Free Report - District Court of Arizona - Arizona

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA
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Barbara Allen, Richard Dippold, Melvin Jones, ) Donald McCarty, Richard Scates and Walter G. ) West, individually and on behalf of all others ) similarly situated, ) ) Plaintiffs, ) ) vs. ) ) Honeywell Retirement Earnings Plan, ) Honeywell Secured Benefit Plan, Plan ) Administrator of Honeywell Retirement ) Earnings Plan and Plan Administrator of ) Honeywell Secured Benefit Plan, ) ) Defendants. ) )

No. CV04-0424 PHX ROS RULE 16 SCHEDULING ORDER

Pursuant to the terms of the Case Management Plan and the representations made by the parties at the Rule 16 Scheduling Conference, all parties shall comply with the deadlines established in this Order. A. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure as amended and made effective December

1, 2002 by the Supreme Court of the United States shall apply to all proceedings concerning this case. B. All Initial Disclosures as defined in FRCP 26(a)(1), if not already disclosed

prior to the Scheduling Conference, shall be made no later than five (5) days after the date of the entry of this Order, or in the alternative, no later than

______________________________. [Plaintiffs propose May 26, 2006; Defendants propose May 26, 2006, with respect only to the claims of the named Plaintiffs.]

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C.

To satisfy the requirements of FRCP 26(a)(1), the parties shall file with the

Clerk of the Court a Notice of Initial Disclosure, rather than copies of the actual disclosures. D. Procedural motions including Motions to Amend the Complaint or Answer,

and Motions to Join Additional Parties shall be filed no later than _______________. [Plaintiffs propose July 17, 2006 if class certification is granted. Plaintiffs propose 60 days after an order denying class certification in whole or in part; Defendants propose June 5, 2006.] All Motions to Amend shall attach a copy of the proposed complaint or answer. E. The Plaintiff(s) shall disclose the identity of all persons who may be used at

trial to present evidence under Federal Rules of Evidence (FRE) 701, 702, 703, 704, and 705 no later than ______________. [Plaintiffs propose July 17, 2006 and that rebuttal experts be disclosed no later than August 15, 2006; with respect to the case on behalf of the named Plaintiffs only, Defendants propose August 15, 2006 and that rebuttal experts be disclosed no later than October 2, 2006.] The Defendant(s) shall disclose the identity of all persons who may be used at trial to present evidence under FRE 701, 702, 703, 704, or 705 no later than ___________. [Plaintiffs propose July 17, 2006 and that rebuttal experts be disclosed no later than August 15, 2006; with respect to the case on behalf of the named Plaintiffs only, Defendants propose August 15, 2006 and that rebuttal experts be disclosed no later than October 2, 2006.] No deposition of any expert witness shall occur before the disclosures concerning expert witnesses mandated by this Order have been made. The disclosures of the identities of all persons who may be used at trial to present evidence under FRE 701,702, 703, 704, or 705 shall also include all of the disclosures required by FRCP 26(a)(2)(B) if the witness is either (1) retained or specifically employed

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to provide expert testimony in the case, or (2) is an agent or employee of the party offering the testimony whose duties regularly involve giving expert testimony.1 F. All discovery, including answers to interrogatories, production of

documents, depositions and requests to admit shall be completed by _________________. [Plaintiffs propose September 15, 2006; Defendants believe that it is premature to set a date pending the determination of class certification; if class certification is denied, then Defendants propose January 30, 2007.] G. The parties shall finally supplement all discovery, including material

changes in expert witness opinions and material disclosures, pursuant to FRCP 26(a)(3), of all exhibits to be used and all witnesses to be called at trial, on or before ______________. [Plaintiffs propose September 29, 2006; with respect to the named Plaintiffs only, Defendants propose February 20, 2007.] H. Discovery by interrogatory shall be governed by the national uniform

requirements set forth in FRCP 33. [Plaintiffs propose that they be given leave to serve 50 interrogatories. Defendants oppose additional interrogatories as it relates to the named Plaintiffs' claims.] I. Depositions shall be limited by the national uniform requirements set forth

in Rules 30, 31, and 32 of the FRCP. [Defendants propose that the following be added: Defendants may seek leave to exceed the number of depositions permitted by Rule 30 of the FRCP, depending on whether a class is certified.] J. Motions on discovery matters are strongly discouraged. Parties are directed

to Local Rule of Civil Procedure (LRCiv) 7.2(j), which prohibits filing discovery motions unless parties have first met to resolve any discovery difficulties. If the parties cannot reach a resolution, they are directed to jointly arrange with the Court a conference call to

