Judge Ed Zink

Applies to

Motion

The title of every motion must identify the applicable Montana Rules of Civil Procedure rule number.

Applies to

Extension request

Must include

proposed order

Every written or oral extension request must be accompanied by an appropriate proposed order.

Applies to

Motion

The moving party must notice a motion for hearing.

If the original order is taken out for service, a copy must be presented to the Clerk immediately upon signing.

Deadline

2 business days

Attorneys must designate Law and Motion matters in advance; the calendar closes at 4:00 p.m. two business days before the Law and Motion day, although exceptions may infrequently be made case by case.

Additionally, one more day should be added if a holiday falls on a weekday. For example, if Monday is a holiday, then the calendar would close at 4:00 pm the previous Wednesday for a Tuesday court day.

Upon a motion to substitute a judge, the Clerk must promptly reassign the case randomly and notify the involved judges and parties or their attorneys personally or by U.S. Mail.

A party intending to oppose dismissal or file closure must notify every other party of the reasons for opposing it.

Unless otherwise ordered or waived upon request and good cause, counsel must serve the trial brief on opposing counsel at least two days before trial.

Consult the Clerk of Court to determine the Law and Motion schedule for a given day.

If a judge cannot hold Law and Motion on the assigned day, the judge must arrange for another judge to preside or, if the session will be cancelled, give the Clerk advance notice when possible.

When an outside judge is called in, plaintiff’s counsel must notify the originally assigned local judge a reasonable time before proceedings and, with that judge’s assistance, arrange necessary personnel and facilities.