Judge Joshua D. Wolson

Exhibits filed via ECF must be separate documents with identifying names (not generic labels like “Exhibit A”); single “Exhibits” files will be struck.

When submitting exhibits via ECF, parties should submit each exhibit as a separate document on the CM/ECF system, rather than as a single file. If Judge Wolson receives a filing with a single document marked “Exhibits,” he will strike the filing. In addition, when parties submit exhibits via ECF, they must give each document a name identifying the document. Thus, it is not sufficient to label a file “Exhibit A.” Instead, the name should be “Contract,” “Declaration of John Smith,” or some other reference that permits Judge Wolson to identify what the exhibit is without having to open the file.

Page 6 | 1.

Lawyers admitted pro hac vice must register for the Court’s CM/ECF system within seven days of the admission order, or their pro hac admission will be cancelled and orders will not be mailed to them.

Any lawyer admitted pro hac vice must register for the Court’s CM/ECF system within seven days of the Order. If a lawyer fails to register, Judge Wolson will sua sponte cancel the pro hac admission. Judge Wolson will not mail orders to lawyers admitted pro hac vice who do not register for CM/ECF.

Page 10

Joint Rule 26(f) status reports must be submitted to Judge Wolson via email using the provided sample form.

Parties must submit that report to Judge Wolson via email. The parties must use Judge Wolson’s sample Rule 26(f) form that will be attached to the order scheduling the Rule 16 conference.

Page 12 | A. Pretrial Procedures

Parties must email all stipulations and proposed orders to Chambers instead of filing them on the court docket.

Contrary to Local Civil Rule 5.1.2(9), parties must email all stipulations and proposed orders to Chambers rather than filing them on the docket.

Page 13 | A. Stipulations and proposed Orders

Attorneys must file searchable briefs on the CM/ECF electronic system.

Counsel must post searchable versions of their briefs to the CM/ECF system.

Page 23 | A. Motions

Joint Rule 26(f) status reports must be filed at least seven days before the Rule 16 scheduling conference.

A joint status report pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(f) is due at least seven days prior to the Rule 16 conference.

Page 12 | A. Pretrial Procedures

Replies and sur-replies must be filed no later than seven days after the previous filing.

Any replies or sur-replies must be filed as soon as practicable, but in any event, no later than seven days after the previous filing.

Page 14 | B. Motion Practice 2. Replies and sur-replies

Parties arguing expert testimony inadmissibility in a summary judgment motion or opposition must raise the argument in a separate, contemporaneously filed Daubert motion, not in the summary judgment briefing.

If a party’s motion for summary judgment, or an opposition thereto, is based in whole or in part on an argument that expert testimony is not admissible, then the party must raise such argument in a contemporaneous Daubert motion. That is, the party may not simply include arguments about expert inadmissibility within the summary judgment briefing. The argument must be the subject of a separate motion.

Page 17 | II. CIVIL CASES

Government must file guilty plea memorandum at least 3 business days before change of plea hearing.

The Government must submit a guilty plea memorandum at least three business days prior to a change of plea hearing.

Page 24 | E. Guilty Plea Memoranda

Government must file pre-trial memorandum at least 7 days before trial, including required content.

At least seven days prior to the trial date, the Government must file a pre-trial memorandum setting forth the essential elements of the offense(s), the facts that it intends to present, the identity of each witness it intends to call, a statement of the substance of each witness’s testimony, and any legal issues.

Page 24 | D. Trial Memoranda

Each party must file its sentencing memorandum no later than seven days prior to the scheduled sentencing date.

Each party must file its sentencing memorandum no later than seven days prior to the scheduled sentencing date.

Page 25 | F. Sentencing

Responses to any sentencing motions must be filed at least three days prior to the scheduled sentencing date.

Responses to any sentencing motions must be filed at least three days prior to the scheduled sentencing date.

Page 25 | F. Sentencing

Sentencing motions, including for departures under U.S.S.G. § 5.K1.1 and supporting memoranda must be filed at least seven days prior to the scheduled sentencing date.

Sentencing motions, including for departures under U.S.S.G. § 5.K1.1 and supporting memoranda must be filed at least seven days prior to the scheduled sentencing date.

Page 25 | F. Sentencing

In non-2255 habeas corpus matters, the relevant government agency must respond to motions or objections within 14 days unless granted a court-ordered extension.

In all other habeas corpus matters, Judge Wolson will not pre-screen prisoner submissions to determine if it requires a response. Instead, Judge Wolson expects the relevant Government agency (whether a County, the Commonwealth, the United States, or otherwise) to respond to motions or objections within 14 days, absent a Court-ordered extension.

