Consolidation of Cases; Subsequent Filings
U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont
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(a) Consolidated Cases. (1) Notice. Counsel must inform the court of cases pending in other courts or other judicial fora related to the case before this court. A related case must be noted on the Civil Cover Sheet [form JS 44].
If a related case becomes known subsequently, the court must be apprised by separate notice. (2) Consolidation. If two or more cases are related, the court may enter an order of consolidation on its own motion or upon motion of a party. (3) Lead Case.
The order of consolidation must list chronologically all related cases in its caption. The clerk will enter the order into the file of each affected case. Unless otherwise indicated by the judge, the oldest case is the lead case. (b) Subsequent Filings.
(1) Docketing. After consolidation, all subsequent filings will be docketed only in the lead case. (2) Format. The caption for all filings must list consolidated cases chronologically.