The Northern District is amending the Local Rule 3.2 notice of affiliates procedure to make it more robust and more meaning, including an ongoing requirement to update. For all civil cases filed on or after January 3, 2022 (the rule is not retroactive), parties must file a Notification of Affiliates as a PDF pursuant to Amended Local Rule 3.2 and disclose their affiliates by adding their names using a new event in Pacer. Parties are required to manually enter the name of each corporate parent or affiliate (individually) with their first appearance, pleading, petition, motion, response, or other request addressed to the Court. This will no doubt be valuable in avoiding conflicts of interest like those identified by the Wall Street Journal earlier this year in district courts across the country, which is great for the Court and litigants alike.
Pursuant to Amended Local Rule 3.2, any nongovernmental party, other than an individual or sole proprietorship, shall file a statement identifying all its Affiliates, defined as
Any entity or individual owning 5% or more of a party. Any entity or individual who owns 5% or more of any such affiliate shall also be included within the definition of “affiliate.”
A supplement to the statement shall be filed within thirty (30) days of any change in the information reported.
Instructions and a video demonstration on how to enter a Notification of Affiliates are found at the following links: