Motion Practice

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The Court insists on strict compliance with E.D. Mich. LR 7.1(a), which requires moving parties to seek concurrence before filing any motion. A good-faith effort must be made to obtain concurrence, which normally involves actual contact with opposing counsel. The moving party must show that reasonable efforts were undertaken to conduct a conference. At a minimum, absent exceptional circumstances, the Court requires the moving party, at least one week prior to filing any motion, to inform opposing counsel, in writing, of the nature of the motion the moving party intends to file. The motion must recite the efforts undertaken to conduct a conference, the purported justification for filing the motion without one week’s prior notice, or the results of the conference if one was held, as the case may be.

The Court enforces the page limit set forth by E.D. Mich. LR 7.1(d)(3) and does not routinely grant requests to file longer briefs. Requests to file an oversized brief must be made by motion, in which the moving party sets forth specific reasons justifying the need for additional pages.

The Court does not issue a briefing schedule; rather, it follows the time limits set forth in E.D. Mich. LR 7.1(e). Requests for extensions of time must be made by motion and are evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

The parties shall provide courtesy paper copies of all motion papers, responses, and replies within one day of filing. The parties shall not provide courtesy copies of any other papers or pleadings.

Requests for oral argument are usually, but not always, granted.

The Court has detailed instructions with regard to motions for summary judgment, which can be found in the Court’s Case Management and Scheduling Order.