Judge Joan M. Azrack

Notify Chambers by telephone after filing on ECF.

Required before making any motion except for those listed in the rule. Moving party shall file a letter not to exceed 3 pages. Responses (not to exceed 3 pages) are due within 7 days.

Memoranda of law in support of, and in opposition to, motions are limited to 25 pages, and reply memoranda are limited to 15 pages.

Pro se parties without ECF access shall file all documents through the Clerk’s Office and shall not fax any document to Chambers without prior approval.

Hard copies of documents filed by ECF should not be provided to Chambers unless the submission exceeds 20 pages, including exhibits. Any courtesy copies submitted to Chambers must be clearly marked “Courtesy Copy,” “Original Filed by ECF,” and “Assigned Document Number [indicate document number from docket sheet].” Any exhibits or appendices should be clearly labeled and tabbed in the courtesy copy. Courtesy copies should be mailed to Chambers on the filing date; overnight or expedited mail is not required unless the Court orders otherwise. Courtesy copies of any pleadings permitted under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (“FRCP”) 7(a) and any filing directed to the assigned Magistrate Judge should not be provided to Judge Azrack.

Proposed orders, jury instructions, and other such writings a party wishes the Court to adopt should be submitted to chambers in Microsoft Word format as well as filed on ECF in PDF format. However, parties need not submit word-processing files of stipulations of dismissal or settlement unless specifically requested to do so.

Except as noted below, a pre-motion conference is required before making any motion addressed to Judge Azrack. To arrange a pre-motion conference, the moving party shall file (via ECF) a letter not to exceed three pages in length setting forth the basis or bases for the anticipated motion. All parties so served must file a letter response (also via ECF), not to exceed three pages, within seven days of service. Service of a pre-motion letter by the moving party within the time requirements established by statute or the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for the filing of a motion (such as FRCP 12), shall constitute timely service of the motion. No pre-motion conference is required for motions pursuant to FRCP 50, 52, 59, and 60, habeas corpus/prisoner petitions, Social Security and Bankruptcy appeals, objections to Reports and Recommendations by Magistrate Judges, motions for default judgment, motions to remand, and motions filed by pro se parties. In some cases, it will be apparent from the letter requesting a pre-motion conference that such a conference will not be a useful expenditure of the parties’ time, and a motion schedule will be set without a pre-motion conference. Additionally, counsel should note that, in appropriate cases, the pre-motion letter along with counsel’s argument at the pre-motion conference, may be construed, at the discretion of the Court, as the motion itself.

Unless prior permission has been granted, memoranda of law in support of, and in opposition to, motions are limited to 25 pages, and reply memoranda are limited to 15 pages.

For appeals from Magistrate Judge orders concerning discovery, the appeal must be in the form of a letter, not exceeding three pages in length.