SLR 4-5.015: CIVIL ACTION MOTION SETTING; RESPONSIBILITY OF MOVING PARTY; AUTOMATIC CONSENT TO HEARING BY NON-APPEARING PARTY

PARTY; AUTOMATIC CONSENT TO HEARING BY NON-APPEARING PARTY Methods of Setting Civil Motions (1) In circuit court civil actions, contested pretrial motions (excluding ex parte) shall be set for hearing by contacting the assigned motion judge in the action, by contacting the Civil Calendaring Motion Clerk for setting a motion for summary judgment (see SLR 5.016), by an Order to Show Cause, or by order of the Presiding Judge or the Presiding Judge’s designee. (2) If the Presiding Judge places a motion on the civil motion docket, the court may provide notice by email to attorneys or letter to self-represented litigants. (3) Requests for an expedited setting of a civil motion must be presented to the judge assigned as the motion judge in the action. If no motion judge has been assigned, then the request for a motion judge must be made at the Presiding Judge’s ex parte, as provided in SLR 5.014 (2). Notice of motion hearing time, date and location (4) This paragraph applies to cases for which a motion judge has been assigned under SLR 5.014. After filing any motion, other than a motion for summary judgment, the moving party has the responsibility to schedule the motion for a hearing with the motion judge or to inform the motion judge that the parties are not requesting a hearing, and the motion should be decided without a hearing. If any party requests a hearing on a motion, the moving party must coordinate for all parties’ dates of availability to the court for a motion hearing, contact the assigned motion judge and set the hearing. The moving party must provide to all parties notice of the time, date, and location set for the hearing, and the name of the judge who will hear the motion. Notice to the parties may be by any means of communication to which the parties mutually have agreed. If there is no agreement as to the means for giving notice, then notice must be given in writing and delivered to each party. The moving party shall have the burden of proving proper notice a civil motion hearing was provided to all parties. Failure to provide notice of a hearing’s time, date and location as required by this section may result in sanctions as provided by UTCR 1.090, including striking the underlying motion. (5) Hearings for Motions for Summary must be set in accordance with SLR 5.016. Courtesy Copy of Motion Papers for the Motions Judge (6) Unless the assigned motion judge orders otherwise: the parties shall deliver a courtesy copy of the motion and any other documents filed in support of the motion or in opposition to the motion, including any memoranda and evidentiary submissions to the assigned motion judge when the motion and other documents are filed with the Court or when the motion judge is assigned, whichever occurs first. Parties should consult with the staff of the assigned motion judge to determine whether the motion judge would prefer electronic copies or hard copies of the parties’ motion papers. Absence at Motion Hearing (7) A matter set on a civil motion docket may be decided even though some or all of the parties or attorneys are not present. Such a hearing shall be deemed consented to by the parties not appearing.