Free Letter - District Court of Delaware - Delaware

Case 1:05-cv-00045-SLR

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MORRIS, NICHOLS, ARSHT & TUNNELL
1201 N O R T H M A R K E T S T R E E T P.O. B O X 1347 W ILM IN G T O N , D E L AW AR E 19899-1347
K A R E N J A C O B S L OU D E N 302-575-7311 302-425-4681 [email protected]

June 9, 2005

By E-File The Honorable Sue L. Robinson Chief Judge United States District Court for the District of Delaware 844 N. King Street Wilmington, DE 19801 Re: Medtronic Inc. v. Edwards Life Sciences, C.A. No. 05-045 (SLR)

Dear Chief Judge Robinson, The parties submit herewith a joint Proposed Rule 26(f) Scheduling Order in anticipation of the telephone conference scheduled for tomorrow, Friday, June 10, 2005 at 8:30 a.m. The Proposed Order varies from this Court's standard order due to the unique circumstances of this case. This action for declaratory judgment arises out of the Protective Order entered by this Court in Edwards Lifesciences Corp., et al. v. Medtronic, Inc., C. A. No. 00-621-SLR. The dispute is whether Edwards' continued retention and use in a subsequent arbitration between the parties of documents that Medtronic designated and produced subject to the Protective Order in the prior action violate the terms of that Order. Given the nature of this action, the parties believe that it can be resolved without any additional discovery or trial. Instead, the parties agree that a single round of dispositive briefing and oral argument will be sufficient to resolve the issue. Therefore, the parties seek leave from the Court to proceed with the briefing schedule set forth in the joint Proposed Rule 26(f) Scheduling Order without many of the components of the Court's standard order. Respectfully,

/s/ Karen Jacobs Louden [email protected]

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cc:

Clerk of the Court (by hand) Philip A. Rovner, Esq. (by hand) Darren B. Schweibert, Esq. (by telecopy)

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Case 1:05-cv-00045-SLR

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE MEDTRONIC, INC. Plaintiff, v. EDWARDS LIFESCIENCES, CORP., EDWARDS LIFESCIENCES, LLC., Defendants. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

C.A. No. 05-045 (SLR)

JOINT RULE 26(f) SCHEDULING ORDER At Wilmington this _____ day of ______________ 2005, the parties having satisfied their obligations under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(f), and the court having conducted a pretrial scheduling conference on Friday, June 10, 2005 pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 16 and D. Del. LR 16.2(a) and (b). IT IS ORDERED THAT: 1. 2. Pre-Discovery Disclosures. N/A. Discovery.

Discovery will be needed on the following subject:

Discovery is not necessary in this case where all facts relevant to plaintiff's request for a declaratory judgment are known. b. c. d. All discovery shall be commenced in time to be completed by N/A . Maximum of Maximum of party. e. Maximum of N/A depositions by plaintiff and N/A by defendant. N/A interrogatories by each party to any other party. N/A requests for admission by each party to any other

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f.

Each deposition shall be limited to a maximum of extended by agreement of parties.

N/A

hours unless

g.

Reports from retained experts under Rule 26(a)(2) on issues for which any party has the burden of proof due by by N/A . N/A . Rebuttal expert reports due

h.

Discovery Disputes. Any discovery dispute shall be submitted to the court pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 37. During the course of discovery, each party is limited to two (2) Rule 37 motions. The court shall make itself available, however, to resolve through a telephone conference, disputes that arise during the course of a deposition and disputes related to entry of a protective order.

3.

Joinder of other Parties, Amendment of Pleadings, and Class

Certification. All motions to join other parties, amend the pleadings, and certify a class action shall be filed on or before N/A . 4. Settlement Conference. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636, this matter is

referred to Magistrate Judge Thynge for the purposes of exploring ADR. 5. Summary Judgment Motions. All summary judgment motions shall be

served and filed with an opening brief on or before N/A . Briefing shall be pursuant to D. Del. LR 7.1.2. No summary judgment motion may be filed more than ten (10) days from the above date without leave of the court. 6. Applications by Motion. Any application to the court shall be by written

motion filed with the clerk. Unless otherwise requested by the court, counsel shall not

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deliver copies of papers or correspondence to chambers. Any non-dispositive motion shall contain the statement required by D. Del. LR 7.1.1. 7. Motions in Limine. All motions in limine shall be filed on or before N/A

(two weeks before pretrial conference). All responses to said motions shall be filed on or before N/A (one week before pretrial conference). 8. Pretrial Conference. A pretrial conference will be held on N/A at

_______ a.m./p.m. in courtroom 6B, sixth floor Federal Building, 844 King Street, Wilmington, Delaware. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and D. Del. LR 16.4 shall govern the pretrial conference. 9. Trial. This matter is scheduled for a N/A (day/week) bench/jury trial N/A , 2005 in courtroom 6B, sixth floor Federal Building, 844 King

commencing on

Street, Wilmington, Delaware. For purposes of completing pretrial preparations, the parties should plan on being allocated a total number of house in which to present their respective cases. Because full discovery and trial are not necessary to resolve this declaratory judgment action, this case will be resolved upon one set of briefing and a hearing before this Court on _________. Defendants' brief on the plaintiff's declaratory judgment action will be filed on August 5, 2005. Plaintiff's response will be due on August 31, 2005 and defendants' reply will be due on September 16, 2005. _________________________________
Chief Judge Sue L. Robinson
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