Chapter 1, The Retired Enlisted Association, Inc. v. Auto-Owners Insurance Company,

Filing 50

AMENDED CIVIL TRIAL PROCEDURES ORDER by Magistrate Judge Kristen L. Mix on 5/22/15. # 42 Civil Trial Procedures Order amended to reflect language regarding electronic exhibits. (lgale, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
Civil Action No. 14-cv-01905-KLM
CHAPTER 1, THE RETIRED ENLISTED ASSOCIATION, INC., a Colorado non-profit
corporation,
Plaintiff,
v.
AUTO-OWNERS INSURANCE COMPANY, a Michigan corporation,
Defendant.

SECOND AMENDED CIVIL TRIAL PROCEDURES ORDER
(effective June 1, 2015)

_____________________________________________________________________
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 Court ORDERS as follows:
I. Final Pretrial Conference/Trial Preparation Conference (“FPTC/TPC”)
1. Date. The FPTC/TPC will be held on January 28, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. in
Courtroom A401, Fourth Floor, Alfred A. Arraj United States Courthouse, 901 19th Street,
Denver, Colorado. Trial counsel must attend in person.
2. Deadline for filing proposed Final Pretrial Order. The proposed Final Pretrial
Order is due on January 21, 2016.
3. Instructions for preparation of Proposed Final Pretrial Order. The parties
must use the form of proposed Final Pretrial Order available on the court’s website and as
an attachment to the Local Rules, with the following changes:
- section 6(a)(3) and (b)(3) must be modified to include a statement about
proposed use of videotaped and non-videotaped deposition testimony.
- section 7(b) must be deleted.
II. Pretrial Deadlines
1

1. Exchange of exhibit and witness lists. The parties must exchange exhibit and
witness lists fourteen (14) days before the FPTC/TPC. Exhibit lists must identify all exhibits
by Bates numbers. Witness lists must identify “will call” witnesses and “may call”
witnesses.
2. Objections to exhibits and witnesses. The parties must file all objections to
exhibits and witnesses three (3) days before the FPTC/TPC.
3. Trial briefs. The parties may file Trial Briefs ten (10) days before trial.
4. Motions in limine. Motions in limine are discouraged. Instead, the parties may
flag evidentiary issues in their trial briefs. Motions to exclude expert testimony must be filed
thirty (30) days after the rebuttal expert witness disclosure deadline set forth in the
Scheduling Order.
5. Proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law. In trials to the Court, the
parties must file proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law five (5) court business
days before trial.
6. Proposed jury instructions. In jury trials, the parties must file proposed jury
instructions ten (10) days before trial. Proposed jury instructions must be in WordPerfect
or Word format and include citations of relevant authority in footnotes.
7. Special accommodations. Counsel must notify my courtroom deputy of any
need for special accommodations for any attorney, party or witness, and any need for
technological equipment for videoconferencing or electronic presentation of evidence no
later than thirty (30) days before trial.
8. Settlement. Pursuant to D.C.COLO.LCivR 54.2, counsel must notify the court
clerk and my Chambers of a settlement before twelve o’clock noon on the last court
business day before the scheduled trial date. The assessment of jury costs may be
imposed as a consequence of noncompliance with this instruction.
III. First Day of Trial
1. Witness lists. Three copies of each party’s witness list must be provided to the
courtroom deputy and one copy to opposing counsel.
2. Exhibit lists. Three copies of each party’s exhibit list must be provided to the
courtroom deputy and one copy to opposing counsel.
3. Exhibit notebooks (hard copy exhibits).
A.

If a party is presenting documentary evidence by hard copy and not
2

electronically, the party must prepare an exhibit notebook or
notebooks containing original exhibits, properly marked and tabbed,
with pages of each exhibit numbered. The notebook or notebooks
must be provided to the courtroom deputy.
B.

Similar notebooks with exhibit copies must be provided to the court
and to opposing counsel. Pages of each exhibit must be numbered.

C.

In jury trials, a party must provide notebooks containing copies of
exhibits for each juror. Pages of each exhibit must be numbered.
Stipulated exhibits may be placed in the jurors’ notebooks prior to trial.
Any other exhibit may be published to the jury for placement in juror
notebooks following the exhibit’s admission into evidence at trial.

4. Discs (electronic exhibits). If a party is presenting documentary exhibits
electronically, the party must prepare a disc or discs containing copies of all exhibits for use
at trial. Copies of the disc or discs must be provided to the courtroom deputy and opposing
counsel. Prior to closing arguments (if possible), the party must prepare a disc containing
only those exhibits admitted into evidence for jurors’ use during deliberations.
5. List of stipulated facts. Plaintiff must provide an original list of any stipulated
facts to the court and two copies to the courtroom deputy.
IV. General Information
1. Voir dire. Counsel will be permitted to conduct voir dire of potential jurors, if trial
is to a jury, for a specified amount of time, to be determined at the Trial Preparation
Conference. Accordingly, counsel should be prepared to conduct voir dire at trial as they
deem appropriate.
2. Courtroom Deputy. My courtroom deputy’s name is Laura Galera. She can be
reached at [phone]. Any questions concerning exhibits or courtroom equipment
may be directed to her. If a court reporter is available, the proceedings will be transcribed
by the court reporter. If a court reporter is not available, 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.
3. Law Clerks. My law clerks can be reached at [phone]. Please do not
call them about issues which are handled by the courtroom deputy, as indicated in this
Order.
4. Witness salutations. At trial, all parties and witnesses must be addressed as
“Mr.”, “Mrs.”, “Ms.”, “Dr.”, etc. Informal references are not permitted except when children
3

are testifying.
5. Timing of giving of jury instructions. In jury trials, instructions will be given
prior to closing arguments. The jury will receive copies of written instructions for its
deliberations.
6. Trial dates. The jury trial is set for March 21-25, 2016, beginning at 9:30 a.m.
each day, in Courtroom A401, Fourth Floor, Alfred A. Arraj United States Courthouse, 901
19th Street, Denver, Colorado.
Dated: May 22, 2015

4