An interesting new article on this subject (Standing Orders: A Survey of Individual Judges' Regulation of Practice in All Future Cases Before Them) by Judge J. Campbell Barker (E.D. Tex.), and on how this common and important (but largely unstudied) practice sits uneasily with the uniformity contemplated by various federal rules. Some recommendations:
- District courts may wish to consider the wisdom of allowing individual judges to regulate practice in any manner, "[n]otwithstanding the local civil rules." Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 83(b) provides that individual judges may regulate practice in any manner "consistent with … the district's local rules." Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 57(b) provides the same. That at least suggests the inverse, that judges may not regulate practice in a manner inconsistent with the district's local rules….
- District courts may wish to implement a formal procedure for "reviewing single-judge standing orders," as encouraged by the rules advisory committee. Some JSOs may warrant consideration for inclusion in the district's local rules….
- Judges may wish to consider the benefits and drawbacks of regulating practice through case-management orders posted to the docket automatically at the beginning of a case as opposed to standing orders posted online. That would ensure docketed notice to the parties and archival for any appellate review. It could also reduce a litigant's hesitation to ask the judge to modify a standing order based on the needs of a particular case….
