Local Rule LCvR 65.1: TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDERS AND PRELIMINARY INJUNCTIONS

LCvR 65.1 TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDERS AND PRELIMINARY INJUNCTIONS

(a) APPLICATIONS FOR TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDERS.

An application for a temporary restraining order shall be made in a motion separate from the complaint. The application shall be accompanied by a certificate of counsel, or other proof satisfactory to the Court, stating (1) that actual notice of the time of making the application, and copies of all pleadings and papers filed in the action to date or to be presented to the Court at the hearing, have been furnished to the adverse party; or (2) the efforts made by the applicant to give such notice and furnish such copies. Except in an emergency, the Court will not consider an ex parte application for a temporary restraining order.

(b) EMERGENCY APPLICATIONS OUTSIDE BUSINESS HOURS.

If an application for a temporary restraining order is to be made to a judge outside regular business hours, the party seeking relief shall, if possible, notify the Clerk of such a forthcoming application during business hours so that proper arrangements can be made to handle the matter. If notice is not given to the Clerk as provided herein, the party shall file with its application an affidavit stating why such notice was not given. The Court may decline to hear an application on an emergency basis if the affidavit fails to state sufficient reason for failure to give notice as provided herein.

(c) APPLICATIONS FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTIONS.

An application for a preliminary injunction shall be made in a document separate from the complaint. The application shall be supported by all affidavits on which the plaintiff intends to rely. The opposition shall be served and filed within seven days after service of the application for preliminary injunction, and shall be accompanied by all affidavits on which the defendant intends to rely. Supplemental affidavits either to the application or the opposition may be filed only with permission of the Court.

(d) HEARINGS ON APPLICATIONS FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION.

On request of the moving party together with a statement of the facts which make expedition essential, a hearing on an application for preliminary injunction shall be set by the Court no later than 21 days after its filing, unless the Court earlier decides the motion on the papers or makes a finding that a later hearing date will not prejudice the parties. The practice in this jurisdiction is to decide preliminary injunction motions without live testimony where possible. Accordingly, any party who wishes to offer live testimony or cross-examine an affiant at the hearing shall so request in writing 72 hours before the hearing and shall provide the Court and all other parties a list of the witnesses to be examined and an estimate of the time required. The Court may decline to hear witnesses at the hearing where the need for live testimony is outweighed by considerations of undue delay, waste of time, or needless presentation of cumulative evidence. If practicable, the Court shall notify all parties of its ruling on the request to adduce live testimony one business day before the hearing.

COMMENT TO LCvR 65.1: Paragraph (a), is applicable to temporary restraining orders. Paragraph (b) is designed to prevent "judge-shopping" by making application to the Emergency Judge rather than to a judge chosen at random through the Clerk's normal procedures. The Committee believes that a rule is needed to regulate the use of affidavits and live testimony on applications for preliminary injunctions and to entitle the applicant to a prompt hearing where necessary. The grounds for exclusion of live testimony are taken from Rule 403, Federal Rules of Evidence.