Page 27 | Habeas Matters

Defendants may optionally file pre-trial memoranda on the same 7-day before trial schedule as the Government.

The defendant is not required to file a pre-trial memorandum but may do so on the same schedule as the Government.

Page 24 | D. Trial Memoranda

Moving parties must serve the statement of undisputed material facts on all parties at least 28 days before the summary judgment motion deadline.

At least 28 days before the deadline to file a motion, the moving party must serve on all other parties (but not file) a statement of undisputed material facts in a numbered, paragraph-by-paragraph recitation that contains specific citations to exhibits or testimony supporting each factual assertion;

Page 16 | 5. Summary judgment motions

Responding parties must serve their response to the statement of undisputed facts on all parties at least 14 days before the summary judgment motion deadline.

At least 14 days before the deadline to file a motion, any responding party must serve on all other parties (but not file) a response to the statement of facts that includes the following: (a) the responding party’s response to each factual assertion, which shall be directly under the original paragraph and must include citation to any evidence that the responding party contends creates a material factual dispute and/or any argument for why the evidence that the moving party has cited does not support the factual assertion or is not admissible; and (b) any additional facts that the responding party intends to submit as part of the summary judgment briefing;

Page 16 | 5. Summary judgment motions

Pro hac vice motions will be denied if the required filing fee is not submitted.

Judge Wolson will deny pro hac vice motions for which no fee is submitted.

Page 10

Parties seeking to file material under seal must provide Judge Wolson with courtesy copies of all proposed sealed documents via email.

A party seeking leave to file material under seal must file its motion of record and provide Judge Wolson via email with courtesy copies of all documents that the party proposes to file under seal.

Page 7 | D. Sealed And Redacted Documents

Courtesy copies are required for sealed filings and for motions with more than five exhibits.

Judge Wolson only requires courtesy copies in two circumstances: (1) for any filings made under seal; and (2) for any motions with more than five exhibits.

Page 8 | E. Courtesy Copies

Courtesy copies must be emailed to WolsonCourtesyCopy@paed.uscourts.gov with required subject line content, using e-filed versions with CM/ECF headers, proper file naming or coversheets, and no paper, Dropbox, or FTP submissions.

WolsonCourtesyCopy@paed.uscourts.gov and use the case caption, title of the filing, and ECF number in the subject line. Each submission should use the e-filed version that has the CM/ECF system’s header at the top of the page. Each document must either (a) be a separate file, with a file name that is consistent with the descriptive name that the document has on the CM/ECF system or (b) include a coversheet that identifies the corresponding entry on the CM/ECF system. Parties may not submit courtesy copies via Dropbox, FTP, or some other source that requires Judge Wolson to download files to the Court’s system. Instead, files should be emailed, even if that requires multiple emails. Parties also should not submit paper courtesy copies.

Page 9

A party that seeks to file material under seal must file a sealing motion when it files the material that it seeks to seal. Except in emergency situations, a party may not file a document under seal (or redact necessary and/or substantive information) without a contemporaneous motion to seal the specified information (or without a motion filed in advance that identifies specific information to be placed under seal).

A party that seeks to file material under seal must file a sealing motion when it files the material that it seeks to seal. Except in emergency situations, a party may not file a document under seal (or redact necessary and/or substantive information) without a contemporaneous motion to seal the specified information (or without a motion filed in advance that identifies specific information to be placed under seal).

Page 7 | D. Sealed And Redacted Documents

Parties filing material under seal must familiarize themselves with the sealing standard established in In re Avandia.

Any party seeking to file material under seal must familiarize itself with the standard set forth in In re Avandia Mktg., Sales Pracs. & Prod. Liab. Litig., 924 F.3d 662 (3d Cir. 2019).

Page 7 | D. Sealed And Redacted Documents

When filing a redacted document, the party must submit an unredacted version with highlighted proposed redactions to Chambers or via CM/ECF.

When filing a redacted document, a party must submit to Chambers or file on CM/ECF an unredacted version that highlights any portion that the party proposes to redact.

Page 8 | D. Sealed And Redacted Documents

Parties must collaborate when filing sealing motions involving opponent-marked confidential material; non-cooperation may result in cost sanctions.

Judge Wolson expects parties to work together when filing motions to seal. That is, if a party seeks to file under seal material that an opponent has marked “confidential,” the parties must work together to prepare the required information (such as affidavits or other material necessary to carry the burden of placing material under seal). If a party fails in this obligation, Judge Wolson will consider imposing the costs of additional proceedings (including responses or reconsideration motions necessary to supplement the record) on that party.

