Free Letter - District Court of Delaware - Delaware

Case 1:04-cv-00366-KAJ

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE BRIAN NEEFE, individually and as next of friend to Lacey Knudson, Plaintiff, v. RODNEY LAYFIELD, and DELAWARE STATE POLICE, Defendants. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

Civil Action No. 04-366-KAJ

SCHEDULING ORDER This ____ day of _______________, 2005, the Court having conducted an initial Rule 16 scheduling and planning conference pursuant to Local Rule 16.2(a) on __________________, 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: 1. Rule 26(a)(1) Insititia Disclosures. Within ten (10) days of the date of

this Order, the parties shall make their initial disclosures pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(1). 2. Joinder of other Parties and Amendment of Pleadings. All motions to join

other parties, and to amend or supplement the pleadings shall be filed on or before April 15, 2005. 3. Discovery. a. Limitation on Hours for Deposition Discovery. Each side is limited to

a total of twenty (20) hours of taking testimony by deposition upon oral examination.

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b.

Location of Depositions.

Any party or representative (officer, director,

or managing agent) of a party filing a civil action in this district must ordinarily be required, upon request, to submit to a deposition at a place designated within this District. Exceptions to this general rule may be made by order of the Court. A defendant who becomes a counterclaimant, crossclaimant, or third-party plaintiff shall be considered as having filed an action in this Court for the purpose of this provision. c. Discovery Cut Off. All discovery in this case shall be initiated so that it

will be completed on or before April 30, 2005. The Court encourages the parties to serve and respond to contention interrogatories early in the case. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, the limitations on discovery set forth in Local Rule 26.1 shall be strictly observed. d. Disclosure of Expert Testimony. Unless otherwise agreed to by the

parties, they shall file their initial Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(2) disclosures of expert testimony on or before thirty days before the date of the completion of discovery; and they shall file a supplemental disclosure to contradict or rebut evidence on the same subject matter identified by another party thirty days before the date for the completion of discovery. To the extent an objection to expert testimony is made pursuant to the principles announced in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceutical, Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (1993), it shall be made by motion no later than the deadline for dispositive motions set forth herein, unless otherwise ordered by the Court. e. Discovery Disputes. Should counsel find they are unable to resolve a

discovery dispute, the party seeking the relief shall contact Chambers at (302) 573-6001 to schedule a telephone conference. Not less than forty-eight hours prior to the conference, the party seeking relief shall file with the Court a letter, not to exceed three pages, outlining the issues in dispute and 2

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its position on those issues. (The Court does not seek extensive argument or authorities at this point; it seeks simply a statement of the issue to be addressed and or summary of the basis for the party's position on the issue.) Not less than twenty-four hours prior to the conference, any party opposing the application for relief may file a letter, not to exceed three pages, outlining that party's reasons for its opposition. Should the Court find further briefing necessary upon conclusion of the teleconference, the Court will order it. Disputes over protective orders are to be addressed in the first instance in accordance with this paragraph. 4. Application to Court for Protective Order. Should counsel find it will be

necessary to apply to the Court for a protective order specifying terms and conditions for the disclosure of confidential information, counsel should confer and attempt to reach an agreement on a proposed form of order and submit it to the Court within ten days from the date of this Order. Should counsel be unable to reach an agreement on a proposed form of order, then counsel must first follow the provisions of Paragraph 3.e. above. Any proposed order should include the following paragraph: Other Proceedings. By entering this order and limiting the disclosure of information in this case, the Court does not intend to preclude another court from finding that information may be relevant and subject to disclosure in another case. Any person or party subject to this order who becomes subject to a motion to disclose another party's information designated as "confidential" pursuant to this order shall promptly notify that party of the motion so that the party may have an opportunity to appear and be heard on whether that information shall be disclosed. 5. Papers Filed Under Seal. When filing papers under seal, counsel should

deliver to the Clerk an original and one copy of the papers.

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6.

Settlement Conference.

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636, this matter is referred

to the United States Magistrate Judge for the purpose of exploring the possibility of a settlement. The Magistrate Judge will schedule a settlement conference with counsel and their clients to be held within ninety days from the date of this Order. 6. Interim Status Report. On April 15, 2005, counsel shall submit a letter to

the Court with an interim report on the nature of the matters in issue and the progress of discovery to date. 7. Status Conference. On _________________, 2005, the Court will hold a Rule

16(a), (b), and (c) conference by telephone with counsel beginning at _______ __.m. Plaintiff's counsel shall initiate the telephone call. If all parties agree that there is nothing to report, nor anything to add to the interim status report or to this Order, they may so notify the Court in writing before the conference is scheduled to occur, and the conference will be taken off the Court's calendar. 8. Case Dispositive Motions. All case dispositive motions, an opening brief, and

affidavits, if any, in support of the motion shall be served and filed on or before May 31, 2005. Briefing will be presented pursuant to the Court's Local Rules. 9. Applications by Motion. Except as otherwise specified herein, 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 nondispositive motion should contain the statement required by Local Rule 7.1.1. 10. Pretrial Conference. On ___________________, 2005, the Court will

hold a Final Pretrial Conference with counsel beginning at ____ __.m. Unless otherwise ordered by 4

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the Court, the parties should assume that filing the pretrial order satisfies the pretrial disclosure requirement of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(3). The parties shall file with the Court the joint proposed pretrial order with the information required by the form of Final Pretrial Order which accompanies this Scheduling Order on or before ____________________, 2005. 11. Motions In Limine. Motions in limine shall not be separately filed. All in limine

requests and responses shall be set forth in the proposed pretrial order. Each party shall be limited to five in limine requests, unless otherwise permitted by the Court. The motion and response thereto shall contain the authorities relied upon, and no single in limine request shall have more than five pages of argument associated with it. No separate briefing shall be submitted on in limine requests, unless otherwise permitted by the Court 12. Jury Instructions, Voir Dire, and Special Verdict Forms. Where a case

is to be tried by a jury, pursuant to Local Rules 47 and 51 the parties should file proposed voir dire, instructions to the jury, and special verdicts and interrogatories three full business days before the final pretrial conference. The submission shall be accompanied by a computer diskette (in WordPerfect format) which contains a copy of these instructions and proposed voir dire and special verdicts and interrogatories.

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14.

Trial. This matter is scheduled for a ____ day trial beginning at 9:30 a.m. on

_______________, 2005. For the purpose of completing pretrial preparations, counsel should plan on each side being allocated a total of _____ hours to present their case.

______________________________________ United States District Judge

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