Pro Se Civil Proceedings at U. S. District Courts Nationwide
Followings are the steps you can expect to take when you file a civil action Complaint at U. S. District Court in the discrimination matters you raised against a federal agency:
Filing an EEO complaint in U. S. District Court:
180 days after filing a formal EEO complaint, you can file the same complaint with U. S. District Court in the District where the discriminatory actions have occurred, as alleged. You can do so regardless whether you received the Report of Investigation (ROI) along with the notice of your rights to file a civil complaint.
Along with the Complaint, you need to submit Civil Cover Sheet (Form JS 44), Summons in a Civil Action (Form AO 440). These forms can be downloaded from the District Court’s own website. Each U. S. District Court has its own website, different from the other U. S. District Courts’ websites; however, the forms are the same.
Samples of Court Complaints are available for purchase at the Store.
Requesting judicial review by U. S. District Court on a “mixed case” discrimination claims raised in your initial MSPB appeal.
Within 30 days of issuance of the final MSPB decision (or—if you did not file a Petition For Review—within 30 days of the Initial Decision having become a final decision) you may request judicial review of your EEO claims contained in your “mixed case” appeal.
You need to indicate in the Court Complaint that you are requesting the District Court to review the MSPB’s final decision issued on your EEO claims raised (in affirmative defense) in the initial appeal you file with MSPB in a “mixed case.”
Once the Complaint is docketed by the District Court (with a case number stamped on the Complaint and it is uploaded on to the Court’s electronic Case File (eCF) online system), and once the Summons are signed and sealed by the Court Clerk, they must be served upon the Defendant and the Defendant’s attorneys within 90 days after the Complaint is filed. See Rule 4(m) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
For more details on the service and the Proof of Service.
Within 60 days of the service of the Complaint and the Summons, the Defendant must file an Answer, responding to each fact and allegation raised in the Complaint.
Usually, the Defendant’s attorney (Assistant U. S. Attorney) will file a motion to dismiss the case, instead of filing an answer.
The motion to dismiss must be responded to by Plaintiff within 14 days of the service of the Motion, unless otherwise notified by the Court Clerk.
If the Defendant fails to submit the Answer within 60 days, and no motion to dismiss is pending, you may file a motion for a default judgment for Defendant’s failure to Answer the Complaint.
A sample of the motion for a default judgment is available for purchase in the Store.
The amended Complaint may be filed as a motion: Motion to Amend the Complaint. If an amended Complaint is filed after the Defendant’s attorney has entered the appearance (i.e., a notice of appearance), it must be also served onto the attorney.
All motions filed with the Court must also be served onto the Defendant’s attorney of record.
All motions filed by the Defendant must be responded to, unless you have consented to the proposed motion in advance.
Prior to filing a motion, the moving party must “meet and confer” with the opposing party to seek consent in advance of filing a motion. The “meet and confer” can be done by email or phone.
Any motions filed without a report on the prior “meet and confer” will be denied in most cases on procedural grounds.
If you are a moving party and if you filed a motion, the opponent has the right to "respond” (usually within 14 days of the service of the motion). After the opponent’s “response” is filed, you have a right to file a “reply” to the response. A response to the “reply” is not allowed. This procedural rule applies on both parties.
Almost all motions filed must accompany a Proposed Order, specifying the items that the moving party wants the Court to order the other party to comply with. The idea is that Judge can simply put his signature and issue the order to parties without having to draft his or her own.
If and when your case survives the Defendant’s dismissal motion, the judge will order parties to file a joint proposed motion for a scheduling order that lays out the schedule for the entire proceedings hence forth, pursuant to Rule 26(f).
A joint motion is filed by both parties on the same proposed motion. Both parties sign off on the joint motion. If parties are not in agreement on a particular fact or issue, a joint motion can still be filed with noting that Plaintiff proposes X, while Defendant proposes Y. A report of disagreement can be filed in a joint motion as disputed proposal.
A typical scheduling order contains the deadlines for the following procedure:
Joinder of any additional parties and filing of motions to amend the complaint.
Joint report on likelihood of mediated settlement.
Initial disclosures: voluntary disclosure of any and all evidence to be used potentially or actually for the trial. The general rule is that if an evidence is not disclosed to and shared with the other party, it cannot be used later in the proceedings.
Plaintiff’s disclosure of experts, expert witness summaries.
Defendant’s disclosure of experts, expert witness summaries.
Exchange of rebuttal expert witness summaries and reports.
Written lists containing the names and addresses of all fact witnesses intended to be called at trial.
Completion of fact discovery, including depositions.
Completion of Expert discovery.
Completion of mediation.
Dispositive motions, aka, motions for summary judgment.
All pretrial motions and memoranda of law, including motions in limine. A motion in limine is a pretrial request made to a judge to determine whether certain evidence, testimony, or arguments can be mentioned at trial. The primary purpose of such a motion, which is ruled outside the jury’s presence, is to prevent highly prejudicial or irrelevant information from tainting the jury.
Joint pretrial stipulation, proposed joint jury instructions, proposed joint verdict form, and/or proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law. Be ware of stipulations and joint proposal of finding of facts. Once they are agreed to, you cannot change them. A word or adjective in a stipulation or jointly proposed finding of facts may alter the outcome of the case. When in doubt, do not stipulate (to the statement proposed to you as in agreement).
It is better to request a bench trial: a trial without jury. Selecting the members for the jury pool is a whole new ball game that most pro se Plaintiff won’t be able to handle.
It would be almost impossible for a pro se Plaintiff to argue his or her own case at the trial.
The aim of pro se litigation should be to force the Defendant to reach a settlement agreement.
Settlement is possible only when the Defendant attorney feels the pressure of the legal proceedings, such as when the Defendant’s motion for summary judgment is denied by the Court, or when a “drop-dead” (i.e., undeniable and incriminating) evidence is disclosed, or when the trial is about to take place.
Court files in general are public record. Anyone can look up your case file. This creates more probability for the Defendant to settle and resolve the dispute. For more, see settlement and mediations.