Page 8 | D. Sealed And Redacted Documents

Sealing motions or submissions designating more than 10 individual references for sealing will likely be referred to a special master, with costs split on a case-by-case basis.

For any motion or submission in which parties designate more than 10 individual references (that is, separate exhibits or different excerpts of single exhibits) for sealing, Judge Wolson will likely refer the sealing motion to a special master, and Judge Wolson will determine on a case-by-case basis how to split the special master’s costs.

Page 8 | D. Sealed And Redacted Documents

Redactions must not be so extensive as to render the document unreadable, in accordance with the common law right of public access.

In recognition of the common law right of public access, Judge Wolson requires parties redactions would be so extensive as to render the document unreadable.

Page 7 | D. Sealed And Redacted Documents

For summary judgment motions, parties must prepare a consolidated statement of facts (structured with movant’s assertion/evidence, respondent’s response, and movant’s reply per paragraph) and joint exhibits; cross-motions require separate statements of facts but a single consolidated exhibit set, unless a party is a pro se prisoner.

The result of this process will be a single, consolidated statement of facts that permits Judge Wolson to see each party’s position on each factual assertion in one place. For example, for paragraph 1 in the statement of facts, Judge Wolson will see the movant’s factual assertion and supporting evidence, followed by the respondent’s response, followed by the movant’s reply, before moving to paragraph 2. The moving party must file the consolidated statement of facts and the joint set of exhibits with its motion. The joint set of exhibits must conform with Section I.C. of these Policies And Procedures. In the event that there will be cross-motions for summary judgment, each movant may file a separate statement of facts that follows the above procedure for each motion, but Judge Wolson requires the parties to prepare a single, consolidated set of exhibits. These procedures for a joint statement of facts do not apply to cases in which a party is a pro se prisoner.

Page 17 | II. CIVIL CASES

Co-parties (multiple plaintiffs or defendants) must file joint motions unless there is a clear conflict in their positions.

When multiple plaintiffs or defendants appear in a case, they must file joint motions with their co-parties unless there are clear conflicts in their position.

Page 18 | II. CIVIL CASES

Parties filing Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12 motions must hold a substantive verbal discussion with opposing counsel before the due date, submit a pre-motion letter if no agreement is reached, attend a pre-motion conference, and receive a briefing schedule if the dispute is unresolved.

Any Party that intends to file a motion under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12 must contact opposing counsel to discuss the substance of the contemplated motion and to provide an opportunity to cure any alleged pleading deficiencies. For cases filed in this Court, that conversation must happen at least one week before the due date. For cases removed to this Court, a defendant that seeks to file a motion to dismiss must contact opposing counsel within three business days of the case being assigned to Judge Wolson. Counsel must have a substantive verbal discussion, whether by phone or in person. Exchanges of letters or e-mails are not sufficient. If the parties cannot reach agreement, then they must submit to Judge Wolson a letter, via email, that does not exceed five single-spaced pages that sets forth each issue to be raised in the motion and each Party’s substantive position with respect to that issue. The parties must submit the letter to Judge Wolson by the deadline to respond to the Complaint, but in cases removed to this Court, the due date is extended by seven days if the parties are submitting a premotion letter. Judge Wolson will then attempt to resolve the dispute at a premotion conference, likely by phone or videoconference. If Judge Wolson cannot resolve the dispute at that conference, or if Judge Wolson determines that the conference will not facilitate resolution, then Judge Wolson will set a briefing schedule for the motion. This procedure may be filed without premotion letters.

Page 15 | I. GENERAL MATTERS

A telephone conference with Judge Wolson is required before filing any responsive brief for a discovery motion.

Judge Wolson will schedule a telephone conference with counsel to discuss the motion before the filing of any responsive brief.

Page 19

Prior leave of court is required to file a summary judgment motion in a bench trial; leave requests must be sent via letter to Judge Wolson within seven days after the close of discovery, explaining the grounds for the request.

Judge Wolson does not permit summary judgment motions in bench trials without prior leave of court. A party that seeks leave to file a summary judgment motion in a bench trial must send Judge Wolson a letter no more than seven days after the close of discovery explaining the grounds on which the party seeks leave to move.

Page 21 | G. Bench Trials

Continuance requests may not be submitted by letter.

Judge Wolson does not permit continuance requests by letter.

Page 24 | B. Trial Continuances

Hearing required for Government continuance requests where defendant does not sign waiver.

For a Government continuance request, where the defendant will not sign a waiver, Judge Wolson will hold a hearing.

Page 24 | B. Trial Continuances

Suppression, Starks, and Daubert hearings are typically scheduled at least 14 days before trial.

