CRAIG B. SHAFFER, Magistrate Judge.
This case has been referred to Magistrate Judge Craig B. Shaffer by District Judge Christine M. Arguello, pursuant to the Order Referring Case (doc. #5) filed July 26, 2013. See 28 U.S.C. §636(b)(1)(A) and (B) and FED.R.CIV.P. 72(a) and (b).
(1) The court shall hold a FED.R.CIV.P. 16(b) scheduling and planning conference on
The conference shall be held in Courtroom A-402, Fourth Floor, Alfred A. Arraj U.S. Courthouse, 901 19
A copy of instructions for the preparation of a scheduling order and a form scheduling order can be downloaded from the "Forms" section on the
In accordance with
The plaintiff shall notify all parties who have not yet entered an appearance of the date and time of the scheduling/planning conference, and shall provide a copy of this Order to those parties.
(2) In preparation for the scheduling/planning conference, the parties are directed to confer in accordance with FED.R.CIV.P. 26(f), no later than:
The court strongly encourages the parties to meet face to face, but should that prove impossible, the parties may meet by telephone conference. All parties are jointly responsible for arranging and attending the Rule 26(f) meeting.
During the Rule 26(f) meeting, the parties shall discuss the nature and basis of their claims and defenses and the possibilities for a prompt settlement or resolution of the case, make or arrange for the disclosures required by FED.R.CIV.P. 26(a)(1), and develop their proposed scheduling/discovery plan. The parties should also discuss the possibility of informal discovery, such as conducting joint interviews with potential witnesses, joint meetings with clients, depositions via telephone, or exchanging documents outside of formal discovery.
In those cases in which: (i) the parties' substantive allegations involve extensive computer-generated records; (ii) a substantial amount of disclosure or discovery will involve information or records in electronic form (i.e., e-mail, word processing, databases); (iii) expert witnesses will develop testimony based in large part on computer data and/or modeling; or (iv) any party plans to present a substantial amount of evidence in digital form at trial, the parties shall confer regarding steps they can take to preserve computer records and data, facilitate computer-based discovery and who will pay costs, resolve privilege issues, limit discovery costs and delay, and avoid discovery disputes relating to electronic discovery. The parties shall be prepared to discuss these issues, as appropriate, in the proposed Scheduling Order and at the scheduling and planning conference.
These are the minimum requirements for the Rule 26(f) meeting. The parties are encouraged to have a comprehensive discussion and are required to approach the meeting cooperatively and in good faith.
The parties are reminded that the purpose of the Rule 26(f) meeting is to expedite the disposition of the action, discourage wasteful pretrial activities, and improve the quality of any eventual trial through more thorough preparation. The discussion of claims and defenses shall be a substantive, meaningful discussion.
The parties are reminded that pursuant to FED.R.CIV.P. 26(d), no discovery shall be sought prior to the Rule 26(f) meeting.
(3) The parties shall comply with the mandatory disclosure requirements of FED.R.CIV.P. 26(a)(1) no later than:
Counsel and parties are reminded that mandatory disclosure requirements encompass computer-based evidence which may be used to support claims or defenses. Mandatory disclosures must be supplemented by the parties consistent with the requirements of FED.R.CIV.P. 26(e). Mandatory disclosures and supplementation are not to be filed with the Clerk of the Court.
(4) All parties are expected to be familiar with the
All out-of-state counsel shall comply with D.C.COLOL.CIVR. 83.3 prior to the Scheduling/Planning Conference.
[Provide the date of the conference and the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of counsel for each party and each pro se party. Identify by name the party represented by each counsel.]
[Provide a concise statement of the basis for subject matter jurisdiction with appropriate statutory citations. If jurisdiction is denied, give the specific reason for the denial.]
[Provide concise statements of all claims or defenses. Each party, in light of formal or informal discovery undertaken thus far, should take special care to eliminate frivolous claims or defenses. Fed. R. Civ. P. 11 and 16(c)(2)(A).]
The following facts are undisputed:
[The parties should make a good-faith attempt to determine which facts are not in dispute when they have the Rule 26(f) meeting.]
[Include a computation of all categories of damages sought by all parties and the basis and theory for calculating those damages. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(1)(A)(iii).]
[If a party's disclosures were not made within the time provided in Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(1)(C), the parties must provide an explanation of good cause.]
[State what processes the parties have agreed upon to conduct informal discovery, such as joint interviews with potential witnesses or joint meetings with clients to discuss settlement, or exchanging documents outside of formal discovery.]
