Fokum v. Co-Operative Adjustment Bureau, Inc.

Filing 27

ORDER FOR PRETRIAL PREPARATION: Amended Pleadings due by 8/8/2013. Fact Discovery due by 3/14/2014. Motions due by 5/13/2014. Pretrial Conference set for 7/15/2014 01:00 PM before Hon. Saundra Brown Armstrong. Jury Selection / Jury Trial (1 day) set for 7/21/2014 08:30 AM before Hon. Saundra Brown Armstrong. Signed by Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong on 8/8/2013. (ndr, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 8/8/2013)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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JAMES FOKUM,

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United States District Court
For the Northern District of California

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No. C 13-00811 SBA

Plaintiff,

ORDER FOR PRETRIAL
PREPARATION

v.
CO-OPERATIVE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU
INC,
Defendant.

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/

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Pursuant to Rule 16(e) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ("FRCP"), IT IS HEREBY
ORDERED AS FOLLOWS:

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A.

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The deadline for the joinder of other parties and to amend the pleadings is 8/8/2013.

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B.

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DEADLINE FOR JOINDER OF PARTIES/AMENDING THE PLEADINGS

DISCOVERY CUT-OFF

All discovery, except for expert discovery, shall be completed and all depositions
taken on or before 3/14/2014. The parties are responsible for scheduling discovery so that motions
to resolve discovery disputes can be heard before the above discovery cut-off.
C.

EXPERT DESIGNATION AND DISCOVERY

Plaintiff shall designate any experts by 3/14/2014; defendant by 3/14/2014; rebuttal
disclosure by 3/28/2014. Any expert not so named may be disallowed as a witness. No expert will
be permitted to testify to any opinion, or basis or support for an opinion, that has not been disclosed
in response to an appropriate question or interrogatory from the opposing party. Expert discovery
shall be completed by 4/11/2014.

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D.

MOTION CUT-OFF

All motions including dispositive motions shall be heard on or before 5/13/2014, at
1:00 p.m. The parties must meet and confer prior to filing any motion. The movant shall certify to
the Court in its moving papers that it has complied with this requirement. Should the parties fail to

meet and confer, the Court may decline to entertain the motion.
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THIS COURT DOES NOT RESERVE MOTION HEARING DATES. The
parties are advised to check Judge Armstrong's calendar at www.cand.uscourts.gov, under
Scheduling Information to determine the next available hearing date, particularly in the case of a
dispositive motion. The parties are advised not to wait until 35 days prior to the law and motion cutoff date to file and serve their motion. As the Court's law and motion calendar tends to fill quickly,
there is no guarantee that a hearing date within the law and motion cut-off date will be available.
You MUST submit a hard copy of all motion papers filed in E-FILED cases in order to be placed on
calendar.

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All noticed motions (other than motions for summary judgment) and any opposition
thereto, shall not exceed fifteen (15) pages in length, exclusive of the table of contents, table of
authorities, exhibits and declarations, if required. Reply briefs may not exceed ten (10) pages in
length. Motions for summary judgment are subject to the page limits set forth in Civil Local Rule 7.

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United States District Court
For the Northern District of California

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All parties are required to meet and confer before filing any motion or any nonstipulated request with this court, and to certify that they have complied with this requirement.
The failure of the opposing party to file a memorandum of points and authorities in
opposition to any motion shall constitute a consent to the granting of the motion.
Parties are limited to filing one motion for summary judgment. Any party wishing to
exceed this limit must request leave of Court. The parties are not required to file statements of
undisputed facts in connection with a motion for summary judgment. However, if the parties desire
to file a statement of undisputed facts, only one joint statement of undisputed facts signed by all
parties shall be filed. All separate statements will be stricken. If the parties are unable to agree that a
fact is undisputed, they should assume that fact is in dispute.
Note that pursuant to Civil L.R. 7-1(b), the Court may, in its discretion, adjudicate
motions without oral argument.

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E.