Judge Wolson typically holds suppression, Starks, and Daubert hearings at least 14 days prior to trial.

Page 24 | C. Pre-Trial Hearings

Requests to reschedule the Rule 16 scheduling conference must be made as early as possible and based on a pre-existing commitment.

If lead trial counsel is unable to attend, then Judge Wolson will reschedule the conference. However, any request to reschedule must be made as early as possible and must be based on a pre-existing commitment.

Page 11 | A. Pretrial Procedures

Continuance/extension requests must include the appropriate request type in the email subject line, require conferring with opposing counsel and stating their position, and must be made at least 7 days before the applicable deadline (text incomplete).

Any request for a continuance or extension must include the words “request for continuance” or “request for extension,” as appropriate, in the subject line of the email. Judge Wolson expects counsel for the party requesting an extension to confer with opposing counsel and state opposing counsel’s position in the letter. Any request for an extension or continuance must be made at least seven (7) days before the applicable

Page 20 | D. Extensions

Continuances of trial dates or scheduled court events are only granted in extreme circumstances.

Judge Wolson is reluctant to grant continuances of trial dates and other scheduled court events and will only do so in extreme circumstances.

Page 20 | D. Extensions

Non-trial date extension requests are considered upon an appropriate showing of good cause.

Judge Wolson will consider other requests for extensions on an appropriate showing of good cause.

Page 20 | D. Extensions

Sentencing continuances are only granted for good cause; continuances over 90 days require extraordinary circumstances.

Judge Wolson discourages requests for continuances of sentencing and will continue a sentencing for good cause only. Absent extraordinary circumstances, Judge Wolson will not consider any request for a continuance exceeding 90 days.

Page 25 | F. Sentencing

In the rare event of a 90-day continuance, if counsel for both the Government and the defendant(s) believe that good cause exists for an additional continuance beyond the initial 90-day period, then counsel may jointly request in writing an additional continuance. Any such request must state why good cause exists.

In the rare event of a 90-day continuance, if counsel for both the Government and the defendant(s) believe that good cause exists for an additional continuance beyond the initial 90-day period, then counsel may jointly request in writing an additional continuance. Any such request must state why good cause exists.

Page 25 | F. Sentencing

Emails to Judge Wolson must include the case name and docket number in the subject line, plus required verbiage corresponding to the email’s content.

Emails to Judge Wolson must include the case name and docket number in the subject line. Judge Wolson will filter emails based on certain terminology in the subject line. Therefore, to ensure that emails receive prompt attention, where appropriate, emails to Judge Wolson must also use the following verbiage in the subject line: Contents of email Required verbiage Letters seeking extensions “request for extension” Letters seeking continuances “request for continuance” Proposed orders “proposed order” Stipulation “stipulation” Rule 26(f) reports “26(f) report” Letters seeking leave to exceed a “page limits” page limit Letters confirming that the parties “deposition scheduling” have set aside dates for depositions Letters updating Judge Wolson on “settlement status” the status of settlement discussions

Page 5 | B. Conventions For Emails

Administrative or procedural communications must be directed to a Courtroom Deputy or Chambers; emails for letters are only allowed for routine matters with no anticipated opposition, and responsive letters require Judge Wolson’s request.

Counsel should direct communications concerning administrative or procedural matters to a Courtroom Deputy or Chambers. Parties may submit letters (when appropriate) via email, but they must limit such communications to routine matters for which no opposition is anticipated or required. Responsive letters should only be submitted at Judge Wolson’s request.

Page 5 | A. Correspondence With Chambers

Requests to exceed applicable page limits must be received at least seven days before the filing due date, emailed to Chambers with 'page limits' in the subject line, and include opposing counsel's position after conferral.

Judge Wolson must receive any request to exceed an applicable page limit at least seven days before the filing is due. Counsel may make such a request via letter emailed to Chambers with the words “page limits” in the subject line. Counsel making such a request should confer with opposing counsel and set forth opposing counsel’s position in the letter.

Page 14 | B. Motion Practice 3. Length of briefs

Counsel should contact Judge Wolson by phone for any issues that arise during depositions. Counsel should not walk out of a deposition before trying to contact Judge Wolson and obtain guidance.

Counsel should contact Judge Wolson by phone for any issues that arise during depositions. Counsel should not walk out of a deposition before trying to contact Judge Wolson and obtain guidance.

Page 19

Continuance or extension requests may be submitted as letters emailed to Chambers.

Requests for continuances or extensions may be made by letter, which can be emailed to Chambers.

Page 20 | D. Extensions