Soriano v. Hyundai Motor America et al

Filing 69

Trial Procedures ORDER, by Magistrate Judge Michael E. Hegarty on 10/29/2014. (slibi, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
Magistrate Judge Michael E. Hegarty
Civil Action No. 14-cv-01334-MEH
KEITH SORIANO,
Plaintiff,
v.
HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA, a foreign corporation,
HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY, a foreign corporation,
HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA CORPORATION, a foreign corporation,
AVIS RENT A CAR SYSTEM, LLC, a foreign corporation,
AVIS RENT A CAR SYSTEM, INC., a foreign corporation,
AVIS RENT A CAR, a foreign corporation or business entity, and
PV HOLDING CORP.,
Defendants.

TRIAL PROCEDURES ORDER
______________________________________________________________________________
Michael E. Hegarty, United States Magistrate Judge.
The following procedures and orders supplement the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and
the local rules of this court. In order to fairly and efficiently try the merits of each case, the
following ORDERS apply.
I.

Final Pretrial Conference

The Final Pretrial Conference will be held on August 27, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. in Courtroom
A-501, on the fifth floor of the Alfred A. Arraj United States Courthouse located at 901 19th Street,
Denver, Colorado.
The parties shall submit their proposed pretrial order, pursuant to District of Colorado
Electronic Case Filing (“ECF”) Procedures V.L. no later than five (5) business days prior to the
pretrial conference. The proposed pretrial order to be submitted to the Magistrate Judge under the
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ECF Procedures must be submitted in a useable format (i.e., WordPerfect or Word only) and shall
be emailed to the Magistrate Judge at [e-mail].
Attorneys and/or pro se parties not participating in ECF shall submit their proposed pretrial
order on paper to the Clerk’s Office. However, if any party in this case is participating in ECF, it
is the responsibility of that party to submit the proposed pretrial order pursuant to the District of
Colorado ECF Procedures.
The parties shall prepare the proposed pretrial order in accordance with the form which may
be downloaded in richtext format from the forms section of the court’s website at
http://www.cod.uscourts.gov/Forms.aspx. Instructions for downloading in richtext format are posted
in the forms section of the website.
All out-of-state counsel shall comply with D.C. Colo. LCivR 83.3C prior to the pretrial
conference.
I.

Trial Preparation Conference

The Trial Preparation Conference will be held on Friday, October 1, 2015, at 10:00 a.m.
The matters due on or before that date are as follows:
1.

Exhibits: The parties are to meet and confer to establish a single exhibit list utilizing
numbers. The exhibit list shall be electronically filed under the Court’s Electronic
Filing Procedures1 and a copy e-mailed as an attachment in WordPerfect or Word
format to me at [e-mail] three (3) business days
before the trial preparation conference. Stipulations as to authenticity and
admissibility shall be set forth on the exhibit list.

2.

Objections to Exhibits: Each party shall electronically file objections to exhibits
under the Court’s Electronic Filing Procedures and a copy e-mailed as an attachment
in Word or WordPerfect format to me at [e-mail]
three (3) business days before the trial preparation conference. The objections shall
state in a clear and concise fashion the evidentiary grounds for the objection and the
legal authority supporting such objection. Two copies of the objections are to be
provided at the trial preparation conference.

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See the Court’s Electronic Case Filing Procedures, Civil Case, Version 5.1, § V, which
may be accessed on the Court’s website.
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3.

4.

Deposition testimony. In the event deposition testimony will be used, opposing
counsel must be given notice of each page and line intended to be used ten (10)
business days prior to the trial preparation conference. Opposing counsel may then
cross-designate testimony. The parties will meet and confer regarding the method
of designating testimony so that it can be efficiently presented at trial. Any
objections to the testimony must be marked on a copy of the transcript and provided
to the court three (3) business days before the trial preparation conference.
Objections to deposition testimony will be ruled on prior to trial.

5.

Motions in limine: Motions in limine are to be electronically filed under the Court’s
Electronic Filing Procedures and a copy e-mailed as an attachment in WordPerfect
or Word format to me at [e-mail] no later than twenty
(20) calendar days before the trial preparation conference. Responses to motions
in limine shall be so filed and e-mailed five (5) business days before the trial
preparation conference.