MANDATORY SETTLEMENT CONFERENCES

All parties are ordered to participate in a mandatory settlement conference during the
following time period: BETWEEN 5/19/2014 - 6/6/2014 BEFORE A MAGISTRATE JUDGE.

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F.

PRETRIAL CONFERENCE

All Counsel who will try the case shall appear for a pretrial conference in Courtroom
1 on 7/15/2014, at 1:00 p.m. All Counsel shall be fully prepared to discuss all aspects of the trial.
Failure to file the requisite pretrial documents in advance of the pretrial conference may result in
vacation of the pretrial conference and/or the imposition of sanctions. ALL PARTIES WITH
SETTLEMENT AUTHORITY ARE REQUIRED TO ATTEND THE PRETRIAL
CONFERENCE.

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G.

PRETRIAL PREPARATION DUE 6/10/2014

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1.
By no later than the above date, Counsel shall meet and confer in good faith in
advance of complying with the following pretrial requirements in order to clarify and narrow the
issues for trial, arrive at stipulations of facts, simplify and shorten the presentation of proof at trial,
and explore possible settlement. In addition, Counsel shall meet and confer regarding anticipated
motions in limine, objections to evidence, jury instructions, and any other matter which may require
resolution by the Court.
2.
The following matters shall be accomplished no later than twenty-eight (28)
calendar days prior to the pretrial conference:
a.

Joint Pretrial Statement

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Counsel are required to file a pretrial conference statement containing
the following information:

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(1)

The Action

United States District Court
For the Northern District of California

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(A) Substance of the Action. A brief description of the substance of
claims and defenses which remain to be decided

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(B) Relief Prayed. A detailed statement of all the relief claimed,
particularly itemizing all elements of damages claimed as well as witnesses, documents or other
evidentiary material to be presented concerning the amount of those damages.

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(2)

The Factual Basis of the Action

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(A) Undisputed Facts. A plain and concise statement of all relevant
facts not reasonably disputable, as well as which facts parties will stipulate for incorporation into the
trial record without the necessity of supporting testimony or exhibits.

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(B) Disputed Factual Issues. A plain and concise statement of all
disputed factual issues which remain to be decided.

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(C) Agreed Statement. A statement assessing whether all or part of
the action may be presented upon an agreed statement of facts.

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(D) Stipulations. A statement of stipulations requested or proposed
for pretrial or trial purposes.

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(3)
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DISPUTED LEGAL ISSUES

(A) Points of Law. Without extended legal argument, a concise
statement of each disputed point of law concerning liability or relief, citing supporting statutes and
decisions. Unless otherwise ordered, parties should cite to briefs served and lodged setting forth
briefly the nature of each party's contentions concerning each disputed point of law, including
procedural and evidentiary issues.

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(B) Proposed Conclusions of law. If the case is to be tried without
jury, unless otherwise ordered, parties should briefly indicate objections to proposed conclusions of
law lodged with this Court.

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United States District Court
For the Northern District of California

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b.

Trial Briefs

Each party shall serve and file a trial brief which shall briefly state
their contentions, the relevant facts to be proven at trial, and the law on the issues material to the
decision.

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c.

Findings of Fact

In non-jury cases, each party shall serve and lodge with the Court
proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law on all material issues. Findings shall be brief,
clear, written in plain English and free of pejorative language, conclusions and argument.

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d.

Witnesses

Each party shall serve and file with the Court a list of all persons who
may be called as witnesses, other than solely for impeachment or rebuttal, together with a summary
of the substance of each witness' proposed testimony.

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e.

Designation of Discovery Excerpts

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Each party expecting to use discovery excerpts as part of its case in
chief shall serve and file with the Court a statement identifying (1) by witness and page and line, all
deposition testimony and (2) by lodged excerpt, all interrogatory answers and request for admissions
to be used as part of its direct case. Each interrogatory answer intended to be offered as an exhibit
shall be copied separately and marked as an exhibit. The original of any deposition to be used at
trial must be produced at the time of trial, as well as a copy for the Court. Counsel shall indicate any
objections to the use of these materials and advise the Court that counsel has conferred respecting
such objections.

