Illinois presently has the largest number of daily new cases of COVID-19. On Friday, the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois issued a new general order:
- All civil and criminal jury trials are suspended indefinitely.
- All civil hearings will be conducted remotely. No motions will be noticed for presentment. (A feature of Chicago federal practice pre-pandemic was that every motion was presented in person to a judge before full briefing was ordered.)
- All public gatherings are suspended.
Other than that, the Order states, “this Court remains open and accessible.”