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 August 19, 2016.
All discovery, except for expert discovery, shall be completed and all depositions taken on or before January 11, 2017. The parties are responsible for scheduling discovery so that motions to resolve discovery disputes can be heard before the above discovery cut-off.
Plaintiff shall designate any experts by January 11, 2017; defendant by January 11, 2017; rebuttal disclosure by January 25, 2017. Any expert not so named may be disallowed as a witness. No expert will be permitted to testify to any opinion, or basis or support for an opinion, that has not been disclosed in response to an appropriate question or interrogatory from the opposing party. Expert discovery shall be completed by February 8,
All dispositive motions shall be
All parties are ordered to participate in a mandatory settlement conference during the following time period: March 13, 2017 thru May 5, 2017
All Counsel who will try the case shall appear for a pretrial conference on June 14, 2017 at 1:00 p.m. All Counsel shall be fully prepared to discuss all aspects of the trial. Failure to file the requisite pretrial documents in advance of the pretrial conference may result in vacation of the pretrial conference and/or the imposition of sanctions.
Prior to the date pretrial preparation is due, 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 instructions, and any other matter which may require resolution by the Court. The following items 1 through 8 below shall be filed and served by the above-referenced date.
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, and argument.
Each party shall serve and file with the Court a list of all persons who may be called as witnesses. The list shall include 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 lodge 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 a word format. The Court's practice is to utilize, whenever possible, instructions 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 (see attached) 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 are also attached for your convenience. Exhibits should be brought to Court on the first day of trial.
Each party anticipating making motion(s) in limine and/or objection(s) to any testimony or exhibits expected to be offered shall file and serve a statement briefly identifying each item objected to and the grounds for the objection. The parties must meet and confer prior to filing any motion in limine and objection to evidence. The movant shall certify to the Court in its moving papers that it has complied with this requirement.
Trial before the jury will begin on June 19, 2017, at 8:30 a.m., for an estimated 3-5 trial days, or as soon thereafter as the Court may designate. The parties are advised that they must be prepared to go to trial on a trailing basis. The trial will take place at 1300 Clay Street, 2nd Floor, Courtroom 210, Oakland, California, 94612 (located inside the U.S. Bankruptcy Courthouse). The Court's trial hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., with two fifteen-minute breaks, on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
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 commences.
Any party desiring to confer with the Court may, upon notice to all other parties, arrange a conference through the courtroom deputy (Telephone No. 510-637-3542). 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).