Tips for Practicing Before Judge Conway

=== Tips for Practicing Before Judge Conway === Tips for Practicing Before Judge Conway 1. Chambers phone number: 920-301-4314 2. DO NOT REQUEST ANY COURT ACTION BY WAY OF A LETTER OR STIPULATION. “A request for a court order must be made by motion.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 7(b)(1).

Unopposed requests may be docketed as a “Stipulated Motion,” “Unopposed Motion,” or “Joint Motion.” Proper docketing is necessary to ensure that the filing is correctly directed in the CM/ECF system. Incorrect docketing may result in the court not acting on your request. 3. Extensions of time: When reasonable to do so, a party seeking an extension of any deadline should contact all parties to determine if any party objects to the relief requested and indicate in the motion if it is unopposed.

3.1. A movant should not wait until a deadline before seeking an extension. 3.2. Motions for extensions of time should be filed as expedited motions under Civil Local Rule 7(h).

4. Requests to reschedule any hearing or conference should be made by a motion, preferably a joint motion. 5. Before filing a motion to amend a pleading, the movant should contact the opponent to see if the opponent will consent in writing to the amendment and thus avoid the need for a motion.

6. Read and follow the Local Rules. If something is not clear, please call the Clerk’s Office (920-884-3720) or chambers. Although staff cannot give legal advice, they will help the best they can.

7. Email for proposed orders (please do not use this email for anything else): [email protected]. Examples of instances where parties should submit proposed orders: 7.1. Protective orders (the protective order should fully recount the terms and not simply refer to or attempt to incorporate another document) 7.2.

Class or collective action settlements 7.3. Stipulated remands of Social Security actions 7.4. Procedural orders and orders related to settlement in qui tam actions 1 7.5. Anytime the parties believe a proposed order will be helpful to the court (always better to submit it) 8.

Sealing / restricting: Filings and proceedings in federal court are presumptively public. Any request to seal or restrict a filing must fully comply with Gen. L.R. 79(d). 8.1.

If a filing contains truly confidential information, filing a redacted public version and an unredacted version restricted or under seal is generally necessary. 8.2. If the confidential information is not relevant, it is permissible to file only a redacted version. 8.3.

Only if the confidential information is so extensive that redaction is not practical should a document be filed without a public version. 8.4. Every request to seal or restrict a document must be supported by good cause. The fact that the parties designated certain information confidential is not, by itself, sufficient reason to permanently seal or restrict any filing.

9. Discovery disputes: Parties must meet and confer in a good faith attempt to resolve every discovery dispute prior to filing. See Civ. L.R. 37. This contemplates not merely an exchange of emails stating that, e.g., discovery remains outstanding, but communications both making clear that a discovery motion is imminent and identifying specifically what the movant will be seeking from the court.

10. Unless court approval of a settlement or dismissal is required by law, the court does not issue orders on stipulations of dismissal. If court approval is required, parties should file a motion. 11.

The court does not receive real-time notifications of filings but instead receives a morning email of the previous day’s activity. Counsel must call the court to notify it of any filing requiring immediate attention including anything filed the same day as a hearing. 12. Take care to file correctly and make it easy to navigate the record.

Be sure to follow the court’s ECF Policies and Procedures. If you have problems or questions regarding ECF, please calls the ECF Help Desk: 866-438-5410. 12.1. Text documents must be text searchable; if it is necessary to scan a text document, convert it to a text searchable format when possible before filing.

2 12.2. Use descriptive titles in the docket text when docketing attachments / exhibits. Use “Exhibit A – Smith Declaration,” “Exhibit B – Jones Expert Report,” and “Exhibit C – Mitchell Deposition” rather than simply “Exhibit A,” “Exhibit B,” “Exhibit C.” 12.3. When practical, cite to documents using the ECF number.

For example, when responding to a motion for summary judgment it is helpful to cite to the movant’s filings by including the ECF number, e.g., “Smith Dec., ECF No. 123” rather than “Smith Dec.” This applies only in instances where you are discussing a document that is already on the docket at the time you are drafting your filing. 12.4. Avoid filing the same document multiple times. For example, in a dispute over a contract, it is unnecessary for the non-movant to include the contract in a response to a motion for summary judgment when the movant already presented it; cite to the contract that the movant filed.

13. Comply with page limits, see Civ. L.R. 7(f), (h)(2); 16(c)(A); 56(b)(8)(A), and the format requirements of General Local Rule 5(a). Do not try to evade page limits by shrinking margins, using anything less than double-spacing, or using smaller fonts. 14.

Footnotes should be used sparingly, if at all. Citations should appear in text rather than footnotes. Footnotes should not be used for substantive arguments or attempting to preserve arguments. 15.

Oral argument: Most motions are decided on the briefs. Oral argument is granted at the court’s discretion. Any party requesting oral argument must include specific reasons therefor. 16.

The court will request paper copies of filing, if necessary. Courtesy copies are not required as a matter of course. 17. When you settle, please notify the court as soon as possible, especially if a motion is pending or a trial is scheduled.

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