in Civil Cases (as modified by these instructions). In addition to filing the Joint Trial Memorandum on the Electronic Court Filing system, counsel also shall provide chambers with a courtesy copy of the Joint Trial Memorandum and all attachments, both in hard copy and as an electronic file compatible with Microsoft Word (via e-mail, USB, or CD-ROM) to: [email protected]. The Joint Trial Memorandum is intended to be a jointly-prepared document. Therefore, these instructions are not satisfied by stapling together trial memoranda prepared separately by counsel for each party. The Joint Trial Memorandum shall contain the following information: 1. TRIAL COUNSEL: Counsel shall list the names, addresses, telephone numbers, fax numbers, and e-mail addresses of the attorney(s) who will try the case. Trial counsel must attend the pretrial conference, unless excused in advance by the court. 2. REMAINING PRE-TRIAL MATTERS: Counsel shall specify whether there exist any outstanding pre-trial matters requiring the court’s adjudication. 3. EVIDENCE: Prior to preparing and submitting the Joint Trial Memorandum, counsel are required to exchange lists of proposed witnesses, exhibits, and deposition transcripts, to enable each party to state in the memorandum whether they object to any proposed witness, exhibit or transcript. a. Witnesses: Counsel shall set forth the names and addresses of each witness to be called at trial, including a brief summary of the anticipated testimony and the expected duration of the witness’s testimony. Counsel shall indicate which witnesses are likely to testify and which witnesses will be called only if the need arises. For each expert witness, counsel shall set forth the opinion to be expressed, a brief summary of the basis of the opinion, and a list of the materials on which the witness intends to rely. Counsel also shall state the area of the witness’s expertise and attach a copy of the expert’s report and a curriculum vitae, if available. Any objection to the admissibility of the testimony of any witness must be stated in this 1 section of the Joint Trial Memorandum, along with a brief statement of the grounds and authority supporting the objection, as well as a brief statement from the proponent of the witness regarding admissibility. NOTE: Witnesses not included in this list shall not be permitted to testify at trial, except for good cause shown. Each listed witness will be permitted to testify unless there is an explicit objection stated to the witness’s testimony. b. Exhibits: Counsel shall attach a list of all exhibits to be offered at trial (including a brief description of their contents), except for any exhibits solely to be used for impeachment. The parties shall mark all exhibits numerically with exhibit tags, starting with Plaintiff’s Exhibit “1” and Defendant’s Exhibit “501.” Exhibit tags can be provided by the Clerk’s Office upon an in-person request; their office is located at Suite 102A of the Abraham A. Ribicoff Federal Building (450 Main Street, Hartford, CT). In cases with multiple plaintiffs or defendants, counsel shall ensure that exhibit numbers are not duplicated. Copies of the actual exhibits shall be exchanged no later than ten (10) days prior to submission of the Joint Trial Memorandum. Copies of all exhibits as to which there may be objections must be provided to chambers five (5) days before the Pretrial Conference in a three-ring binder, with each exhibit separately tabbed. At the front of the binder, there shall be an index of the exhibit list. The parties shall provide chambers with a finalized three-ring binder containing copies of all exhibits at least three (3) days before trial. By such time, the parties shall deliver to the courtroom deputy the original set of exhibits along with an exhibit list. Any objection to the admissibility of an exhibit must be stated in the Joint Trial Memorandum, along with a brief statement of the grounds and authority supporting the objection, and a brief statement from the proponent of the exhibit in support of its admissibility. NOTE: Exhibits not exchanged seven (7) days before submission of the Joint Trial Memorandum, and exhibits not listed therein will not be admitted at trial, except for good cause shown and except for any exhibits admitted solely for impeachment. Each listed exhibit shall be deemed admissible unless there is an explicit objection thereto. 2 ADDITIONALLY, if either party intends to offer at trial any video, audio, or other media evidence that requires editing or alteration before being provided to the jurors for use during deliberation, such edited or altered exhibits must be provided to the court five (5) days before the Pretrial Conference on an electronic storage device that accompanies the exhibit binders. For example, if a party wishes to offer a portion of an otherwise-lengthy video or audio recording, they must provide the edited exhibit in advance of the pretrial conference for review by the court (and by the opposing party). c. Deposition Testimony: Counsel shall note each witness expected to testify by deposition at trial. Such list of (deposition-only) witnesses shall refer by page to the portions of deposition transcript each party proposes to read into evidence. Cross designations shall be listed as provided by Fed. R. Civ. P. 32(a)(6). The list shall include all objections to deposition designations. A marked-up version of the deposition transcript also should be submitted along with the Joint Trial Memorandum (blue for plaintiff; red for defendant). NOTE: Objections not stated in the Joint Trial Memorandum will be deemed waived, except for good cause shown. 4. STIPULATIONS, AND PROPOSED FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW: Counsel for both parties shall confer in an effort to enter into a written stipulation of uncontroverted facts, and into an agreed statement of the contested issues of fact and law. a. Bench Trial: Each party shall submit specific proposed findings of fact necessary to support a judgment in that party’s favor, and identifying each witness and/or exhibit as to each such factual conclusion. Each party also shall submit proposed conclusions of law, citing the legal authority that supports each claim or defense. b. Jury Trials: The stipulation of uncontroverted facts will be read to the jury, and no evidence shall be presented on those uncontested facts. i. Statement of the Case: Counsel shall meet and confer, and agree upon a brief description of the case, its issues, and its parties, so that the court can read it to the prospective jurors at jury selection. 