Local Rule LR 7.2: MOTIONS

LR 7.2 MOTIONS

(a) Filing, Service and Response.

(1) Motions. (See Section II(B) of the ECF Attorney User Manual (APPENDIX B)) The Clerk shall accept for filing only those motions in civil cases that are accompanied by a supporting memorandum of facts and law (so identified). Motions for Summary Judgment shall comply with LR 56.1.

(A) All motions, except motions pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12, 56, 59 and 60 shall be accompanied by a proposed order in a word processing format sent to ECF mailbox only for presiding judge (do not send to regular e-mail address).

(B) Consultation by Counsel. All motions, including discovery motions but not including motions pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12, 56, 59 and 60 shall be accompanied by a certificate of counsel or the parties proceeding pro se affirming that, after consultation between the parties to the controversy, they are unable to reach an accord as to all issues or that all other parties are in agreement with the action requested by the motion. Failure to attach an accompanying certificate of consultation may be deemed good grounds for denying the motion.

The certificate must contain the names of participating counsel and the date and manner of consultation. The burden shall be on counsel filing the motion to initiate the conference upon giving reasonable notice of the time, place and specific nature of the conference. If an opposing counsel or party refuses to cooperate in the conduct of a conference, counsel must file a certificate to that effect, setting out counsel's efforts to comply with this rule.

(2) Responses. The response to the motion and its supporting memorandum, unless the motion is pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b) and (c) or 56 (see LR 12.1(b)) shall be filed within 14 days after service of the motion and shall be accompanied by a proposed order in a word processing format sent to the ECF mailbox only for the judge (do not send to regular mail address). Failure to respond timely to any motion, other than one requesting dismissal of a claim or action, may be deemed good grounds for granting the motion.

(b) Submission of Motion. Upon the filing of a motion and the timely filing of the response, and a reply, if allowed by the Court or these Rules, the motion shall be submitted to the Court for a ruling unless a hearing has been requested and granted.

(c) Reply Memoranda. Except as provided by LR 12.1(c) and LR 56.1(c), reply memoranda may be filed only upon court order granting a motion for leave to reply. Such motion for leave must be filed within 7 days of service of the response.

(d) Hearing on Motion. If counsel desires a hearing on the motion before the court, counsel shall request the hearing in the motion or response and shall explain why a hearing would be helpful or necessary. If the court determines that a hearing would be helpful or necessary, the Court will set the date and time of the hearing and the clerk will notify all counsel.

(e) Length. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, memoranda in support and in opposition to motions shall not exceed 20 pages in length, and reply memoranda, if permitted, shall not exceed 5 pages in length.

(f) Motions Pending on Removal. When an action or proceeding is removed to this Court with pending motions on which memoranda have not been submitted, the moving party shall comply with these rules within 14 days after removal, and each party opposing the motion shall then comply with these rules.

(g) Prisoners. All motions and orders to produce prisoners for testimony shall be filed with the Clerk at least 28 days prior to the date of the hearing or trial. Counsel for represented parties are responsible for filing a motion if they require prisoner attendance. In pro se cases, the Court will issue the writ compelling the attendance of prisoner parties. However, pro se parties shall be responsible for filing a motion to require the attendance of non-party prisoners. Relief from this rule may be obtained by an order of the Court.

(h) Citation of Authority and Copies of Authority. Citations to authority shall be in a generally accepted citation form. Citations to any judicial or administrative decision not fully reported in either United States Reports, Supreme Court Reporter, a Federal Reporter, Federal Supplement, Federal Rules Decisions or a South Western Reporter shall include Westlaw or Lexis citations, if available. If the decision is not available on Lexis or Westlaw, a copy of the entire text of the decision shall accompany the memorandum. Citations to statutes, regulations, ordinances, or other legislative authority not reported in the United States Code or the Tennessee Code Annotated shall include Westlaw or Lexis citations, if available. If the statute, regulation, ordinance, or other legislative authority is not available on Lexis or Westlaw, a copy of the authority shall accompany the memorandum. If a party does not have access to the Lexis or Westlaw materials cited by a filing party and makes a request of the filing party, the filing party must provide a copy of the case, statute, regulation, ordinance, or other legislative authority to the requesting party.

(i) Citation to Internet Materials. If a party cites to other materials from an internet source or website, a copy of such materials shall be attached to the filing in PDF format to ensure that the materials cited are retained in their original form in the Court's filing system.