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f.

Jury Instructions

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The parties shall file a joint set of proposed jury instructions as to
those instructions on which the parties have reached agreement. As to any disputed instructions,
each party shall separately submit its "proposed" instruction(s) supported by a memorandum setting
forth the authority for its use. Responses or objections to any "proposed" jury instruction shall be
filed no later than the date of the pretrial conference. All instructions shall be written in plain
English which is comprehensible to jurors, concise and free of argument, and shall be organized in a
logical fashion so as to aid jury comprehension, and are also to be provided on a CD in word format.
The Court's practice is to utilize, whenever possible, instruction's found in the Ninth Circuit Manual
of Model Jury Instructions.

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g.

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Jury Voir Dire and Verdict Forms
Each party shall submit proposed questions for jury voir dire and a

proposed form of verdict.

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h.

United States District Court
For the Northern District of California

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Exhibits

Each party shall provide every other party one set of all exhibits,
charts, schedules, summaries and diagrams and other similar documentary materials to be used at the
trial together with a complete list of all such exhibits. The Court requires one original version of
exhibits (as described above) for the Clerk and two copies (one for the Bench and one for the
witness stand). All such versions of the exhibits, including the originals, should be indexed into a
binder for easy and quick reference by all parties. The first page of each binder should have a copy
of the exhibit list appropriately completed with each exhibit description and its designated number.
Plaintiffs shall refer to their exhibits numerically and Defendants shall label theirs alphabetically.
Exhibit labels and exhibit lists are available at the Courts website.(www.cand.uscourts.gov)
Exhibits should be brought to Court on the first day of trial.

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3.
Motions in Limine and Objections to Evidence due: 6/17/2014. Each party
anticipating making motion(s) in limine and/or objection(s) to any testimony or exhibits expected to
be offered shall file and serve a statement briefly identifying each item objected to and the grounds
for the objection.

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4.
Responses to motions in limine or objections to evidence shall be filed and
served by: 6/24/2014.

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5.

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Replies to motions in limine or objections to evidence shall be filed and

served by: 7/1/2014.
All motions in limine shall be set forth in a single memorandum, not to exceed ten (10) pages in
length. Responses to the motions in limine shall be set forth in a single memorandum, not to exceed
ten (10) pages in length. Reply briefs shall not exceed six(6) pages. Any request to exceed the page
limit must be submitted prior to the deadline for these briefs and must be supported by a showing of
good cause, along with a certification that the applicant has met and conferred with the opposing
party.
H.

TRIAL DATE
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Trial before the will begin on 7/21/2014, at 8:30 a.m., for an estimated 1 trial day, or
as soon thereafter as the Court may designate. The parties are advised that they must be prepared to
go to trial on a trailing basis. The trial will take place in Courtroom 1 of the United States
Courthouse, 1301 Clay Street, 4th Floor, Oakland, California, 94612. The Court's trial hours are
from 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., with two fifteen-minute breaks, on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and
Friday. On the first day of trial all parties are required to have someone in Court with full
Settlement Authority.

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United States District Court
For the Northern District of California

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I.

If transcripts will be requested during or immediately after the trial, arrangements
must be made with the Court Reporter Coordinator (Telephone No. 510-637-3534) at least one week
prior to the commencement of trial.
J.

STATUS AND DISCOVERY CONFERENCES

Any party desiring to confer with the Court may, upon notice to all other parties,
arrange a conference through the courtroom deputy (Telephone No. 510-637-3541). Conferences
may be conducted telephonically, upon request (preferably in writing).
K.

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TRANSCRIPTS

SANCTIONS
Failure to comply with this order may result in the imposition of sanctions pursuant to

FRCP 16(f).

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
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Dated: 8/8/2013
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SAUNDRA BROWN ARMSTRONG

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United States District Judge

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United States District Court
For the Northern District of California

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