Judge Albright announced his latest changes to his Order Governing Procedures (OGP), which are now published on the Western District of Texas website here.

Here are the highlights:

  • DISCOVERY DISPUTES.  For any party seeking a motion to compel discovery, Judge Albright now requires counsel to first email a summary of the issue(s) and specific relief requested to opposing counsel – not to exceed 500 words. The responding party will have three business days to provide a response under the same word limit. If there are multiple disputed items, parties are now encouraged to use a table format identifying the issues and specific relief requested. Once opposing counsel responds, the requesting party must email the responsible law clerk (or – if the assigned law clerk is not known – TXWDml_Lawclerks_JudgeAlbright@txwd.uscourts.gov) a combined email with the summary positions from both sides. From there, the Court may either provide guidance or arrange a separate hearing for additional argument.
  • GENERAL ISSUES.  Judge Albright now stresses that email is the preferred contact method for his chambers. He instructs parties to use the following email address: TXWDml_LawClerks_JudgeAlbright@txwd.uscourts.gov.
  • MOTION TO TRANSFER.  Judge Albright has extended the deadline for Reply briefs from seven days to 14 days on receipt of the Response brief.
  • DAUBERT MOTIONS AND MOTIONS IN LIMINE.  Judge Albright allows for unlimited Daubert motions and Motions in limine  (MILs). However, absent leave of the Court, the cumulative page limit for Opening Briefs for motions for summary judgment and Daubert  motions may not exceed 40 pages per side and for MILs, 15 pages per side. Further, responses to motions for summary judgment, Daubert, and MILs are limited to the pages utilized in opening briefs or by the local rules, whichever is greater. Reply brief page limits are strictly governed by the local rules.

Winston & Strawn Law Clerk Zachary Bass also contributed to this blog post.

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