Northern District of Indiana Local Rules and Procedures

The Northern District of Indiana local rules supplement the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure with district-specific requirements for attorney admission, electronic filing, document formatting, motion briefing, discovery conferrals, summary judgment, sealed filings, and alternative dispute resolution. They apply to every civil case filed in the court and to criminal cases where they do not conflict with the separate local criminal rules.¹ A misstep on any of them can get a filing stricken or a motion denied regardless of its merits, so the rules deserve careful reading before you submit anything.

Who Can File: Attorney Admission

Only members of the court’s bar may file in this district. Under Local Rule 83-5, any attorney admitted to practice by the U.S. Supreme Court or the highest court of any state is eligible for admission. The process requires a motion by an existing member of the Northern District’s bar, a completed admission form, a certificate of good standing, and a $199 admission fee.² The application and certificate of good standing go through PACER, and the originals must be kept in the attorney’s office for 90 days.

Out-of-state counsel appearing in a single case can seek temporary admission through a pro hac vice motion under Local Rule 83-5(a)(2)(C). That means registering for pro hac vice admission through PACER, completing the motion form, and paying $96.³ The motion is filed through CM/ECF directly into the relevant case.⁴ Questions about admission go to the Attorney Admissions Clerk at 574-246-8045.

Electronic Filing Is Mandatory

Local Rule 5-1 requires all papers to be filed, signed, served, and verified electronically unless the court’s CM/ECF User Manual provides an exception.¹ An attorney must be admitted and in good standing to receive a CM/ECF login.⁵

When a document uploads successfully, the system generates a Notice of Electronic Filing that goes to all registered parties. That notification creates the timestamp that controls deadlines, and for registered parties it also serves as service, so no separate mailing is required. Watch your email after each upload. The notice confirms the filing cleared and flags technical deficiencies you need to fix.

Document Formatting

Local Rule 5-4 sets the formatting standard every pleading, motion, brief, or notice must meet, whether filed electronically or on paper:¹

Paper size 8.5 by 11 inches
Margins of at least 1 inch on all sides
At least 12-point type in the body, at least 10-point in footnotes
Double-spaced, except for headings, footnotes, and quoted material
Consecutively numbered pages
Title on the first page
Filer’s name, address, telephone number, fax number where available, and email address on every filing except proposed orders and affidavits

Any filing with more than four exhibits needs a separate index describing each one. Paper documents delivered to the clerk must be flat, unfolded, printed on white paper, and bear the filer’s original signature.

Privacy Redaction

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2 requires redaction of sensitive personal information in every filing. Social Security numbers are limited to the last four digits, birth dates to the year only, minors to initials, and financial account numbers to the last four digits. The Northern District’s sealed-filing rules make clear that redaction is the required answer here; sealing is not a substitute.

Motion Practice

Local Rule 7-1 is the rule most likely to trip up filers unfamiliar with the district. Each motion must be filed as a separate document, though alternative motions can share a single filing if each is named in the title.¹

A supporting brief is mandatory for any motion under Federal Rule 12 (dismissal and other preliminary defenses), Rule 37 (discovery disputes), Rule 56 (summary judgment), or Rule 65(b) (temporary restraining orders). The court will not rule on a Rule 12 defense until the party raising it files both a motion and a brief.¹

Response and Reply Deadlines

Rule 12 motions: 21 days to respond (unless the party first files an amended pleading as of right), then 7 days to reply
Summary judgment motions: separate deadlines under Local Rule 56-1
All other motions: 14 days to respond, then 7 days to reply

Extensions require good cause. If the opposing party misses the response deadline, the court can rule on the motion without opposition.¹

Page Limits

Supporting and response briefs are capped at 25 pages. Reply briefs are capped at 15 pages. Tables of contents, tables of authorities, and appendices do not count. Patent cases get more room: 30 pages for opening briefs and 20 for responses.¹ If you need more space, file a motion asking for it before you submit the oversized brief.

Oral Argument

Oral argument is not automatic. Under Local Rule 7-5, a party who wants argument files a separate document explaining why it is necessary and estimating how long it will take, submitted alongside the party’s brief. The court decides at its discretion and can also set argument on its own. No new evidence may be presented during oral argument.¹

Summary Judgment Has Its Own Track

Local Rule 56-1 governs summary judgment and imposes requirements beyond ordinary motion practice. A supporting brief is mandatory, and the response and reply deadlines come from L.R. 56-1(b) and (c) rather than the general 14/7-day schedule.¹ Facts must be clearly identified and supported by specific citations to the record. If a party fails to respond to a statement of material facts with properly cited counter-evidence, the court can treat those facts as admitted.