6.

Trial Briefs: Trial briefs shall be filed at or before the trial preparation conference.
Trial briefs are limited to 20 pages. Parties are free to include evidentiary issues as
well as the substantive law governing the case.

7.

II.

Witness Lists: At the trial preparation conference, counsel shall provide their final
witness lists (and two copies) with an estimate of each witness’ direct examination
testimony time. Each witness designated shall be counsel’s representation, upon
which opposing counsel can rely, that the witness will be present and available for
testimony at trial. Of course, either party is not required to call a particular witness;
listing the witness only assures their availability.

Proposed Voir Dire: As the Court has noted, the parties will be permitted
approximately 15 minutes each for voir dire. In order to make this aspect of the trial
more efficient, proposed voir dire questions that the Court will ask shall be filed
electronically under the Court’s Electronic Filing Procedures and a copy e-mailed
as an attachment in WordPerfect or Word format to me at
[e-mail] on or before the date of the trial preparation
conference.

Prior to Trial
1.

Use of courtroom technology: Thirty (30) calendar days before trial, counsel shall
notify my courtroom deputy, Cathy Coomes, of any need for special accommodation
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for any attorney, party or witness, any need for technological equipment, such as
videoconferencing, or equipment needed for the presentation of evidence using CDROM or other electronic presentation of evidence.
2.

III.

Jury instructions: Ten (10) business days prior to trial, proposed instructions and
proposed verdict forms shall be filed electronically under the Court’s Electronic
Filing Procedures and a copy e-mailed as an attachment in WordPerfect or Word
format to me at [e-mail]. The email attachments shall
contain two versions of proposed substantive jury instructions, one with authority
and one without authority. These instructions shall be considered “opposed.”
Counsel shall meet and confer concerning instructions and shall submit,
independently and utilizing the deadline and the procedure set forth in this
paragraph, a set of stipulated instructions (including, to the extent possible, any
preliminary instruction(s) to be read before the commencement of trial; stock
instructions; a stipulated facts instruction; and instructions on the substantive law
governing the case). Thus, there will be three sets of instructions submitted to the
Court: Those stipulated by the parties; instructions proposed by the Plaintiff but
opposed by the Defendant; and instructions proposed by the Defendant but opposed
by the Plaintiff.

First Day of Trial
1.

Trial is set for ten (10) days, to a jury, beginning on October 5, 2015, at 9:00 a.m.
in Courtroom A501 on the fifth floor of the Alfred A. Arraj United States Courthouse
located at 901 19th Street, Denver, Colorado.

2.

Provide three copies of witness lists to courtroom deputy and one to opposing
counsel.

3.

Provide three copies of the exhibit list to the courtroom deputy.

4.

Original exhibits, properly marked and tabbed, each exhibit numbered sequentially,
each page within an exhibit numbered sequentially, filed in one or more notebooks
shall be given to the courtroom deputy and to the Court. There is no requirement to
provide separate notebooks for the jurors, as the parties have represented that
exhibits shall be published to the jury by means of the courtroom technology. At the
conclusion of trial, the jury will receive the exhibit notebook maintained by the
courtroom deputy.

5.

Submit an original list of any stipulated facts and two copies.
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IV.

General Information
1.

My courtroom deputy’s name is Molly Davenport, who can be reached at (303) 3352090. Any questions concerning exhibits or courtroom equipment may be directed
to her. The proceedings will be digitally recorded. Any request for transcripts
should be directed to the courtroom deputy. Extraordinary requests, such as for daily
copy, should be made at least 30 days in advance of the trial date.

2.

My law clerks are Kristina James and Alex Harpp and can be reached at (303) 8444507.

3.

In jury trials, instructions are given after closing arguments. Copies of written
instructions will be given to the jury for its deliberations.

Dated at Denver, Colorado this 29th day of October, 2014.
BY THE COURT:

Michael E. Hegarty
United States Magistrate Judge

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