Judge Donald R. Cassling

Courtroom 619
Chambers: (312) 435-6056
Courtroom Deputy: (312) 435-7576

Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Courthouse
219 South Dearborn Street
Chambers 656
Chicago, IL 60604

Trials and Motion Calls Prior to November 7, 2022:

Until November 7, 2022, the Sixth Amended General Order No. 20-03 will continue to govern motion call procedures. All matters will be heard remotely using the Zoom for Government platform. Details on how to appear via Zoom for Government are in the Sixth Amended General Order No. 20-03 dated April 19, 2022. Motions noticed for presentment must use the notice of motion form attached to the Sixth Amended General Order No. 20-03.

Motion Calls After November 6, 2022:

The Court will resume in-court operations and will use a hybrid in-person/video scheme for motion calls. Attorneys and parties will be able to appear on a motion either in person in the courtroom or by video using Zoom for Government. Motions noticed for presentment on or after November 7 must use the notice of motion form available as Local Form G-3 on the Court’s web site. See Announcement dated September 23, 2022.

Trials After November 6, 2022:

Starting November 7, 2022, all trials before Judge Cassling will be conducted in Court. Parties may request to appear through Zoom for Government due to extenuating circumstances, but moving counsel must file a motion.

Important: Face masks must be worn in Judge Cassling’s courtroom and all persons appearing in person must adhere to three feet of social distancing.

Zoom for Government can be accessed at www.zoomgov.com. The meeting ID and passcode below will be used for all motion calls and regularly scheduled hearings:

Meeting ID: 161 414 7941

Passcode: 619

Judge Cassling’s Zoom Rules and Tips

Staff Information

Shanda Rodriguez
Courtroom Deputy

Susan M. Pistorius
Brandon Lira
Law Clerks

Judge Tabs

Procedures

Hearings on Motions

PLEASE SEE ORIGINAL MOTION/ADVERSARY SCHEDULE FOR DATES JUDGE NOT SITTING

Motions in Chapter 7, 9, and 11 Cases:

Original (New) Motions:	Tuesdays at 9:30 a.m.
Status Hearings:	Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m.
Adversary Matters:	Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m.
Involuntary Petitions:	Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m.

Motions in Chapter 13 Cases:

Trustee Motions:	Thursdays at 9:15 a.m.
Continued Trustee Tax Motions:	Thursdays at 9:16 a.m.
Original (New) Motions:	Thursdays at 9:30 a.m.
Set or Continued Matters:	Thursdays at 10:00 a.m.
Adversary Matters:	Thursdays at 10:00 a.m.
Confirmation Hearings:	Thursdays at 10:00 a.m.

If an original motion is to be noticed for a day on which other matters in the same case are to be heard, the original motion should be noticed for the time already set. It should not be noticed for the original motion time.

Emergency Motions

Please see Local Rule 9013-2 regarding Procedures for Emergency Motions.

Withdrawal of Motions or Set Matters

Parties may withdraw a motion and not appear but, moving counsel must file an electronic notice of withdrawal and inform all appropriate parties that the motion is being withdrawn. The matter will be posted as "withdrawn" on the Court calendar.

Service of Motions

For all contested matters (as defined in Bankruptcy Rule 9014), the motion or request must be served in compliance with Bankruptcy Rule 7004. Corporations must be served as required under Rule 7004(b)(3) on an officer, managing or general agent, or on any agent authorized by appointment or by law to receive service of process. Service of a corporation at a P.O. Box to which payments are sent is not sufficient under Rule 7004(b)(3).

Motions Granted Without a Hearing

Routine motions (as defined in Local Rule 9013-9) and other motions to which no objection is expected may be listed as “Will Be Granted Without a Hearing” on the call sheet for the hearing date.

A. Effect of listing as “Will Be Granted Without a Hearing”:
	(1) If no party requests that the motion be called, it will be granted without a hearing.
	(2) If a party asks the Courtroom Deputy to call the motion, it will be called.
	(3) If the motion is called, the Court will either grant the motion over the objection or continue it to give the movant an opportunity to be heard.
B. How to check whether a motion “Will Be Granted Without a Hearing”:
	If a motion “Will Be Granted Without a Hearing,” it will be marked as such on the Court Calendar the day before the motion is to be presented. The Court Calendar is on the Court’s web site.

Courtesy Copies of Motions (copies to be delivered to chambers)

Judge Cassling does NOT require courtesy copies of motions or pleadings.

Motions for Relief from Automatic Stay

All motions for relief from the automatic stay must be accompanied by Required Statement to Accompany Motions for Relief From Stay as required by Local Bankruptcy Rule 4001-1(A). Where possible, parties should utilize the Model Lift Stay Order.

Motions to Continue Stay in Effect

Motions to continue the automatic stay in effect pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 362(c)(3) or to impose the automatic stay under § 362(c)(4) must:

(1)	State the case number of previous cases dismissed within one year of the filing of the present case;
(2)	Include copies of Schedules I and J from all previous cases dismissed within one year of the filing of the present case, and Schedules I and J from the current case;
(3)	State in detail the bases for continuing the stay in effect or imposing the stay; and
(4)	Append a detailed notarized affidavit containing specific facts demonstrating all circumstances, including those relating to the substantial change in the debtor's financial or personal affairs, to rebut the presumption.

