Jean C. Hamilton - United States District Judge

United States District Court - Eastern District of Missouri
111 South Tenth Street, Suite 3.300, St Louis, MO 63102
St. Louis Phone: (314)244-7900 - Cape Girardeau Phone: (573)335-8538
Clerk of Court: Jim Woodward, jim_woodward@moed.uscourts.gov

Requirements

INFORMALS

All informals shall be submitted in writing and filed in the Clerk's Office. All informals will be submitted to Judge Hamilton and the ruling will be faxed to all attorneys of record. Informals are given to Judge Hamilton within 24 hours of filing with the Clerk's Office. If an informal needs more immediate attention or a conference is being requested, please call a member of Judge Hamilton's Case Management Team.

ATTORNEY ADMISSIONS

Attorney admissions are handled on Wednesdays when Judge Hamilton is holding court. Please contact the Case Management Team or Judge Hamilton's judicial assistant, Beverly Goff, to schedule an admission.

COURT DOCKET

The court docket is managed by Judge Hamilton's Case Management Team in the Clerk's Office. The team members are:

Carrie Lippold (Team Leader)	(314)244-7941
Carrie Abrams	(314)244-7940
Lisa Kresko	(314)244-7936
Misty Mosley	(314)244-7902

The Case Management Team handles all questions regarding the docket.

TRIAL DOCKET

Judge Hamilton's trial docket is a one month docket. All civil cases are set for the first Monday of the month and ride the docket for the entire month. All criminal cases are set for the second Monday of the month. The civil docket will commence the first week of the month. The criminal docket will begin, if necessary, the second week of the month and will continue until completion. After all criminal cases have been tried, the civil docket will resume until the end of the month or the completion of the current trial.

Attorneys or pro se parties in each case on the docket will be contacted 2 - 3 weeks prior to the beginning of the docket for a status report. They will be asked how long the trial is expected to last, the status of pending motions, the need for a pre-trial conference or for a hearing on motions in limine, etc. Attorneys and pro se parties should notify the Team Leader, well in advance of the date of trial, if their case requires special attention by the Court.

Unless a case is first on the civil docket, a date certain for trial will not be assigned to any case. The Team Leader will give attorneys and pro se parties an overall schedule for the month at the time of the status report. Once attorneys and pro se parties in all the cases on the docket have been contacted, Judge Hamilton will be notified of the status of each case and a preliminary schedule for trials will be established. Cases will be tried in the order best suited for the docket with consideration given to such factors as the age of the case, the anticipated length of the trial, etc. If a case settles, the next case on the docket is expected to be ready for trial. The attorneys and pro se parties will be given as much notice as possible as to the date their case is expected to start. Attorneys and pro se parties are encouraged to keep in contact with the Team Leader for an update of the current docket. As stated in Judge Hamilton's case management order, attorneys are to be ready to pick a jury prior to the start of their docket if requested by the Court.

RULE 16 CONFERENCES

Judge Hamilton conducts most Rule 16 conferences via telephone. An Order Setting Rule 16 Conference is issued requiring the parties to meet and to prepare a proposed Joint Scheduling Plan (JSP). The JSP is to be filed with the court no later than 10 days prior to the scheduled Rule 16. Unless otherwise ordered, the plaintiff is responsibe for initiating the meeting and filing the JSP. The court encourages cooperation between the parties in preparing and filing the JSP. A lack of cooperation does not relieve a party from complying with the requirement to file a JSP. If a party finds the need to file a separate JSP, a memorandum should be attached to the JSP explaining why a joint plan cannot be filed. The Rule 16 will be held as scheduled and any problems the parties have in working together will be addressed. The order setting the Rule 16 conference indicates which party is to initiate the Rule 16 conference call. The Rule 16 conference in cases involving a pro se party will be held in the courtroom on the record. After the Rule 16 conference, a Case Management Order (CMO) will be issued.

CASE MANAGEMENT ORDERS

A Case Management Order (CMO) is entered pursuant to the discussion at the Rule 16 conference. Any requests for changes in a CMO shall be made in writing and filed in the Clerk's Office for submission to Judge Hamilton for ruling. Changes in the CMO with respect to trial dates and with respect to deadlines for dispositive motions are not routinely granted.

SEALED DOCUMENTS/PROTECTIVE ORDERS

Proposed protective orders submitted to the court for approval shall contain a date certain on which the seal will be lifted or the documents returned to the parties. A proposed protective order lacking a date certain for lifting the seal or returning documents to the parties will be denied without prejudice.

PLEADINGS IN CRIMINAL CASES

A courtesy copy of all responses to presentence reports or to motions requiring the immediate attention of Judge Hamilton are to be filed with chambers.

CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS

Due to security issues, defense attorneys shall make every effort to meet with defendants in custody in the Marshal's office prior to the defendant's appearance in the courtroom. If the conference is not completed prior to the court hearing, defense counsel shall notify Judge Hamilton's chambers.

SEALED CASES

Any motion or document requiring a ruling in a sealed case shall contain a statement, attached to the motion or document, identifying the parties that are to receive the ruling.