Judge Jeffrey I. Cummings

At least five business days prior to the initial status hearing in this case, please file a joint Initial Status Report for New Case, not to exceed five pages, containing the following information:

Trial briefs are limited to ten (10) pages unless prior leave of Court is obtained and shall be filed unless waived by the Court.

Motions in limine and responses in opposition are limited to five (5) pages unless prior leave of Court is obtained.

Each of these letters should be six pages or fewer, exclusive of exhibits unless prior leave of Court is sought.

The proposed final Pretrial Order (including the Court’s courtesy copies) must be appropriately tabbed, and must include the following items.

The following should be filed five business days before the conference, unless otherwise indicated:

At least three weeks before a criminal trial, the parties will be scheduled to appear for a pretrial conference. The Defendant(s) must be present for the conference unless their presence is personally waived at a prior court proceeding.

At least one week before the pretrial conference, the parties must provide the court with two sets of exhibit binders containing copies of the objected-to representative exhibits.

After the pretrial conference and rulings on exhibits, two binders of the final exhibits will be required to be given to the Court no later than the day before trial.

The parties are directed to meet and confer on all motions in limine before filing them and determine which motions, if any, are unopposed and do not need to be filed.

The parties are instructed to meet and attempt to agree on jury instructions and to file proposed instructions before the final pre-trial conference.

Unless otherwise ordered, all motions in limine must be filed three weeks before the final pre- trial conference. Responses are due one week before the final pre-trial conference. No replies should be filed unless ordered by the Court.

Before the trial begins, provide copies of all exhibits to opposing counsel, to the Court and for use by witnesses. In a jury trial, prepare exhibit books for each juror or alternatively, use enlarged or projected copies. All exhibits should be marked in advance and ruled upon at the final pretrial conference.

Counsel shall disclose the identity of trial witnesses no less than one day before the beginning of the trial day in which counsel expect to call the witnesses.

1. Jurisdiction - A statement of the basis alleged for the Court’s jurisdiction and, if jurisdiction is disputed, the nature and basis of the dispute. 2. Trial Attorneys – A list of the attorneys trying the case that includes their business and cell phone numbers and email addresses. 3. Case Statement - A concise joint statement of the case, which includes the names of the parties and the attorneys who will be representing them at trial; the nature of the case; and the claims, counterclaims and cross-claims asserted by the parties.

In advance of trial, the Court will require the parties to jointly prepare a proposed Pretrial Order.

All expert witnesses who will or may be called must be included on the witness list. No more than one expert will be permitted to testify on a subject for any party. In the event that any party identifies more than one expert witness, a brief statement of the topic of each expert’s testimony must be provided.

6. Witness Lists - Separate lists for plaintiff and defendant providing the names and addresses of witnesses, including experts, divided into the following three categories: (a) witnesses who will be called to testify at trial; (b) witnesses who may be called to testify at trial; and (c) witnesses whose testimony will be presented by deposition or other prior testimony (indicating whether the presentation will be by transcript or video).

4. Contested Issues – A concise, numbered list of contested issues of fact and/or law. 5. Stipulations - A statement of any stipulations reached by the parties.

For each witness, provide a concise (two or three sentence maximum) description of the witness and the witness’ role in the case.

For witnesses who will be presented by deposition or other prior testimony, the Pretrial Order must include for each such witness a chart containing the following information: (a) the testimony that each side seeks to present, by page and line; (b) a concise statement of objections to any testimony and the basis for the objection with appropriate citations to evidentiary rules or case law; and (c) a concise statement of the asserted basis of admissibility with appropriate citations to evidentiary rules or case law.

Any witness not listed in the Pretrial Order will be precluded from testifying absent a showing a good cause, except that each party reserves the right to call such rebuttal witnesses (who are not presently identifiable as rebuttal witnesses) as may be necessary.

All objections to the calling of any witnesses, and the reasons for the objections, must be stated in the Pretrial Order. Objections not made in the Pretrial Order will be deemed waived absent a showing of good cause.

parties must also submit with the Pretrial Order highlighted deposition transcripts for each witness who will be presented by deposition.

Separate lists of plaintiff’s and defendant’s exhibits, which each state: (a) the exhibit number for the document (preceded by “PX” for plaintiff’s exhibits and “DX” for defendant’s exhibits); (b) the date of the document; (c) a brief description of the document; (d) whether there is an objection to admission of the document and, if so, a concise statement of the basis for the objection; and (e) a concise statement of the asserted basis of admissibility.

