Honorable André Birotte Jr.

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District Judge
350 West First Street, Los Angeles, CA  90012 - Courtroom 7B
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Recording, copying, photographing and rebroadcasting of court proceedings is prohibited by federal law. A violation of this prohibition may result in sanctions, including suspension of your license to practice before this court, referral to the state bar, denial of the right to appear by video or telephonically at future proceedings, criminal prosecution, contempt, denial of admission to future hearings, and any other sanctions deemed necessary by the Court.

Law and Motion Schedule: 

CIVIL MATTERS are heard on Fridays at 10:00 a.m.
CRIMINAL MATTERS are heard on Fridays at 1:30 p.m.
(If the Monday or Friday in a given week is a holiday, the Court will NOT have a Friday calendar.  The next available hearing date is the following Friday.)
All deadines already set by the Court's scheduling orders remain unchanged, except hearing deadines, which shall now reflect the Friday hearing date. 

It is not necessary to clear a motion date with the Courtroom Deputy Clerk (CRD) before filing the motion. Closed motion dates can be found on Judge Birotte's Procedures and Schedules page.

MOTION BRIEFING SCHEDULE:
Rule 56 Motions: Must be noticed, served, and filed not later than 35 days before the hearing date so that the opposing party has at least 2 weeks to oppose.  Opposition papers must be filed and served not later than 21 days before the hearing date.  Reply papers must be filed and served not alter than 14 days before the hearing date. See Local Rules 7-9, 7-10.
All other motions: Must be noticed, served, and filed not later than 28 days before the hearing date. See Local Rule 6-1. Opposition papers must be filed and served not later than 21 days before the hearing date.  Reply papers must be filed and served not later than 14 days before the hearing date. See Local Rules 7-9, 7-10.

The parties may seek a different briefing schedule by filing a Stipulation and Proposed Order.

The Court will allow only one motion for summary judgment per party in this case, and will not entertain cross-motions
. Counsel shall meet and confer prior to summary judgment to determine which party will be the moving party and which will be the opposing party on summary judgment. To the extent it is appropriate based on undisputed facts and controlling principles of law, the Court will sua sponte enter summary judgment in favor of the non-moving party pursuant to Rule 56(f). If any party believes this is one of the rare instances in which there is good cause to allow more than one summary judgment motion (including a cross-motion) or to increase page limits on the moving papers, the party shall seek leave from the court by a noticed motion setting forth good cause.

Counsel are advised to review and adhere to the Central District’s Civility and Professionalism Guidelines. See www.cacd.uscourts.gov, Attorneys, Attorney Admissions, Civility and Professionalism Guidelines.  

All filings should conform to the applicable requirements specified by Local Rule 11.

All papers filed with the Court must conform to Local Rule 11-3.1.1, which generally requires typeface of 14 point or larger for Times New Roman and 12 point or larger for Courier.

All discovery motions and stipulations, including those relating to protective orders, are to be calendared before the magistrate judge whose initials appear in parentheses after the case number. Documents may not be filed under seal in matters pending before the district judge based on a discovery protective order signed by the magistrate judge. A separate and additional showing of good cause as to each category of document or information is required. Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c); Phillips ex rel. Estates of Byrd v. General Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1212 (9th Cir. 2002). The parties must also comply with Local Rule 79-5 (Confidential Court Records).

REQUEST FOR CONTINUANCE:
Continuances are granted only on a showing of good cause. Requests for continuances must be by motion, stipulation or application and must be accompanied by a declaration setting forth the reasons for the requested continuance. The declaration also should include whether there have been any previous requests for continuances and whether these requests were granted or denied by the Court. Stipulations extending dates set by this Court are not effective unless approved by the Court. Continuances will not be granted routinely.

INTERPRETER SERVICES:
It is the responsibility of counsel, in a civil case, to arrange for the services of an interpreter. Interpreter's Office (213) 894-4599.

MEDIA:

All requests from the media should be directed to the Court's Communication Specialist at (213) 894-7987.  The CRD will not return calls from the media or answer questions from the media.  The media are directed to check the Court's electronic record at www.cacd.uscourts.gov, Newsworthy, as well as the docket sheet on PACER for current information.

