Chicago Federal Court Extends Remote Hearings To Mid-Sept.

By Lauraann Wood
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Law360 (July 10, 2020, 5:08 PM EDT) -- The Northern District of Illinois' latest COVID-19 safety order entered Friday extends remote hearings into mid-September and keeps an early August target date for jury trials to resume, and the court's two clerk's offices will reopen to the public on Monday.

U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer's fifth amended coronavirus safety order allows district judges to conduct hearings, bench trials and settlement conferences remotely through Sept. 14 and limits in-court hearings to urgent matters that can't be conducted remotely. The order also allows the clerk's offices in both Chicago and Rockford, Illinois, federal court to open back up to the public for the first time since March.

Starting Monday, Northern District litigants can submit case filings either electronically, by mail, at a court drop-off box or in person at the court clerk's intake counter, according to Judge Pallmeyer's order. However, "no in-person deliveries of any kind may be made to a judge's chambers," she said.

Civil and criminal jury trials remain set to resume by Aug. 3 under the judge's latest order, but any trials that had been set to start before that date will be reset by the presiding judge. The continuance is necessary, Judge Pallmeyer said, because jury trials, particularly in criminal cases, require weeks of advance notice to summon jurors, large numbers of people to gather in the court's jury department, and 12 jurors to deliberate in a jury room.

"The advance-notice requirement makes any earlier date impractical because it is not known what large-gathering guidelines will be in place," she said. "Social-distancing guidelines might render juror participation difficult or unsafe, including during juror check-in and jury selection."

Judges will also be able to use videoconferencing for plea or sentencing hearings if they find the specific plea or sentencing at issue "cannot be further delayed without serious harm to the interests of justice," Judge Pallmeyer said. However, judges may only take that step if the defendant consents after consulting with counsel, and teleconferencing may be used only if videoconferencing "is not reasonably available," she said.

Parties seeking emergency relief in any case or from the latest virus safety order must file the emergency motion in the case where the relief is sought, the judge said. The court's emergency docket, which was limited to motions for release from custody in her May 26 virus safety order, will also now be limited to motions for release from pretrial or presentence detention, she said.

The latest virus safety order doesn't affect a judge's authority to enter orders in any cases, but Judge Pallmeyer said parties must check individual judges' websites for any modifications they may have made to case management requirements.

She said she would vacate, amend or extend her latest coronavirus court limitations no later than Sept. 14.

--Editing by Daniel King.

For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.

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