3 ii. Proposed Voir Dire Questions: Within the Joint Trial Memorandum, Counsel shall include a list of questions to be submitted to the jury panel. Any supplements thereto must be submitted no later than 24 hours before jury selection. iii. Proposed Jury Instructions: The parties shall meet and confer for the purposes of preparing and filing any proposed jury instructions. Relevant legal authority must accompany each proposed instruction. Counsel are not required to submit general jury instructions which, for example, instruct the jury on its role, evidence in general, witness credibility, etc. If any party objects to another party’s proposed instruction, they briefly must state the nature of the objection and the legal authority supporting the objection. iv. Proposed Verdict Form: The parties shall meet and confer for the purposes of preparing and filing a proposed verdict form and/or special interrogatories. Such documents shall be attached to the Joint Trial Memorandum. If the parties are unable to agree as to the appropriateness of a proposed form, the objecting party must state the basis for the objection and provide an alternative proposal. 5. COURTROOM TECHNOLOGY: The parties shall specify what, if any, technology they intend to use during trial. For instance, if a party intends to use an overhead projector, transparencies, or an ELMO visual presenter, or to connect a laptop in order to display exhibits or other documents, this detail must be specified in the Joint Trial Memorandum. The parties may coordinate with the courtroom deputy to set up any technology in advance of trial. IT IS SO ORDERED. Entered at Hartford, Connecticut, this 16th day of February, 2023. ____________/s/__ _________ OMAR A. WILLIAMS United States District Judge 4

=== Standing Order Re: Jury Selection ===

HON. OMAR A. WILLIAMS’S STANDING ORDER ON JURY SELECTION The Federal Jury Selection and Service Act (“JSSA”) provides that all litigants in federal court entitled to a trial “shall have the right to grand and petit juries selected at random from a fair cross section of the community in the district or division wherein the court convenes.” 28 U.S.C. § 1861. In criminal cases, a defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial includes as an essential component “the selection of a petit jury from a representative cross section of the community.” Taylor v. Louisiana, 419 U.S. 522, 528 (1975). As stated by the Supreme Court of the United States, the fair-cross-section requirement in jury selection is “fundamental to the American system of justice.” Id. at 529. In furtherance of this goal, this court requires that, upon the conclusion of individual voir dire for any prospective juror, such individual must be selected or struck (pursuant to a peremptory challenge, or, where warranted, for cause), prior to commencing voir dire on any subsequent member of the jury pool. Once again, after each potential juror’s individual voir dire, such person either will be excused or empaneled before another potential juror is questioned. The court will not delay the use of peremptory challenges until after the entire jury pool (or any subset thereof) has been questioned. However, before such individual voir dire takes place, the court will consider any potential juror’s claim that they cannot or should not serve on that particular trial’s jury. I. Jury Selection Process During its orientation by the jury clerk, the pool of potential jurors will be given a list of each party’s counsel, counsel’s colleagues, and potential witnesses for their review, in addition to a voir dire questionnaire prepared by the court (based on the questions 1 proposed by the parties). Once the potential jurors are invited into the courtroom, the court briefly will describe the case and the anticipated trial schedule. From there, the parties will be permitted to introduce themselves. Thereafter, the court will inquire whether anything discussed up to that point (the nature of the case, the people involved, or the timing of trial, for example) is likely to prevent their ability to serve on the jury. Those raising concerns about their prospective service will be considered by the court outside the presence of the remainder of the pool. This method preserves the privacy of those with hardships, and excuses them quickly. Those who presented concerns either will be excused from service or will be returned to the pool for individual voir dire; those not excused will be returned to the courtroom (in an order determined by the court and based upon their randomly-assigned juror number) for additional individual questioning. Again, the remaining pool of potential jurors will be questioned individually. The court will provide the parties with copies of the questionnaires that were completed by the potential jurors earlier in the morning. The parties (in alternating order) will be permitted to reasonably follow up with additional questions of their own. After being questioned, each potential juror will be asked to step outside the courtroom and the parties will be asked whether they find the potential juror acceptable, or whether they wish to challenge their service. Then the prospective juror will be invited back into the courtroom, and the court will inform them whether they have been selected or excused from service. The first party to question a prospective juror will be the first party asked whether that potential juror is acceptable for service, and the parties will alternate who starts the questioning of each potential juror. In other words, if a potential juror is questioned first by the prosecution (or plaintiff, in a civil case), then the prosecution (or plaintiff) will be the first 2 party to state whether the juror is acceptable to serve. The next potential juror will be questioned first by the defense, with the defense being the first to state whether that potential juror is acceptable for service. We will continue in this alternating manner until the jury is chosen. As always, the alternate jurors will not be aware of their status as an alternate until the close of evidence. II. Objections to the Process If either party objects to the court’s method of jury selection, such objection must be filed seven (7) days prior to the pretrial scheduling conference, and it also must contain the legal authority supporting such objection. IT IS SO ORDERED. Entered at Hartford, Connecticut, this 16th day of February, 2023. ____________/s/__ _________ OMAR A. WILLIAMS United States District Judge 3