Chadwick v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company

Filing 128

ORDER: Status report 125 appreciated; the Court applauds the parties' collaboration; the proposed notice and distribution methods are approved with tweaks as noted in the Order; appointing Epiq Class Action and Claim Solutions Inc. as the class administrator. The Court has attached a draft Amended Final Scheduling Order to this Order and directs the parties to file a joint status report with comments on the draft by 6/14/2024. Signed by Judge D. P. Marshall Jr. on 6/5/2024. (jak)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS
CENTRAL DIVISION
ROSE CHADWICK, on behalf of herself
and all others similarly situated
v.

PLAINTIFF

No. 4:21-cv-1161-DPM

STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE
INSURANCE COMPANY

DEFENDANT

ORDER
Notice, Doc. 125, appreciated. The Court applauds the parties’
collaboration.

The proposed notice and distribution methods are

approved with tweaks as noted below.
 Delete “and a hearing” from the last sentence of the “What has
happened in the Class Action so far?” paragraph in the proposed
email and long-form notice.
 Change the date to “March 18, 2024” in the first sentence of the
“The Court’s Class Certification Order” paragraph in the
proposed email and long-form notice.
 Add the link to the class administration website where
highlighted in the proposed notices and opt-out form.
 Insert the class administrator information where highlighted in
the proposed notices and opt-out form.
 Once the dates are finalized, add them in the highlighted places
in the proposed notices and opt-out form.

The Court appoints Epiq Class Action and Claim Solutions, Inc. as
the class administrator. The Court has attached a draft Amended Final
Scheduling Order which incorporates the parties’ suggested notice
distribution deadlines. Joint status report with the parties’ comments
on the draft due by 14 June 2024.
So Ordered.

________________________
D.P. Marshall Jr.
United States District Judge
5 June 2024

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS
CENTRAL DIVISION
ROSE CHADWICK, on behalf of herself and
all others similarly situated
v.

PLAINTIFF

4:21-cv-1161-DPM

STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE
INSURANCE COMPANY

DEFENDANT

DRAFT AMENDED FINAL SCHEDULING ORDER –
CLASS ACTION
Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16(b), the Court orders:
!

Deadline to request any
pleading amendment....................................................... PASSED

!

Discovery cutoff ............................................................... PASSED

!

Motions for summary judgment due ............................ PASSED

!

Defendant’s list of potential class members due ... 21 June 2024

!

Notices to be sent by ................................................... 22 July 2024

!

Opt out deadline ............................................. 23 September 2024

!

Motions1 due by ............................................. 22 November 2024

!

Deposition designations exchanged2...................... 7 March 2025
1

2

This deadline applies to motions to decertify the class, for sub-classes for
purposes of trial, to bifurcate trial on liability and damages, and Daubert
motions.
Note and follow the procedure specified infra.

!

Motions in limine due ................................................ 8 April 2025

!

Local Rule 26.2 pre-trial
disclosure sheets due ................................................... 8 May 2025

!

Joint report on deposition designation
disputes (if any) ............................................................ 8 May 2025

!

Trial briefs due ............................................................. 8 May 2025

!

Jury Instructions (agreed or disputed) due .............. 8 May 2025

!

Jury Trial on liability and damages,
Little Rock Courtroom 1A .......................................... 9 June 2025

!

Discovery Disputes. Counsel should confer in good faith in
person before bringing any discovery dispute to the Court. Do
not file motions to compel. Do not file a motion to quash or
for protective order unless there is an emergency. If the
parties reach a discovery impasse, they should file a joint report
explaining the disagreement.
File this paper under the
CM/ECF event called AJoint Report of Discovery Dispute@.
Your joint report must not exceed ten pages, excluding the style
and signature block. Each side gets five pages. Do not file a
motion asking for more pages. Use double spacing and avoid
footnotes.
Attach documents (such as disputed written
discovery or responses) as needed. Redact any attachments
as required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2 to protect
confidential information. File the joint report sufficiently
before the discovery cutoff so that the dispute can be resolved,
and any additional discovery completed, without undermining
other pretrial deadlines. The Court will rule or schedule a
hearing. Alert the law clerk on the case to the joint report=s
filing. If a dispute arises during a deposition, call chambers
so the Judge can rule during the deposition.

November 2019

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!

Deposition Designations. The Court strongly encourages
the parties to use live testimony, rather than testimony by
deposition, at trial. If the parties nonetheless need to use
deposition testimony, then they must use the following
procedure.
Thirty days before Local Rule 26.2 pre-trial
disclosure sheets are due, the parties should exchange
deposition designations. As soon as practicable thereafter,
counsel must meet and confer in person. They should try
hard to agree on what deposition testimony will be presented
at trial and resolve any objections. If any dispute or objection
remains unresolved, then the parties should file a joint report
explaining the dispute on the same date pre-trial disclosure
sheets are due. The parties must certify that they met and
conferred in person but failed to resolve the disputed issue.
The parties should also deliver to chambers a paper copy of the
entire transcript of any deposition involved in any dispute.

!

Jury Instructions. The Court will use its own introductory
and general instructions.
The parties should submit
proposed instructions only on elements and anything unusual
and proposed verdict forms. The Court strongly encourages
the parties to confer and agree on these instructions and forms.
The parties should also submit an agreed proposed statement
of the case. Note authority on the bottom of each proposed
instruction.
Please explain the reason for any disputed
instructions in your submission. Send agreed and disputed
instructions
in
WordPerfect
or
Word
to
[e-mail]. Alert the law clerk on the
case that you have submitted the instructions.

!

Exhibits. The Court strongly encourages the parties to agree
on as many of the exhibits as possible. Deliver the original
exhibits, and one copy, in three-ring binders to the Courtroom
Deputy on the Wednesday before trial starts. Please also
include an electronic copy, plus (on the Court’s forms) the

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exhibit and witness lists. Please also submit any audio or
video file in .mp3 or .mp4 format.
!

Courtroom Technology.
Before any pretrial, and as soon as
practicable before any hearing, counsel should contact the
courtroom deputy about technology needs.
She will
coordinate with the Court’s IT department. Any plan for use
of non-Court technology must be approved by the IT
department.

!

Pre-Trial Hearing. It will be set by separate notice. We will
address motions in limine, deposition excerpts for use at trial,
jury instructions, trial architecture, exhibits, and voir dire.

!

Conflicts Of Interest. Counsel must check the Court's recusal
list on file in the U.S. District Clerk's Office to determine
whether there is any conflict that might require recusal. If any
party is a subsidiary or affiliate of any company in which the
Court has a financial interest, counsel should bring that fact to
the Court's attention immediately.

Please communicate with Sherri Black, Courtroom Deputy, by email at [e-mail] to check your position on the
calendar as the trial date approaches. In the event of settlement,
advise Sherri Black immediately.
AT THE DIRECTION OF THE COURT
TAMMY H. DOWNS, CLERK
By: Sherri Black
Courtroom Deputy to
Judge D. P. Marshall Jr.
5 June 2024

November 2019

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