Court Schedule
- Case management Conferences, Statuses, and Presentment of Motions: Monday-Friday at 9:00 a.m.
- Short Hearings and Pretrials (30 minutes or less): Monday-Friday, between 9:30-11:30a.m.
- Prove-Ups: Monday-Friday at 10:00 a.m.
- Longer Hearings and Pretrials (more than 30 minutes): Monday-Friday, beginning at 1:00 p.m.
- First Day of Trials: Monday-Thursday at 10:30 a.m.; will continue day to day, Monday-Thursday, at 1:30 p.m.
Contested Hearings
- All court orders scheduling a hearing must specify the pleadings being set for hearing. Orders referring to "all pending pleadings" may result in rescheduling of the hearing. The Court should be able to look at the order and know what pleadings will be heard on the hearing date.
- The Court automatically reviews all filed pleadings and responses before the hearing. Courtesy copies should not be sent to the Court unless specifically requested.
- Paper copies of itemized billing statements for attorney's fees hearings must be provided to the Court via hand delivery or mail by 4:30 p.m., three (3) business days prior to the hearing.
- All hearings relating to the payment of GAL fees shall take place in person, and all attorneys and parties shall appear. Upon checking in with the Clerk for hearing, both parties shall provide the Court a copy of a signed financial affidavit [completed within three (3) months of the hearing date], and all parties must be prepared to disclose all payments made to their own attorneys and experts (including payments made by a 3rd party made on their behalf).
Emergency Motions
- All emergency motions shall be noticed for 9:00 a.m. and will be addressed as quickly as possible. A courtesy copy of the notice, emergency motion, and certificate of service must be provided to the Clerk upon check-in.
- The motion must include the basis for the movant's claim of an emergency.
- To be heard on an emergency basis, the motion must be a true emergency, that is, it must involve some circumstance which would lead to irreparable damage to a party if relief were not obtained prior to the time that the party could be heard on the Court's regular motion call.
- Matters becoming emergencies due to a party's failure to seek timely relief will not be heard as emergencies. For example, motions regarding holiday parenting time and discovery issues will not be considered emergencies except in exceptional circumstances.
- Please do not email the Court courtesy copies of emergency motions.
Pretrial Conferences
- When requesting a pretrial, be prepared to advise the Court the estimated time needed.
- No pretrial will commence unless each party submits the following by 4:30 p.m., three (3) business days before the pretrial:
- A pretrial memorandum (max 10 pages, double-spaced), including:
- Date and time of pretrial
- Filing dates of all pending petitions/motions
- Names and contact information for attorneys of record
- A signed financial affidavit completed within three (3) months of the pretrial.
- Family Law Software support calculations (if maintenance or child support is an issue)
- Memoranda and supporting documents can be submitted as a single PDF via email to judgegranholm@il12thcourt.gov or hand delivered to Courtroom 702.
- The Court will NOT conduct a pretrial conference with attorneys who only have a limited scope appearance on file.
Trials
- Trial memoranda and exhibits must be exchanged and paper copies provided to the Court by 4:30 p.m., seven (7) business days before trial.
- Exhibits must include: Any agreed stipulations of the parties, properly marked exhibit notebooks, and an exhibit list.
- The Court appreciates a realistic estimate of time that will be required for trial; do not underestimate the time which will be needed. Please do your best to accurately estimate the amount of the Court's time you will need for your trial, and if you truly don't know, advise the Court of the same when scheduling.
Orders
- No court order is required for scheduling status dates or prove-ups; the Clerk's docket entry is sufficient.
- A written/typed order is required for all other matters.
- Handwritten orders entered in open court are preferred.
- Electronic orders must be submitted via Odyssey within 24 hours of the case being addressed.
- All orders must clearly identify the parties, attorneys of record, and who was present in court.
Remote Proceedings via Zoom
- Effective May 5, 2025, Zoom appearances will be permitted only on Tuesdays.
- Zoom login information:
- Meeting ID: 965 2506 2629 Password: 024177
- Zoom is limited to: Case management conferences, statuses, and motion presentments (unless prior Court authorization is granted).
Zoom Rules
- Every Zoom participant must check in with the Clerk via the chat feature, providing their full name and case number.
- Every Zoom participant must display a first and last name, remain muted until the case is called, and keep their face within camera range at all times.
- No minor children should be within earshot of the court proceedings.
- Prohibited: Screenshots, recordings, broadcasting, or unauthorized visual/audio capture.
