Free Scheduling Order - District Court of Arizona - Arizona

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA ) Case No.: CV03-2300 PHX ROS ) ) ) ) AMENDED RULE 16 SCHEDULING ) ORDER ) ) ) ) ) )

Martha Slaughter-Payne, Plaintiff, vs. ANTHONY PRINCIPI, SEC DEPT. OF VETERANS AFFAIRS AGENCY, Defendant.

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 deadline to status 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.

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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) days after the date of the entry of this Order, or in the alternative, no later than September 3, 2004.

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 October 15, 2004. 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 ( F. R. E.) 701, 702, 703, 704, and 705 no later than February 25, 2005. The Defendant(s) shall disclose the identity of all persons who may be used a trial to present evidence under F. R. E. 701, 702, 703, 704, and 705 no later than March 5, 2005. 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, 705 shall also include all of the

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disclosures required by FRCP 26(a)(2)(B) if the witness is either (1) retained or specifically employed to provide expert testimony in the case, or (2) is an agent or employee of the party offering the testimony whose duties readily involve giving expert testimony. F. All discovery, including answers to interrogatories, production of documents, depositions and request to admit shall be completed by March 27, 2006. G. The party's shall finally supplement all discovery, including material changes in expert witness opinions and material disclosures, pursuant to a FRCP 26(a)(3), of all exhibits to be used in all witnesses to be called at trial, on or before April 24, 2006. H. Discovery by interrogatory shall be governed by the national uniform requirements set forth in Local Rule 2.12 (b)(4)(C) with modification due to the nature of the allegations. I. Deposition shall be limited by the national uniform requirements set forth in rules 30, 31, and 32 of the FRCP. J. Motions on discovery matters are strongly discouraged. Parties are directed to local rule one 1.10(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 resolve the matter orally in court in lieu of filing a formal motion.

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Once the call is made, the Court will provide direction 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 discovery deadline will be met with disfavor and 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 May, 29, 2006. Unless permitted by Order of the Court, only one dispositive motion is allowed to be filed by each party. M. All parties are specifically admonished that pursuant to local rule 1.10(i), "if a motion does not conform in all substantial respects with requirements of this rule or if the opposing party does not serve and file the required

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answering memorandum, 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".

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N.

The parties shall keep the court appraised of settlement negotiations and the progress of discovery. A joint letter to the court concerning the status of settlement discussion (containing no specific settlement terms or offers) and the parties shall submit the results of their settlement conference and labeled "FIRST NOTICE OF DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT", and then every four (4) months thereafter. If settlement is reached the party's shall file a Notice of Settlement with the Clerk of the Court with a copy to Judge Silver's Chambers.

O.

A Joint Propose Pretrial Order and all Motions in Limine Shall be lodged and filed by July 31, 2006. If dispositive motions have been filed, the Joint Propose Pretrial Order and Motions in Limine shall be either on the above date for 30 days following resolution of the motions, whichever is later. The content of the Joint Proposed Pretrial Order shall include, but not be limited to, that prescribed in the Form of Joint Proposed Pretrial Order. Statements made should not be in the form of a question, but should be a concise narrative statement of each party's contention regarding each uncontested and contested issue. 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.

If the case will be tried to the Court, rather than to a jury, in addition to filing

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a Joint Propose Pre-trial Order, each party shall also 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 all the parties shall appear at the Final Pretrial Conference, that will be scheduled reasonably promptly after the filing of the Joint Proposed Pretrial Order. The attorneys appearing at the conference shall be prepared to address the merits of all the issues raised in the Joint Proposed Pretrial Order and fully briefed Motions in Limine. Unless one has already been established the Court will establish a firm trial date at the Pretrial Conference and will issue the Final Pretrial Order with any additional instructions for trial preparation. R. The parties shall file with the Joint Proposed Pretrial Order the following: (1) A joint stipulated Statement of the Case to be read to the jury and included in the jury questionnaire. If the parties have any disagreement about the statement, the party proposing the statement will set it forth in the joint pleading. The party objecting shall set forth the reason for the objection below the statement and offer an alternative statement. (2) A joint stipulated set of voir dire questions to be added to the Courts standard questionnaire and/or to be given by the Court. The parties are to designate whether the proposed questions are to be added to the questionnaire or are to be asked by the Court orally in court. The voir dire

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questions shall be drafted in a neutral manner. If the parties have any disagreements about a particular question, the parties proposing the question shall set it forth in the joint pleading. The party objecting shall set for the reason for their objection below the question and offer alternative questions. (3) Joint stipulated jury instructions. The instructions shall be accompanied by citations to legal authority. If the parties have any disagreement about particular instructions, the party proposing the instruction will set it fourth in the joint pleading. The party objecting shall set forth the reason for the objection an offer an alternative instruction. (4) A joint stipulated form of verdict. If the parties have any disagreement about the form of verdict, the party proposing the form will set it forth in the joint pleading. The party objecting shall set forth the reason for the objection and offer an alternative form of verdict. (5) A Trial Memorandum of Law for each party. The memorandum shall be brief but must address all questions of law, including evidentiary issues that the party anticipates will arise at trial. (6) Motions in Limine in anticipation of the evidentiary issues to be raised at the trial, responses are due within fifteen days. No replies are allowed unless ordered by the Court.

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(7) 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. (8) The party's shall submit their propose voir dire questionnaire and questions, statement of the case, jury instructions and form a verdict on a 1.4 4K high density IBM-PC compatible computer disk in WordPerfect 9.0 format, in addition to other written materials filed with the clerk of the court. This court views compliance with provisions of this quarter as foothold to its case management responsibilities and responsibilities of the parties under FRCP 1. DATED this 9th day of December, 2005.

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