Failure to comply with these requirements will result in denial of the motion for the debtor's failure to rebut by clear and convincing evidence the presumption that the case was filed in bad faith. See 11 U.S.C. § 362(c)(3) & (4).

Draft Orders to Follow (DOTF)

When a motion has been heard by the Court and the party seeking relief is to present a draft order to follow (DOTF) after the hearing, the DOTF shall be filed on the docket via CM/ECF utilizing the "Proposed Order" event. DOTF's are not to be emailed to chambers. If the DOTF has not been received before the deadline date, the matter will be continued for one additional week (or two weeks upon request). If the DOTF has not been received before the second deadline date, the matter may be denied for want of prosecution.

Objections to Claims

Each claim objection must identify the claimant and claim number. A copy of the claim must be attached to the objection. Notice to the claimant must be served in compliance with Fed. R. Bankr. P. 3007, including without limitation service on the person who signed the claim form at the address found on the claim form. Further instructions on serving the Internal Revenue Service are available on the Court's website.

Objections to Exemptions

An objection to an exemption claimed by a debtor must include a copy of the schedule that lists the claimed exemption attached to the objection.

Motions for Retention of Chapter 11 Debtor's Counsel under 11 U.S.C.§ 327

The Court will not approve an application to be employed as counsel for a Chapter 11 debtor in possession unless either (1) the applicant has had experience representing a debtor in a previous Chapter 11 case in which the debtor's plan was confirmed, or (2) an attorney who has had such experience will serve as co-counsel with the applicant. See In re Doors and More Inc., 126 B.R. 43, 45-46 (Bankr. E.D. Mich. 1991).

Motions for Approval of Attorneys’ Fees

Cases filed under Chapters 7, 9, 11, and 12:

All attorneys or other professionals in cases filed under Chapters 7, 11, and 12 seeking approval of their fees must submit an itemization of their time in tenths of an hour and in the format required under Local Rule 5082-1.

Cases filed under Chapter 13:

See Local Rule 5082-2

Chapter 13 Applications for Compensation

All applications for compensation for representing Chapter 13 debtors must be accompanied by a fully executed Court Approved Retention Agreement if one was used.

Pretrial Procedures

Status Hearings and Discovery: After the parties are at issue, the Court will set a firm discovery deadline, with a pretrial hearing set one week thereafter.

Final Pretrial Order: The trial date will be set forth in a final pretrial order sent to the parties. The final pretrial order will also contain deadlines for the filing and exchanging of witness lists, exhibit lists, stipulations of fact, and trial briefs, a deadline for the exchange of the exhibits themselves, and a deadline for objections to exhibits. Strict compliance with the final pretrial order is required. Failure to comply with the final pretrial order will result in the imposition of sanctions. See, e.g., Michael v. Khan (In re Kahn), 321 B.R. 709, 711 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 2005).

See Pretrial Form

See Pretrial Form for Zoom Trial

Summary Judgment Practice

In-Chambers Conference
Properly prepared motions for summary judgment require considerable attorney time and client expense. Sometimes such motions are unnecessarily filed. A careful examination of the record prior to filing may reveal contested factual issues making the granting of the motion impossible.

It is the practice of the Court to hold an informal discussion in chambers with the lead attorneys of the parties to discuss whether the filing of a summary judgment motion is advisable given the state of the record. No written submissions should be made prior to the conference. The party who wishes to seek summary judgment should be prepared to point out the uncontested facts that support the relief being sought, and the opposing party should be prepared to speak to whether in fact those facts are contested. This conference should be scheduled with the Courtroom Deputy before any substantive work is done preparing the motion. No party will ever be prevented from filing a dispositive motion, but the goal of the in-chambers conference is to have a careful, informed discussion of the issues before significant time and expense have been incurred.

Motions for Summary Judgment
Motions for summary judgment and responses must comply with Local Rules 7056-1 and 7056-2 as well as the procedures outlined herein. All statements of undisputed material facts and their responses shall be filed separately from the memoranda of law and shall include the line, paragraph, or page number where the supporting material may be found in the record.

The Local Rules are not mere technicalities. Failure to abide by the Local Rules may result in the Court striking briefs, disregarding statements of fact, deeming statements of fact admitted, and denying summary judgment. See Cracco v. Vitran Exp., Inc., 559 F.3d 625, 632 (7th Cir. 2009).

The movant shall not file more than 80 statements of undisputed material facts without prior leave of the Court. The respondent shall be limited to 40 statements of undisputed material facts without prior leave of the Court.

Deposition Testimony Evidence
Parties submitting deposition transcripts in support of or in opposition to summary judgment must file the entire transcript for each deposition.

Mediation/Settlement Conference Procedure

Once approval from the Presiding Judge has been granted to schedule a mediation/settlement conference before the Honorable Donald R. Cassling, please email the Courtroom Deputy at CRD_Cassling@ilnb.uscourts.gov, copying all parties in interest, to select an available date. Once the mediation/settlement conference has been scheduled, please follow the Mediation/Settlement Conference Procedures.

Northern District of Illinois

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Judge Donald R. Cassling

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