- Expected Duration: Cases on Zoom should be brief; if more than 10 minutes is needed, please appear in person.
- Attorney Responsibilities: Ensure clients can effectively use Zoom, including knowing how to use the chat feature and having a stable internet connection, microphone, and camera. If necessary, attorneys should practice using Zoom with their clients in advance of their client's Zoom appearance.
- Habitual connectivity issues or inappropriate behavior may require in-person appearances.
Communication with the Court
- All communication must include all attorneys. The Court will check email recipients before reading the content.
- The only emails that will be accepted by the Court are pretrial and prove-up documents, and GAL reports (unless prior Court authorization is granted).
- The subject line of each email must, at a minimum, include the date of the pretrial conference or prove-up, case caption, and case number. For example, an ideal subject line might be: "05/01/25- pretrial conference- Ruby Smith v. Joe Smith- 25 DC 1234- Ruby's memo".
Prove-Ups
- Prove-ups shall be in person unless prior Court authorization is granted.
- The following must be submitted at least 48 hours before the scheduled prove-up via email, mail, or hand delivery to courtroom 702:
- Proposed Judgment for Dissolution
- Signed Marital Settlement Agreement
- Signed Allocation Judgment
- Support Calculations (if applicable)
- Do not submit proposed prove-up documents via Odyssey.
- The Court reviews all documents in advance of the prove-up; failure to submit proposed documents in a timely manner may result in the prove-up being rescheduled.
- For cases involving children: Be prepared to provide the date the parties completed the required parenting class.
Guardian ad Litems (GALS)
For Attorneys:
- Prior to the Court appointing a GAL, attorneys shall confirm with the Court they have discussed the ongoing financial obligation associated with appointing a GAL with their clients. It is the Court's expectation that GAL's invoice will remain current throughout the appointment.
- To reduce GAL fees and not waste the GAL's time, attorneys shall promptly notify the GAL in advance of all court date continuances or if the GAL's appearance in court will be unnecessary at a specific court date. If the GAL notifies an attorney that they are unable to appear at a court date, the attorney shall obtain the GAL's future court date availability in advance of court.
- Attorneys shall not continue a court date by agreement without first confirming with the GAL that he or she does not need to address the Court regarding their investigation.
- Attorneys have an affirmative obligation to explain the role of a GAL and the nature of a GAL investigation to their clients, including:
- The Court determines what the GAL is tasked with investigating, not the parties.
- The GAL is not required to investigate every issue or concern raised by the parties.
- The GAL does not have the authority to modify court orders.
- Filing a motion to reallocate GAL fees does not automatically suspend a party's obligation to keep the GAL's invoices current.
- The GAL is not allowed to transport children or parents during the course of their investigation.
For GALs:
- The GAL shall notify the Court of any issues regarding GAL fees prior to filing a motion.
- The GAL shall provide regular updates to the Court as to the status of their investigation.
- The GAL shall promptly notify the Court if an attorney or parent is engaging in behavior that frustrates the investigation.
- GAL reports and written updates shall be emailed to the Court or hand delivered to Courtroom 702 at least 72 hours prior to the court date (in the event of discrepancies between this order and the Illinois Supreme Court Rules, the timeframes provided by the Supreme Court Rules shall govern). All reports and written updates shall also be submitted via Odyssey as impounded documents.
- The Court expects the GAL will use common sense when determining whether an issue presented by a parent needs to be investigated. The GAL shall seek guidance from the Court if there is any doubt as to what the Court would consider reasonable.
- All GAL invoices shall be sent directly to the parties and their attorneys of record.
- A party's behavior throughout the GAL investigation shall be considered when determining any reallocation of GAL fees.
Mediators
- Must promptly file a mediation report reflecting the dates of mediation and outcome.
- If mediation did not occur, the report must state why.
General Information
- Please notify the Clerk upon check-in if an interpreter is needed.
- If there is a conflict between this standing order and a case-specific order, the case order controls.
- The Court reads all pleadings, prove-up documents, and pretrial memoranda in advance and expects everyone will be prepared to proceed as scheduled. Please notify the Court as soon as possible if a scheduled hearing, pretrial, trial, or prove-up will not be proceeding so the Court can schedule other matters to be heard.
- Trial dates are intended to be firm. Absent good cause, the Court will not consider agreed motions to continue a trial.
- This Court considers discrimination and sexual harassment in all forms to be inappropriate, offensive, and illegal. As such, discrimination and sexual harassment in any form will not be tolerated in any form in this courtroom.
This standing order may be amended or supplemented in the future.