Free Scheduling Order - District Court of California - California

Case 3:08-cv-01416-W-RBB

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Plaintiff, 14 15 16 Defendants. 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 v. DOWNEY SAVINGS AND LOAN ASSN, F.A.; and Does 1 to 10, JOHN SONES, an individual, on behalf of himself, and on behalf of all persons similarly situated, ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Civil No. 08CV1416 W(RBB) CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE ORDER REGULATING DISCOVERY AND OTHER PRETRIAL PROCEEDINGS (Rule 16, Fed.R.Civ.P.) (Local Rule 16.1) UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

Pursuant to rule 16 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a case management conference was held on September 5, 2008. After

consulting with the attorneys of record for the parties and being advised of the status of the case, and good cause appearing, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED: 1. All discovery shall be completed by all parties on or All motions for discovery shall be filed no

before July 6, 2009.

later than thirty (30) days following the date upon which the event giving rise to the discovery dispute occurred. For oral discovery,

the event giving rise to the discovery dispute is the completion of the transcript of the affected portion of the deposition. For

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written discovery, the event giving rise to the discovery dispute is the service of the response. All interrogatories and document

production requests must be served by May 6, 2009. 2. Plaintiff(s) shall serve on all other parties a list of

expert witnesses whom Plaintiff(s) expect(s) to call at trial by May 6, 2009. Defendant(s) shall serve on Plaintiff(s) a list of

expert witnesses Defendant(s) expect(s) to call at trial by June 5, 2009. Each party may supplement its designation in response to the The parties

other party's designation no later than June 19, 2009.

must identify any person who may be used to present evidence pursuant to Rules 702, 703 or 705 of the Federal Rules of Evidence. This requirement is not limited to retained experts. The

designation(s) shall comply with rule 26(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and be accompanied by a written report prepared and signed by each witness, including in-house or other witnesses providing expert testimony. The failure to fully comply with these A

requirements may result in the exclusion of expert testimony.

written report is not required from a witness giving testimony as a percipient expert. 3. Any motion to join other parties, to amend the pleadings

or to file additional pleadings shall be filed and heard on or before April 6, 2009. Plaintiffs' counsel is to file a motion to

certify the class no later than February 13, 2009. 4. All other pretrial motions must be filed on or before Please be advised that counsel for the moving

August 5, 2009.

party must obtain a motion hearing date from the law clerk of the judge who will hear the motion. Be further advised that the period

of time between the date you request a motion date and the hearing

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date may vary from one district judge to another. accordingly.

Please plan

For example, you should contact the judge's law clerk Failure to

in advance of the motion cutoff to calendar the motion.

timely request a motion date may result in the motion not being heard. Questions regarding this case should be directed to the judge's law clerk. The Court draws the parties' attention to Local

Rule 7.1(e)(4) which requires that the parties allot additional time for service of motion papers by mail. Papers not complying

with this rule shall not be accepted for filing. Briefs or memoranda in support of or in opposition to any pending motion shall not exceed twenty-five (25) pages in length without leave of the judge who will hear the motion. No reply

memorandum shall exceed ten (10) pages without leave of the judge who will hear the motion. Pursuant to Civil Local Rule 7.1(f)(3)(c), if an opposing party fails to file opposition papers in the time and manner required by Civil Local 7.1(e)(2), that failure may constitute a consent to the granting of a motion or other request for ruling by the court. Accordingly, all parties are ordered to abide by the

terms of Local Rule 7.1(e)(2) or otherwise face the prospect of any pretrial motion being granted as an unopposed motion pursuant to Civil Local Rule 7.1(f)(3)(c). Should either party choose to file or oppose a motion for summary judgment or partial summary judgment, no Separate Statement of Disputed or Undisputed Facts is required. 5. Further settlement conferences shall be held at

appropriate intervals during the course of the litigation in the

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chambers of Judge Ruben B. Brooks.

A further settlement conference A mandatory

shall be held on March 11, 2009, at 1:30 p.m.

settlement conference date will be set at one of the scheduled settlement conferences. All parties, claims adjusters for insured Defendants and nonlawyer representatives with complete authority to enter into a binding settlement, as well as the principal attorneys responsible for the litigation, must be present and legally and factually prepared to discuss and resolve the case at the mandatory settlement conference and at all settlement conferences. outside corporate counsel shall not appear on behalf of a corporation as the party representative who has the authority to negotiate and enter into a settlement. Failure to attend or obtain Retained

proper excuse will be considered grounds for sanctions. If Plaintiff is incarcerated in a penal institution or other facility, the Plaintiff's presence is not required at conferences before Judge Brooks, and the Plaintiff may participate by telephone. In that case, defense counsel is to coordinate the

Plaintiff's appearance by telephone. Confidential written settlement statements for the mandatory settlement conference shall be lodged directly in the chambers of Judge Brooks no later than five court days before the mandatory settlement conference. The statements need not be filed with the The statements

Clerk of the Court or served on opposing counsel.

will not become part of the court file and will be returned at the end of the conference upon request. Written statements may be

lodged with Judge Brooks either by mail or in person.

