Free Letter - District Court of Delaware - Delaware

Case 1:O4—cv—O1563-GI\/IS Document 12-2 Filed 03/16/2005 Page 1 of 4
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE
DAI\H\IETTE G. MCLAUGHLIN, )
Plaintiff j
v. j C.A. N0. 04-1563 GMS
DIAMOND STATE PORT CORPORATION, j
Defendant. j
SCHEDULING ORDER
This _ day of March, 2005, the Court having conducted an initial Rule I6
scheduling and planning conference pursuant to Local Rule l6.2(b) on March 28, 2005 and the
parties having determined after discussion that the matter cannot be resolved at this juncture by
settlement, voluntary mediation or binding arbitration;
IT IS ORDERED that:
I . Rule 26g ap Initial Disclosures. The parties will make their Rule 26(a) initial
disclosures at or within I4 days after the Rule 26(f) conference.
2. J oinder of other Parties and Amendment of Pleadings. All motions to join
other parties and amend the pleadings shall be filed on or before June 3, 2005.
3. Discovery. All discovery in this case shall be initiated so that it will be
completed on or before October 3, 2005.
a. Discovery Disputes. Should counsel find they are unable to resolve a
discovery dispute, the party seeking the relief shall contact chambers at (302) 573-6470 to schedule a
telephone conference. Not less than forty-eight hours prior to the conference, by hand delivery or
facsimile at (302) 573-6472, the party seeking relief shall file with the court a letter agenda not to

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exceed two (2) pages outlining the issues in dispute. Should the court find further briefing necessary
upon conclusion ofthe telephone conference, the court shall order the party seeking relief to file with
the court a TWO PAGE LETTER, exclusive of exhibits, describing the issues in contention. The
responding party shall file within five (5) days from the date of service of the opening letter an
answering letter of no more than TWO PAGES. The party seeking relief may then file a reply letter
of no more than TWO PAGES within three (3) days from the date of service ofthe answering letter.
b. Fact and expert depositions shall be limited to ten per party with a
limit of seven hours per deposition, subject to either party requesting additional depositions and/or
time upon a showing of good cause.
c. Plaintiff should identify and serve initial expert reports for her experts
on or before June 24, 2005 with DSPC to identify and serve initial reports for its experts, if any, by
July 15, 2004. Plaintiffs rebuttal expert reports, if any, shall be served by August 5, 2005 and
DSPC’s rebuttal expert reports, if any, shall be served by August 19, 2005. Expert depositions may
be taken of all identified experts, including any treating physicians or medical experts, subject to
seven hour limit per deposition.
4. Confidential Information and Papers filed under Seal. Should counsel
find it will be necessary to apply to the court for a protective order specifying temis and conditions
for the disclosure of confidential information, they should confer and attempt to reach an agreement
on a proposed form of order and submit it to the court within 10 days from the date of this order.
When filing papers under seal, counsel should deliver to the Clerk an original and two copies ofthe
papers
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If after making a diligent effort the parties are unable to agree on the contents of
the joint proposed protective order, then they shall follow the dispute resolution process
outlined in paragraph 3(a).
5. Settlement Conference. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636, this matter is referred
to the United States Magistrate for the purpose of exploring the possibility of a settlement. lf the
parties agree that the possibility of settlement may be enhanced by such referral, the parties shall
contact Magistrate Judge Thynge to schedule a settlement conference with counsel and clients.
6. Case Dispositive Motions. All case dispositive motions and an opening brief
and affidavits, if any, in support of the motion shall be served and filed on or before October 17,
2005. Briefing will be presented pursuant to the Court’s Local Rules, unless the parties agree to an
alternative briefing schedule. Any such agreement shall be in writing and filed with the Court for the
Court’s approval.
7. Applications by Motion. Except as provided in this Order or for matters
relating to scheduling, any application to the Court shall be by written motion filed with the Clerk.
Unless otherwise requested by the Court, counsel shall not deliver copies of papers or
correspondence to Chambers. Any non-dispositive motion should contain the statement required by
Local Rule 7.1.1.
8. Oral Argument. lf the Court believes that oral argument is necessary, the
Court will schedule a hearing Pursuant to Local Rule 7.1.4.
9. Pretrial Conference. On February 6, 2006, the Court will hold a Pretrial
Conference in Chambers with counsel beginning at 10:00 a.m. Unless otherwise ordered by the
Court, the parties should assume that filing the pretrial order by January 16, 2005 satisfies the pretrial
disclosure requirement in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(3). Plaintiff s counsel shall forward
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Case 1:O4—cv—O1563-Gl\/IS Document 12-2 Filed O3/16/2005 Page 4 of 4
to defendant’s counsel a draft of the pretrial order containing the information plaintiff proposes to
include in the draft by December 2, 2005. Defendant’s counsel shall, in turn, provide to plaintiff s
counsel any comments on the plaintiffs draft as well as the information defendant proposes to
include in the proposed pretrial order by December 19, 2005. Motions in limine: No party shall file
more than ten (10) motions in limine. Briefs (opening, answering and reply) on all motions in limine
shall be completed and filed by December 19, 2005. Opening and answering briefs shall not exceed
five (5) pages and reply briefs shall not exceed three (3) pages. The parties shall tile with the court
the joint proposed final pretrial order with the information required by the fonn of Final Pretrial
Order which accompanies this Scheduling Order on or before January 16, 2005
10. Trial. This matter is scheduled for a three-day jury trial beginning at 9:00
a.m. on February 20, 2006.
1 1. Scheduling. The parties shall direct any requests or questions regarding the
scheduling and management of this matter to Chambers at (302) 573-6470.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
455809
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