Divisional Instructions
Uniform Motion Calendar
MONDAY-THURSDAY, 8:45 am. The hearings are conducted on a first come, first serve basis and are NOT scheduled online. A courtesy copy of the notice and motion may be sent to the Judge for review prior to hearing. Bring motion, notice of hearing and proposed order with copies and self-addressed stamped envelopes to hearing. Ten minutes per case is allotted (five minutes per side). Telephonic appearance at UMC is permitted without court order. One party must appear in person to sign in. The person requesting to attend by phone shall provide the court or opposing counsel/party who will be present for the hearing with a telephone number where he/she may be reached. The Judge will call collect or toll free when the hearing is called up.
Special Set Hearings
Specially set hearings requiring fifteen to thirty minutes are now being set online. You must call the Judicial Assistant if your motion will require addiitonal time. Motions in Limine and Motions for Rehearing/Clarification cannot be set without Court approval. Once a hearing has been set, the person setting the hearing must prepare an Order Special Setting the hearing and state in the Order that the Motion is Specially set by Court Order and cannot be canceled except by further Court Order. The hearing can be canceled if the matter set has been settled or if an agreed order is submitted on the matter. Telephonic appearance is permitted. If more than one attorney is appearing by phone, the attorneys must arrange for a conference call and contact the Court with all parties on the line.
Memoranda of Law
MEMORANDA OF LAW should be filed directly with the Judge’s office no later than five business days in advance of the hearing and no sooner than ten days prior to the hearing and should designate the date and time of the hearing which they reference. The Clerk will not file memoranda in the Court file without permission from the Judge.
Notice to Set Cause for Trial
All original notices to set cause for trial should be submitted directly to the Clerk. A copy should be sent to the Judge's office with sufficient self-addressed stamped envelopes. It is helpful to have the telephone numbers of all counsel included in the notice to set cause for trial.
Uniform Motions in Limine
Motions in limine shall be heard on the first day of trial, in most cases, after a jury has been selected. Motions in limine will not be set for hearing pretrial without specific approval from the court. All motions in limine must relate to specific evidence to be adduced at trial. The court will not hear, or consider, “boiler-plate” motions in limine. Examples of boiler-plate motions in limine are motions seeking the exclusion of “golden rule” arguments in closing, motions seeking to prevent counsel from expressing personal beliefs, etc. The court will assume that trial counsel is aware of the rules of evidence. All Frye motions shall be heard before trial. Any party seeking to exclude evidence under a Frye analysis shall file a motion with the court identifying the basis for the Frye challenge. All Frye motions shall be scheduled and heard before the commencement of the trial docket.
Proposed Orders
PROPOSED ORDERS should be submitted with a cover letter or cover sheet indicating the date the matter was heard, sufficient copies and self-addressed stamped envelopes for mailing to the parties. Pursuant to Administrative Order 2.306, all parties’ names and addresses must be included on all orders and/or judgments.
