Tewell v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. et al

Filing 22

CIVIL TRIAL PROCEDURES ORDER Entered by Magistrate Judge Michael J. Watanabe on 9/15/2015. (emill)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
Civil Action No. 15-cv-01746-MJW
GENEVA C. TEWELL,
Plaintiff,
v.
WAL-MART STORES, INC., and
G&K SERVICES, INC.,
Defendants.

CIVIL TRIAL PROCEDURES ORDER

Entered by U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael J. Watanabe

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 Trial Preparation Conference with Trial Magistrate Judge
1. The parties are to exchange their pre-marked exhibits on the date set forth in
the final pretrial order. Plaintiff shall use numbers, and defendant shall use letters.
Exhibit lists and witness lists shall be electronically filed under the Court’s Electronic
Filing Procedures and a copy e-mailed as an attachment in Word or WordPerfect format
to me1 at [e-mail] on or before November 18, 2015.
Stipulations as to authenticity and admissibility shall be set forth on the exhibit lists.
Counsel shall be prepared to stipulate to the admissibility of exhibits at the final trial
preparation conference.
2. Prior to trial, the parties are to decide upon joint exhibits and thus avoid
duplication of exhibits and are to stipulate to the authenticity and admissibility of as
many exhibits as possible. If the parties agree on joint exhibits, one copy of a joint
exhibit list shall be electronically filed on or before November 18, 2015, with the court

1

See the Court’s Electronic Case Filing Procedures, Civil Case, Version 6.0,
which may be accessed on the Court’s website.

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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]. Two
copies of a joint exhibit list shall be provided to me at the final trial preparation
conference.
3. 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] on or before
November 18, 2015. The objections shall state in a clear and concise fashion the
evidentiary grounds for the objection and the legal authority supporting such objection. If
the authority is a Federal Rule of Evidence, the Rule is to be cited; if the authority is
case law, a copy of the case shall be provided to the court. Two copies of the objections
are to be provided at the final trial preparation conference.
4. At the final trial preparation conference, counsel shall provide to the court their
final witness lists and two copies with an estimate of each witness’s direct examination
testimony time. Each witness designated as a “will call” witness shall be counsel’s
representation, upon which opposing counsel can rely, that the witness will be present
and available for testimony at trial.
5. Video-taped deposition testimony. In the event videotaped deposition
testimony will be used, opposing counsel must be given notice of each page and line
intended to be used on or before November 6, 2015. Any objections to the testimony
must be marked on a copy of the transcript and provided to the court on or before
November 18, 2015. Objections to videotaped testimony will be ruled on prior to trial to
allow for editing of the videotape to be presented to the jury.
6. Any stipulated amendments to the pretrial order are to be electronically filed
on or before November 18, 2015, under the Court’s Electronic Filing Procedures and a
copy e-mailed as an attachment in Word or WordPerfect format to me at Watanabe
[e-mail]. Two copies shall be presented at the final trial
preparation conference.
7. Motions in limine are to be electronically filed under the Court’s Electronic
Filing Procedures and a copy e-mailed as an attachment in Word or WordPerfect format
to me at Watanabe [e-mail] no later than November 18, 2015.
Counsel are advised that motions in limine are discouraged.
II. Prior to Trial
1. Thirty days before trial, counsel shall notify my courtroom deputy, Ellen
Miller [phone], of any need for special accommodation for any attorney, party or
witness, any need for technological equipment, such as videoconferencing, or
equipment needed for the presentation of evidence using CD-ROM or other electronic

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presentation of evidence.
2. Proposed voir dire questions, proposed jury instructions, and proposed verdict
forms shall be filed on or before November 18, 2015, electronically under the Court’s
Electronic Filing Procedures and a copy e-mailed as an attachment in Word or
WordPerfect format to me at Watanabe [e-mail]. The email
attachments shall contain two versions of proposed substantive jury instructions, one
with sources or authority and one without. In the alternative, counsel are to submit
instructions saved in richtext format (*.rtf) on a disc compatible with Word Perfect 6.1 or
higher, or Word 95 or 97. Counsel are to agree and submit two hard copy sets of
proposed stock instructions without authority but with yellow post-its citing the
applicable authority on one copy. Counsel will be given a limited amount of time to voir
dire the jury following the court’s questions. The Court will seat eight (8) jurors in this
case.
3. Trial briefs, if any, are to be electronically filed 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] no later than November 18, 2015.
4. Pursuant to D.C.COLO.LCivR. 54.2, in order to avoid the assessment of jury
costs, counsel must notify the court clerk and the trial magistrate judge’s chambers of a
settlement before twelve o’clock noon Mountain Time on the last business day before
the scheduled trial date.
5. Deposition testimony. Counsel are to advise each other of the proposed
deposition testimony offered by page and line reference on or before November 6,
2015, so that opposing counsel can prepare objections and offer additional portions of
the transcript. Objections and portions of each deposition shall be filed with the Court
on or before November 18, 2015. The court will not provide a person to read the
deposition testimony at trial. Each party shall provide a reader for any deposition
testimony at trial.
III. First Day of Trial
1. Provide three copies of witness lists to courtroom deputy and one to opposing
counsel.
2. Submit the exhibit list to opposing counsel and three copies to the courtroom
deputy.
3. Original exhibits, properly marked and tabbed, with pages of each exhibit
numbered filed in one or more notebooks shall be given to the courtroom deputy.
Similar notebooks with exhibit copies shall be provided to the court and to opposing
counsel. Exhibits with more than one page shall have each page numbered on the
bottom right-hand corner.

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4. Copies of Exhibits for Jurors. Each party may provide notebooks for juror
exhibits. Those exhibits which have been stipulated into evidence may be placed in the
jurors’ notebooks prior to trial. Additional exhibits may be published to the jury for
placement in juror notebooks following the exhibit’s admission into evidence at trial.
Blank pages may be inserted into juror notebooks so that jurors may take notes of the
proceedings.
5. Submit an original list of any stipulated facts and two copies.
IV. General Information
1. My courtroom deputy’s name is Ellen Miller, who can be reached at
[phone]. Any questions concerning exhibits or courtroom equipment may be
directed to her. The proceedings will be digitally recorded or a court reporter will be
present. 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, Alison Andrews and Joseph Peters, may speak to counsel only
pursuant to my specific directions. Please do not call my law clerks about procedural or
scheduling matters.
3. At trial, all parties and witnesses shall be addressed as “Mr.”, “Mrs.”, “Ms.”,
“Dr.”, etc. Informal references are not authorized except when children are testifying.
4. In jury trials, instructions are given prior to closing arguments. Copies of
written instructions and verdict forms will be given to the jury for its deliberations.
5. Trial is set for five (5) days to a jury of eight (8) beginning at 8:00 a.m. on
November 30, 2015, in Courtroom A-502, Fifth Floor, Alfred A. Arraj U.S. Courthouse,
901 19th Street, Denver, Colorado, 80294.
6. The final trial preparation conference is set on November 20, 2015, at 8:30
a.m. in Courtroom A-502, Fifth Floor, Alfred A. Arraj U.S. Courthouse, 901 19th Street,
Denver, Colorado.

DATED this 15th day of September, 2015.
BY THE COURT:
s/ Michael J. Watanabe
Michael J. Watanabe
United States Magistrate Judge