Judge Ellen M. Hazeur
Division A

Office Hours - Room 304

Monday through Friday
9:00 am to 4:00 pm

Phone: (504) 407-0200
Fax: (504) 558-9342

RULES

Due to COVID-19, Rules, scheduled in-person, have been staggered to comply with the safety guidelines. If the hearing is scheduled via Zoom Video Conference, the meeting ID and password will be provided seven days before the hearing. A pre-registration of all parties is required in order to attend for the hearing via Zoom Video Conference. Pursuant to Local Rule 9.9, hearing dates will not be set without providing a tangible courtesy copy of the motion and memorandum to the division chambers.

Motions for Summary Judgment - Motions for summary judgment shall be filed and served on all parties at least 65 days prior to trial. Any opposition to the motion and all documents in support of the opposition shall be filed and served not less than 15 days prior to the hearing on the motion. Any reply memorandum shall be filed and served not less than 5 days prior to the hearing on the motion. Hearings must be at least 30 days after filing and at least 30 days before trial.

Memoranda supporting or opposing motions or exceptions are due 8 days before the hearing as required by Rule 9.9 of the Local Rules. Failure to comply with this rule may result in forfeiture of oral argument. Please submit a tangible courtesy copy to chambers along with filing it in the record.

Reply memorandum
If the mover or exceptor wishes to furnish the trial judge a reply memorandum, the reply memorandum must be furnished to the trial judge and served on all other parties so that it is received before 4:00 p.m. on a day that allows one full working day before the hearing, except for motions for summary judgment. Please submit a tangible courtesy copy to chambers along with filing it in the record.

Continuances of rules - For a rule to be continued, the party requesting the rule must submit written confirmation via fax or email to the law clerk that the adverse parties have been contacted and have no objection to the continuance. The party requesting the continuance should also file a motion to reset along with service sheets and instructions. If there is an objection, a contradictory hearing will take place on the set rule date.

STATUS CONFERENCES

A motion to set status conference must be filed to select discovery cutoff dates and deadlines. Once the motion to set status conference is received, the minute clerk will send a notice to all counsel of a conference date.

SETTLEMENT CONFERENCES WITH THE JUDGE

In order to schedule a settlement conference date, a motion to set settlement conference must be filed. Please provide a copy and a prepaid envelope in order to the law clerk return a certified copy to the mover who must notify all parties with the selected date. Position papers are due 72 hours prior to the conference.

TRIALS

A motion to set trial may be filed by either party only after ALL discovery is complete. Once the motion to set trial is received, the minute clerk will send a notice to all counsel of a conference date to choose a trial date.
Joint Pre-Trial Outlines are due 30 days before trial. Please submit a tangible courtesy copy to chambers along with filing it into the record.

Exhibit Books - The parties shall have a conference date amongst themselves at least 10 days prior to trial to exchange exhibits and determine what exhibits are agreed upon as being authenticated and admissible. All exhibits that are agreed upon as being both authenticated and admissible should be labeled as "Joint Exhibit No. 1, 2, 3..." and put in binders. All other exhibits shall be labeled as either "Plaintiff Exhibit No. 1, 2, 3..." or "Defendant Exhibit No. 1, 2, 3..." and put in binders. An exhibit list should be included of all exhibits. Those exhibits that are objected to should indicate whether it is for admissibility or authenticity or both. Each party should have an exhibit book for themselves, the opposing party, the judge, and the witness. If the hearing, or trial, is scheduled via Zoom Video Conference, a hard copy of the exhibits must be provided to the judge's chambers no later than 7 days before the hearing or trial.

Jury trials - The parties shall submit proposed jury instructions and jury interrogatories to the court 10 days prior to trial. Please provide a courtesy hard copy along with an electronic copy in Microsoft Word on a flash drive, CD, or email to the law clerk.

Video display systems and ELMO interactive documentation display systems are available for use in our courtroom. These services/tools are available for reservation for a small fee and should be reserved at least 48 business hours in advance of the event; all equipment and services are first come, first served. Please complete the video request form on the court's website to make your reservation.

Continuance of trials - A written motion to continue trial must be filed with the court. The motion must contain a brief reason for the continuance, whether this is the first request for a continuance, and whether the opposing party objects to the continuance. It is within the judge's sole discretion to grant or deny the continuance. If the continuance is contested, the matter will be set for a contradictory hearing.

JUDGMENTS

Judgments must be submitted within 10 days of the hearing/trial. Please include the names of all attorneys or parties who need to be notified, including their bar numbers, addresses, and emails, on all judgments. The party preparing the judgment must circulate the judgment and attach a 9.5 certificate, complying with Local Rule 9.5.

*If the parties are in disagreement with the judgment, they should request a transcript from the court reporter and attach a copy to their proposed judgment.

After the judgment is signed, the original is filed in the record and a certified copy of the judgment and notice of signing of judgment will be mailed to all parties as per Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 1913. Additional copies of judgments may be obtained from the Clerk's Office.

TRANSCRIPT REQUESTS

Transcript requests should be directed to the Court Reporter, Ashley S. Schultz, CCR, via email at aschultz@orleanscdc.com . Please include the case caption, case number, and date of hearing. Daily copy transcript requests of trials must be pre-arranged with the court reporter prior to the day of trial.

COURT COSTS AND JUDICIAL INTEREST

All matters relating to court costs or judicial interest rates are to be directed to the Clerk's Office at (504) 407-0000.
All matters relating to service costs are to be directed to the Sheriff's Office at (504) 523-6143

DIVISION A FORMS:

Instructions and Tips for Zoom Hearings-Trials in Division A

Sheriff's Cover Sheet