SAUNDRA BROWN ARMSTRONG, District Judge.
Pursuant to Rule 16(e) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ("FRCP"), IT IS HEREBY ORDERED AS FOLLOWS:
The deadline for the joinder of other parties and to amend the pleadings is
All discovery, except for expert discovery, shall be completed and all depositions taken on or before
Plaintiff shall designate any experts by
All motions including dispositive motions shall be heard on or before
All noticed motions (other than motions for summary judgment) and any opposition thereto, shall not exceed
All parties are required to meet and confer before filing any motion or any non-stipulated request with this court, and to certify that they have complied with this requirement.
The failure of the opposing party to file a memorandum of points and authorities in opposition to any motion shall constitute a consent to the granting of the motion.
Parties are limited to filing one motion for summary judgment. Any party wishing to exceed this limit must request leave of Court. The parties are not required to file statements of undisputed facts in connection with a motion for summary judgment. However, if the parties desire to file a statement of undisputed facts, only one joint statement of undisputed facts signed by all parties shall be filed. All separate statements will be stricken. If the parties are unable to agree that a fact is undisputed, they should assume that fact is in dispute.
Note that pursuant to Civil L.R. 7-1(b), the Court may, in its discretion, adjudicate motions without oral argument.
All parties are ordered to participate in a mandatory settlement conference during the following time period:
All Counsel who will try the case shall appear for a pretrial conference in Courtroom 1 on
1. Not less that thirty-five (35) calendar days prior to the pretrial conference, Counsel shall meet and confer in good faith in advance of complying with the following pretrial requirements in order to clarify and narrow the issues for trial, arrive at stipulations of facts, simplify and shorten the presentation of proof at trial, and explore possible settlement. In addition, Counsel shall meet and confer regarding anticipated motions in limine, objections to evidence, jury instruction, and any other matter which may require resolution by the Court.
2. The following matters shall be accomplished no later than twenty-eight (28) calendar days prior to the pretrial conference:
Counsel are required to file a pretrial conference statement containing the following information:
Each party shall serve and file a trial brief which shall briefly state their contentions, the relevant facts to be proven at trial, and the law on the issues material to the decision.
In non-jury cases, each party shall serve and lodge with the Court proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law on all material issues. Findings shall be brief, clear, written in plain English and free of pejorative language, conclusions and argument.
Each party shall serve and file with the Court a list of all persons who may be called as witnesses, other than solely for impeachment or rebuttal, together with a summary of the substance of each witness' proposed testimony.
Each party expecting to use discovery excerpts as part of its case in chief shall serve and file with the Court a statement identifying (1) by witness and page and line, all deposition testimony and (2) by lodged excerpt, all interrogatory answers and request for admissions to be used as part of its direct case. Each interrogatory answer intended to be offered as an exhibit shall be copied separately and marked as an exhibit. The original of any deposition to be used at trial must be produced at the time of trial, as well as a copy for the Court. Counsel shall indicate any objections to the use of these materials and advise the Court that counsel has conferred respecting such objections.
The parties shall file a joint set of proposed jury instructions as to those instructions on which the parties have reached agreement. As to any disputed instructions, each party shall separately submit its "proposed" instruction(s) supported by a memorandum setting forth the authority for its use. Responses or objections to any "proposed" jury instruction shall be filed no later than the date of the pretrial conference. All instructions shall be written in plain English which is comprehensible to jurors, concise and free of argument, and shall be organized in a logical fashion so as to aid jury comprehension, and are also to be provided on a CD in word format. The Court's practice is to utilize, whenever possible, instruction's found in the Ninth Circuit Manual of Model Jury Instructions.
Each party shall submit proposed questions for jury voir dire and a proposed form of verdict.
Each party shall provide every other party one set of all exhibits, charts, schedules, summaries and diagrams and other similar documentary materials to be used at the trial together with a complete list of all such exhibits. The Court requires one original version of exhibits (as described above) for the Clerk and two copies (one for the Bench and one for the witness stand). All such versions of the exhibits, including the originals, should be indexed into a binder for easy and quick reference by all parties. The first page of each binder should have a copy of the exhibit list appropriately completed with each exhibit description and its designated number. Plaintiffs shall refer to their exhibits numerically and Defendants shall label theirs alphabetically. Exhibit labels and exhibit lists are available at the Courts website.(www.cand.uscourts.gov) Exhibits should be brought to Court on the first day of trial.
3. The following matters shall be accomplished no later than twenty-one (21) calendar days prior to the pretrial conference:
4. Responses to motions in limine or objections to evidence shall be filed and served no less than fourteen (14) calendar days prior to the pretrial conference due:
5. Replies to motions in limine or objections to evidence shall be filed and served no less than seven (7) calendar days prior to the pretrial conference due:
Trial before the
If transcripts will be requested during or immediately after the trial, arrangements must be made with the Court Reporter Coordinator (Telephone No. 510-637-3534) at least one week prior to the commencement of trial.
Any party desiring to confer with the Court may, upon notice to all other parties, arrange a conference through the courtroom deputy (Telephone No. 510-637-3541). Conferences may be conducted telephonically, upon request (preferably in writing).
Failure to comply with this order may result in the imposition of sanctions pursuant to FRCP 16(f).