
Back in 2021, Chief Judge Connolly instituted a new ranking procedure for summary judgment motions in his cases, in which parties rank their SJ motions and, if the top-ranked motion is denied, all lower-ranked motions are denied as well. The Court later expanded that procedure to encompass Daubert motions as well. Judge Williams has adopted it (for SJ motions only), and Judge Noreika has experimented with it—although at least one other judge has declined to adopt it.
To put the procedures in context, judges on the Court have long applied various measures to control the workload generated by summary judgment motions. Former Chief Judge Sleet, for example, required parties to request leave before filing summary judgment …