If an exhibit is to be displayed to the jury, the party intending to display the exhibit must make sufficient copies for all jurors or must use an enlargement or projection of the exhibit.

A list of any joint exhibits, which states: (a) the exhibit number for the document (preceded by “JX”); (b) the date of the document; and (c) a brief description of the document.

Any exhibit not listed in the Pretrial Order will be excluded from evidence absent a showing of good cause.

Trial briefs are intended to provide a full and complete disclosure of the parties’ respective theories of the case. Accordingly, each trial brief shall set forth the party’s theory of liability or defense, the party’s theory of damages or other relief in the event liability is established, and the party’s theory of any anticipated motion for judgment as a matter of law. The trial brief shall also include citations to authorities to support each theory stated in the brief.

Objections not made in the Pretrial Order will be deemed waived absent a showing of good cause.

Accordingly, any motion in limine must be accompanied by a statement that the party has conferred with the opposing party and has determined that the matter upon which a ruling is sought is actually in dispute – that is, the opposing party actually intends to offer evidence that the movant seeks to exclude.

The cover document: (a) must recite that each of the foregoing categories of materials is included, (b) after that recitation, must state that “This Order will control the course of the trial and may not be amended except by consent of the parties, or by order of the Court to prevent manifest injustice,” and (c) must include the electronic signatures of counsel for each of the parties and provide a space for the signature of the Court.

Pursuant to the pretrial schedule set by the Court, the parties must file a joint document that includes: (a) each party’s proposed additional voir dire questions, and (b) each party’s objections, if any, to the voir dire questions proposed by other parties.

The parties’ joint document shall set forth any objections to the standard instructions, or any requests for different or additional preliminary instructions. The joint document must set forth all proposed preliminary instructions.

Each proposed instruction must be identified at the top of the page by number, and must indicate the proponent of the instruction and whether the instruction is agreed or disputed (e.g., “Agreed Plaintiff’s Proposed Preliminary Instruction No. __”; “Defendant’s Disputed Proposed Final Instruction No. __”). The bottom of each instruction must identify the legal authority supporting that instruction.

By no later than seven (7) calendar days before trial, the parties must file a joint document setting forth all agreed and proposed jury instructions as follows:

If an instruction is disputed, the grounds for the objection (and any proposed modification or alternate instruction) must be concisely stated on the page immediately following the disputed instruction; on the next immediate page, the party proposing the instruction may state concisely the reasons supporting the instruction as proposed.

The joint document must set forth all instructions that the parties propose to be given at the close of trial, arranged in the order that the parties propose they be given. The Court uses certain standard final instructions, which are available on the Court’s website. Any objections to those standard instructions and any requests for variation to those instructions should be set forth in this portion of the submission.

Counsel are required to provide copies of the settlement letters to their clients to read prior to the conference.

In the joint status report on settlement, the parties should address the following issues: (1) whether the parties have the necessary information to conduct meaningful settlement discussions; (2) the earliest anticipated date when all parties will be ready to participate in a productive settlement conference and the parties mutually available dates for a remote settlement conference in the months specified in the Court’s minute order requesting the status report; (3) any circumstances that would warrant an expedited conference; (4) whether the parties have engaged in previous settlement discussions and the current status of those discussions; (5) the individuals who will be present at the settlement conference on behalf of their respective parties, consistent with the requirements of this Order; and (6) whether there are outstanding lien holders or third parties who must provide information or should participate in the settlement conference.

The plaintiff’s counsel’s settlement letter must set forth the following information: (a) a brief summary of the evidence and legal principles that plaintiff asserts will allow it

Settlement conferences are more likely to be productive if, before the conference, the parties have had a written exchange of their settlement positions. Accordingly, Judge Cummings will set a schedule for the exchange of pre-conference when scheduling the settlement conference. Each party shall email a copy of its letter to Judge Cummings’ chambers on the same day that it is provided to opposing counsel. The subject line of the email shall include the case name, case number, and the date of the settlement conference. The email address for the submission of settlement letters to the Court is Settlement_Correspondence_Cummings@ilnd.uscourts.gov. These letters are not electronically filed on the court docket.

Upon agreement by the parties and the Court to proceed with a settlement conference before this Court instead of the assigned Magistrate Judge, Judge Cummings will enter a minute order requesting the submission of a joint status report on settlement to this Court’s settlement correspondence mailbox (Settlement_Correspondence_Cummings@ilnd.uscourts.gov) within 14 days.