Discovery Disputes Require a Meet-and-Confer

Local Rule 37-1 bars a party from bringing a discovery dispute to the court without first certifying a good-faith attempt to resolve the issue directly with the opposing side. The certification must include the date, time, and place of the conference (or attempted conference) and the names of the participants.¹ Local Rule 37-3 extends the same conferral requirement to deposition disputes before contacting the court for a ruling on an objection. A discovery motion filed without the proper certification is likely to be denied regardless of its merits.

The familiar 25-interrogatory cap is a federal rule, not a local one. Federal Rule 33 limits each party to 25 interrogatories including discrete subparts unless the court grants leave or the parties agree otherwise, and the Northern District has not imposed a different number.

Sealed Filings

Local Rule 5-3 starts from a restrictive default: the clerk cannot seal a filing unless a statute, court rule, or court order authorizes it. To seal an entire new case, a party must simultaneously file the initial pleadings, a motion requesting the seal, and a proposed order directly with the clerk. The clerk seals the case while the motion is pending, but if the court denies the request the case gets unsealed immediately without advance notice to the filer.¹

Sealed documents filed after the initial complaint in a civil case go through CM/ECF under the User Manual procedures. Criminal cases allow a broader list of documents to be filed under seal without a separate motion when counsel has a good-faith belief that sealing is necessary to protect safety, privacy, cooperation, or a substantial public interest. That list includes pre-indictment filings, search warrant requests, motions for sentence reductions based on substantial assistance, and competency exam motions, among others. Every sealed document must display the words “under seal” below the case number.¹

Emergency Motions and TROs

Local Rule 40-4 sets a fallback chain for matters that need immediate attention when the assigned judge is unavailable, running from the most senior district judge in the division to the chief judge and then to the most senior district judge on the bench.¹ The clerk handles that routing.

Temporary restraining orders have their own requirements under Local Rule 65-1. The court will only consider a TRO request when the moving party files a separate motion, files a supporting brief, and complies with Federal Rule 65(b), which includes showing that immediate and irreparable injury will result before the other side can be heard. For a preliminary injunction, a separate motion is required, but the court decides on its own whether to request supporting and response briefs.¹

Alternative Dispute Resolution Obligations

Local Rule 16-6 builds on the Rule 16 scheduling framework by addressing ADR. After the Rule 26(f) conference, the parties must tell the court which ADR processes they plan to pursue and when.¹ The court can order mediation or early neutral evaluation in any civil case even if neither side asks for it. The Indiana Rules for Alternative Dispute Resolution govern confidentiality, privilege, and disqualification of neutrals unless the court orders otherwise, and the clerk maintains a free online list of approved mediators and neutral evaluators. A settlement conference conducted by a judge is not an ADR process under these rules.

Pro Se Filers

Self-represented parties face the same local rules as attorneys. Local Rule 7-6 lets the court require pro se parties to use forms supplied by the clerk’s office for pleadings, motions, and other papers, and the current rule reaches any type of filing the court chooses to standardize.¹ Courts read pro se filings with some leniency, but the obligation to meet deadlines, follow formatting rules, and comply with discovery requirements still applies. The court’s website and the clerk’s office are the starting points.

Filing Fees

New civil case: $405
Appeal: $605
Habeas corpus petition: $5
Attorney admission: $199 (includes certificate of admission)
Pro hac vice admission: $96
Duplicate admission certificate: $21
Certificate of good standing: $21

These come from the court’s most recently published miscellaneous fee schedule.³ Amounts can change when the Judicial Conference updates the national schedule, so check the court’s website before filing. Parties who cannot afford the fee may apply for in forma pauperis status, which allows them to proceed without prepaying court costs on a showing of financial need.

When the Rules Can Be Modified

Local Rule 1-1 lets a judge suspend or modify any local rule in a particular case when justice requires it, and when the court amends a rule, it can apply the prior version to pending cases if switching mid-case would be unfair or impractical.¹ Do not count on an exception. The default is full compliance, and parties who ignore a rule without first seeking relief risk sanctions or stricken filings.

1
United States District Court Northern District of Indiana. Northern District of Indiana Local Rules
2
United States District Court Northern District of Indiana. Full Admission
3
United States District Court Northern District of Indiana. Miscellaneous Fee Schedule
4
United States District Court Northern District of Indiana. Admission to Practice Pro Hac Vice
5
United States District Court Northern District of Indiana. Registration for CM/ECF