[Counsel and pro se parties are strongly encouraged to cooperate in order to reduce the costs of litigation and expedite the just disposition of the case. Discovery and other litigation costs may be reduced, for example, through telephone depositions, joint repositories for documents, use of discovery in other cases, and extensive use of expert affidavits to support judicial notice. Counsel and pro se parties also will be expected to use a unified exhibit numbering system if required by the practice standards of the judicial officer presiding over the trial of this case.]
[The parties must propose a format for production of electronically stored information and indicate what steps they have taken or will take to (i) preserve electronically stored information; (ii) facilitate discovery of electronically stored information; (iii) limit the associated discovery costs and delay; (iv) avoid discovery disputes relating to electronic discovery; and (v) address claims of privilege or of protection as trial-preparation materials after production of computer-generated records. Counsel should describe any proposals or agreements regarding electronic discovery made at the Rule 26(f) conference and be prepared to discuss issues involving electronic discovery, as appropriate, at the Scheduling Conference.]
[The parties are required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(f)(2) to have discussed the possibilities for a prompt settlement or resolution of the case by alternate dispute resolution. They must also promptly report the result of any such meeting, and any similar future meeting, to the magistrate judge.]
[Pursuant to D.C.COLO.LCivR 72.2, all full-time magistrate judges in the District of Colorado are specially designated under 28 U.S.C. § 636(c)(1) to conduct any or all proceedings in any jury or nonjury civil matter and to order the entry of judgment. Parties consenting to the exercise of jurisdiction by a magistrate judge must complete and file the court-approved Consent to the Exercise of Jurisdiction by a United States Magistrate Judge form. Indicate below the parties' consent choice.]
All parties [have or have not] consented to the exercise of jurisdiction of a magistrate judge.
[Parties must confer to provide proposed dates for items b. through q. below. Absent unusual circumstances, proposed dates for items b. through q. should proceed in chronological order. Dates for items i. and m. should be stated in terms of the proposed month only.]
[Regarding items c. and d., "initial claim chart" means infringement contentions, including specifications of each claim of each patent in suit that is allegedly infringed, each instrumentality that allegedly infringes each asserted claim, and a claim chart detailing where each element of an asserted claim is found in each accused instrumentality.]
[Any party who proposes to exceed the numerical limits set forth in Fed. R. Civ. P. 30(a)(2)(A)(I) should be prepared to support that request by reference to the factors identified in Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(2)(C).]
[Any party who proposes more than twenty-five (25) requests for production and/or requests for admission should be prepared to support that proposal by reference to the factors identified in Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(2)(C).]
[The magistrate judge will complete this section at the scheduling conference if he or she has not already set deadlines by an order filed before the conference.]
a. A settlement conference will be held on________________________ at ______ o'clock __.m. It is hereby ordered that all settlement conferences that take place before the magistrate judge shall be confidential.
() Pro se parties and attorneys only need be present.
() Pro se parties, attorneys, and client representatives with authority to settle must be present. (NOTE: This requirement is not fulfilled by the presence of counsel. If an insurance company is involved, an adjustor authorized to enter into settlement must also be present.)
() Each party shall submit a Confidential Settlement Statement to the magistrate judge on or before _______________ outlining the facts and issues, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of their case.
b. Status conferences will be held in this case at the following dates and times:______________________________________________________.
c. A final pretrial conference will be held in this case on _______________ at _______o'clock __ m. A Final Pretrial Order shall be prepared by the parties and submitted to the court no later than five (5) days before the final pretrial conference.
[The following paragraphs shall be included in the scheduling order:]
Motions for extension of time or continuances must comply with D.C.COLO.LCivR 6.1D. by containing proof that a copy of the motion has been served upon the moving attorney's client, all attorneys of record, and all pro se parties.
Counsel will be expected to be familiar and to comply with the Pretrial and Trial Procedures or Practice Standards established by the judicial officer presiding over the trial of this case. With respect to discovery disputes, parties must comply with D.C.COLO.LCivR 7.1A.
In addition to filing an appropriate notice with the clerk's office, a pro se party must file a copy of a notice of change of his or her address or telephone number with the clerk of the magistrate judge assigned to this case. In addition to filing an appropriate notice with the clerk's office, counsel must file a copy of any motion for withdrawal, motion for substitution of counsel, or notice of change of counsel's address or telephone number with the clerk of the magistrate judge assigned to this case.
[Include a statement that the scheduling order may be altered or amended only upon a showing of good cause.]
[Please affix counsels' and any pro se party's signatures before submission of the proposed scheduling order to the court.]