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Any statement submitted should avoid arguing the case. Instead, the statement should include a neutral factual statement of the case, identify controlling legal issues, and concisely set out issues of liability and damages, including any settlement demands and offers to date and address special and general damages where applicable. If appropriate, the Court will consider the use of other alternative dispute resolution techniques. 6. Despite the requirements of Civil Local Rule 16.1(f),

neither party is required to file Memoranda of Contentions of Fact and Law at any time. The parties shall instead focus their efforts

on complying with their pretrial disclosure requirements under rule 26(a)(3) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure by November 20, 2009, and drafting and submitting a proposed pretrial order by the time and date specified by Local Rule 16.1(f)(6). 7. Counsel shall confer and take the action required by A personal

Local Rule 16.1(f)(4) on or before November 25, 2009.

meeting between an incarcerated Plaintiff, acting in pro per, and defense counsel is not required. At this meeting, counsel shall discuss and attempt to enter into stipulations and agreements resulting in simplification of the triable issues. Counsel shall exchange copies and/or display all

exhibits other than those to be used for impeachment, lists of witnesses and their addresses including experts who will be called to testify and written contentions of applicable facts and law. The exhibits shall be prepared in accordance with Local Rule 16.1(f)(2)(c). Counsel shall cooperate in the preparation of the

proposed final pretrial conference order.

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8.

The proposed final pretrial conference order, including

objections to any party's Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(3) pretrial disclosures, shall be prepared, served and lodged with the Clerk of the Court on or before November 30, 2009, and shall be in the form prescribed in and in compliance with Local Rule 16.1(f)(6). Counsel shall also bring a court copy of the pretrial order to the pretrial conference. In addition to submitting the proposed final pretrial conference order, the parties are further ordered to separately submit informal letter briefs, not exceeding two single-spaced pages, served on opposing counsel and received in the chambers of the Honorable Thomas J. Whelan, United States District Court Judge (and not filed with the Clerk's Office) no later than (five days prior to Pretrial Conference). The letter brief should be a relatively informal and straightforward document. The letter brief should outline a short,

concise and objective factual summary of the party's case in chief, the number of hours/days each party intends to expend at trial, the approximate number of witnesses, whether certain witnesses will be coming in from out of town, the number of testifying expert witnesses, whether any unique demonstrative exhibits may be presented, the number of proposed motions in limine that may be filed, precisely when the parties would be prepared to submit their in limine papers (and whether the parties have met and conferred with respect to in limine issues), the issue of proposed jury instructions and when the parties intend to submit them before trial, and voir dire issues, either party's preference as to what date(s) the trial should begin and any other pertinent information

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that either party may deem useful to assist the Court in the execution of the pretrial conference and in setting the matter for trial. 9. The final pretrial conference shall be held before the

Honorable Thomas J. Whelan, United States District Judge, on December 7, 2009, at 10:30 a.m. 10. The dates and times set forth herein will not be modified

except for good cause shown. 11. Plaintiff's(s') counsel shall serve a copy of this order

on all parties that enter this case hereafter.

Dated:

September 5, 2008 RUBEN B. BROOKS United States Magistrate Judge

cc: 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

All Parties of Record

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CASE RESOLUTION GUIDELINES

All parties and claims adjusters for insured Defendants and representatives with complete authority to enter into a binding settlement, as well as the principal attorney(s) responsible for the litigation, must be present and legally and factually prepared to discuss and resolve the case. Failure to attend or obtain proper excuse will be considered grounds for sanctions. Case Resolution Conference Briefs Written statements, when specifically requested, shall be lodged in the chambers of Judge Brooks no later than five court days before the scheduled conference. The statements will not become part of the court file. Written statements may be submitted on a confidential basis and lodged with Judge Brooks either by mail or in person. Any statement submitted should avoid arguing the case. Instead the statement should include a neutral factual statement of the case and concisely set out issues of liability and damages, including any settlement demands and offers to date, and address special and general damages where applicable. If appropriate, the court will consider the use of other alternative dispute resolution techniques. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact my research attorney, at (619) 557-3404.

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