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The parties are on notice that this Order requires disclosure different than that required by FRCP 26(a)(2).
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resolve the matter orally in court in lieu of filing a formal motion. Once the call is made, the Court will provide further directions concerning preparations for the conference call. K. This Order contemplates that each party will conduct discovery to permit

completion within the deadline. Any discovery which results in insufficient time to undertake necessary additional discovery and which requires an extension of the discovery deadline will be met with disfavor, will only be granted for good cause or only to prevent manifest injustice pursuant to FRCP 16(b) and (e), and may result in denial of an extension, exclusion of evidence, or the imposition of other serious sanctions pursuant to FRCP 37(b),(c),(d). L. All dispositive motions shall be filed no later than ____________________.

[Plaintiffs propose 30 days after the close of discovery; with respect to the claims of the named Plaintiffs only, Defendants April 17, 2007, or 45 days after the close of discovery, whichever is later.] Unless permitted by Order of the Court, only one dispositive motion is allowed to be filed by each party. [Plaintiffs propose that they be allowed leave to file an additional dispositive motion.] M. All parties are specifically admonished that pursuant to LRCiv 7.2(i), "[i]f a

motion does not conform in all substantial respects with the requirements of this Rule, or if the opposing party does not serve and file the required answering memoranda, or if counsel for any party fails to appear at the time and place for oral argument, such noncompliance may be deemed a consent to the denial or granting of the motion and the Court may dispose of the motion summarily." N. The parties shall keep the Court apprised of settlement negotiations and the

progress of discovery. A joint letter to the Court concerning the status of settlement discussions (containing no specific settlement terms or offers) and the progress of discovery shall be submitted by January 15, 2007 and initially labeled 'FIRST NOTICE OF DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT," and shall be subsequently submitted every
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FOUR (4) months thereafter. If settlement is reached the parties shall file a Notice of Settlement with the Clerk of the Court with a copy to Judge Silver's Chambers. O. A Joint Proposed Pretrial Order, all Motions in Limine, and a Joint

Statement of the Case shall be lodged and filed by 60 days after the Court's ruling on any pending dispositive motions. If dispositive motions have been filed, the Joint Proposed Pretrial Order and Motions in Limine and other documents shall be due either on the above date or 30 days following resolution of the dispositive motions, whichever is later. The content of the Joint Proposed Pretrial Order is that prescribed in the Court's form of Joint Proposed Pretrial Order. [See Court's website: www.azd.uscourts.gov under "Judges and Courtrooms/Orders, Forms & Procedures"). Responses to Motions in Limine are due 15 days after the Motions are filed, and no Replies are permitted unless specifically ordered by the Court. P. Because the case will be tried to the Court, rather than to a jury, in addition

to filing a Joint Proposed Pretrial Order, each party shall submit Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law on the same date the Joint Proposed Pretrial Order is due. Q. The attorneys who will be trying the case for each of the parties shall appear

at the Final Pretrial Conference, that will be scheduled as promptly as possible after the filing of the Joint Proposed Pretrial Order. The attorneys appearing at the conference shall be prepared to address the merits of all issues raised in the Joint Proposed Pretrial Order and fully briefed Motions in Limine. Unless one has already been established, the Court will set a firm trial date at the Pretrial Conference, and will sign the Final Pretrial Order with any additional instructions for trial preparation. R. Any other final pretrial matters required pursuant to FRCP 26(a)(3) are due

in accordance with this Order prior to the preparation and submission of the Joint Proposed Pretrial Order. S. The parties shall submit their proposed voir dire questionnaire and

questions, statement of the case, jury instructions, and form of verdict on a 1.44K high
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density IBM-PC compatible computer disk in WordPerfect 9.0 format in addition to other written materials filed with the Clerk of the Court. T. An Interim Rule 16 Status Hearing is scheduled for ___________________.

[The parties agree that the date should be 15 days after notice of the Court's ruling on Plaintiffs' motion for class certification.]. Seven (7) days prior to the Interim Hearing counsel are to prepare and file a Joint Status Report. This Court views compliance with the provisions of this Order as critical to its case management responsibilities and the responsibilities of the parties under FRCP 1.

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