Judge's Procedures: 
For Judge Birotte's case management, scheduling and trial procedures, see the Orders below.

E-FILING:
Counsel shall e-file all civil and criminal and civil filings pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 5(d)(3) and Local Rule 5-4 as follows:

  1. All non-signature items shall be E-FILED in PDF format. All proposed signature items shall be E-FILED as an attachment to the main document in PDF format.
  2. All proposed signature items shall be E-MAILED to the chambers e-mail address at AB_chambers@cacd.uscourts.gov in WORD format. ONLY proposed order signature items should be emailed to the chambers’ e-mail address. Do NOT e-mail other associated documents, and do NOT use this e-mail address for communication with the Court or the Clerk.
DO NOT OMIT ANY OF THE ABOVE STEPS.


EX PARTE APPLICATIONS:
Ex parte applications can be submitted for routine exceptions to the Local Rules. Ex parte applications solely for extraordinaryrelief are rarely granted. See Mission Power Eng'g Co. v. Cont'l Casualty Co., 883 F. Supp. 488, 490-91 (CD. Cal. 1995). Applications must be e-filed pursuant to the Local Rules. All ex parte applications shall be sent in PDF version to chambers' e-mail at AB_chambers@cacd.uscourts.gov along with a Word version of the proposed order. Both the e-mail to the Court and the application should advise whether opposing counsel will be filing an opposition. Applications that fail to conform to Local Rule 7-19 and 7-19.1, including a statement of opposing counsel's position, will not be considered. In addition to the requirements of Local Rules 7-19 and 7-19.1, the moving party shall serve the opposing party by e-mail, facsimile transmission or personal service and shall notify the opposing party that opposition papers must be filed no later than 24 hours (or one court day) following such service. The Court considers ex parte applications on the papers and usually does not set these matters for hearing. The CRD will notify counsel of a hearing date and time, if the Court determines a hearing is necessary. Rulings on ex parte applications will be e-filed by the Court. Sanctions may be imposed for misuse of ex parte applications.

ADR:


If counsel has received a "Notice to Parties of Court-Directed ADR Program" (form ADR-08), the Court will presumptively refer the case to the Court Mediation Panel or to a private mediation at the time of the initial scheduling conference. See General Order 11-10, § 5.1. Counsel are directed to furnish and discuss this Notice with their clients in preparation for the parties' Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(f) conference. Counsel should include their shared or separate views regarding a preference for the Court Mediation Panel or private mediation, and when the mediation should occur, in the written report required by Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(f) and Civil L.R. 26-1. For information about the Court's ADR program, please see General Order 11-10, which is located at Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).

UNDER SEAL FILINGS:
Civil Matters:
Counsel are ORDERED to follow the procedures outlines in L.R. 79-5.2.2.  The "Guide to Electronically Filing Under Seal Documents in Civil Cases" is attached below.
Criminal Matters: Counsel shall refer to the Under Seal Instructions for Criminal Cases, attached below.

ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT:
If electronic equipment must be brought into the courtroom for trial, counsel shall make prior arrangements with the Court Security.  Notice must be given to the CRD at the above number.

VOLUMINOUS TRIAL EXHIBITS:
Arrangements for bringing voluminous trial materials or exhibits into the Courtroom through the Building Vehicle Loading Dock (if required) may be made through the Space & Facilities (S&F) Help Desk, at 213.894.1400. Before contacting S&F for a required building security pass, prior approval of delivery time must be coordinated with the CRD.  Once approval from the CRD is received, logistical delivery information must be provided to S&F with adequate notice (at least one day) to create and issue required building security pass.  Counsel and messengers who attempt to access building parking and loading dock without required pass will be denied entry and must the utilize public entrance.

EXHIBIT TAGS:

Digital exhibit tags are available on the Court's website (Form G-14A plaintiff, Form G-14B defendant).  Digital exhibit tags may be used in place of the tags obtained from the Clerk's office.