Sebastian Holdings Inc v. Kugler et al

Filing 151

ORDER granting 150 Joint Motion to Amend Scheduling Order. Motion to Dismiss due by 8/31/11, Fact Discovery due by 4/1/2012, Expert discovery due by 7/31/12, Prefiling Conference Requests due by 9/1/12, Joint Status Report of counsel due by 8/15/2011, Trial Ready Date 11/1/2012, Joint Trial Memorandum due by 10/15/2012. See attached order. Signed by Judge Donna F. Martinez on 8/2/11. (Nichols, J.)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT
SEBASTIAN HOLDINGS, INC.,
Plaintiff,
v.
MICHAEL J. KUGLER, ET AL.,
Defendants.

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CASE NO. 3:08CV1131(RNC)

AMENDED SCHEDULING ORDER
Based on the parties’ report (doc. #125) and the court's
review of the case, the following dates are hereby adopted as
reasonable and appropriate to serve the purposes of Rule 1 of the
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure:
Pleadings: The defendants’ proposed Motions to Dismiss shall
be filed on or before August 31, 2011.

The defendants’ Answers

shall be filed within 30 days after a ruling on the Motions to
Dismiss or, if no motions are filed, by September 15, 2011.

Any

motion to amend the pleadings or join parties will be governed by
the good cause standard of Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b).
Discovery will not be stayed pending a ruling on the Motions
to Dismiss and, in light of the age of the case, motions to
extend discovery deadlines will be viewed with disfavor.
Damages Analysis: Any party with a claim or counterclaim for
damages will serve a damages analysis on or before May 15, 2012.
Discovery Deadline: Fact discovery will be completed (not
propounded) by April 1, 2012. All discovery, including all

discovery relating to expert witnesses, will be completed (not
propounded) by July 31, 2012.
Discovery Relating To Expert Witnesses: An expert witness is
anyone, including a treating physician, who may be used at trial
to present evidence under Rules 702, 703, or 705 of the Federal
Rules of Evidence.

Unless otherwise ordered, a party intending

to call such a witness must disclose a report signed by the
witness containing the information required to be disclosed by
Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2)(B).

All such expert reports will be

disclosed by plaintiff on or before May 15, 2012. Defendant will
disclosed all such expert reports will be disclosed by defendant
on or before June 14, 2012.
Motions to Compel: Any motion for an order compelling
disclosure or discovery pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(a) must be
filed within 30 days after the due date of the response.

Failure

to file a timely motion in accordance with this scheduling order
constitutes a waiver of the right to file a motion to compel.
Mandatory Settlement Conference:

A settlement conference

will be scheduled for the month of August 2012.

Any party

wishing to have a settlement conference before then is encouraged
to file a motion that reflects the views of the other parties.
Joint Trial Memorandum: A joint trial memorandum in the form
described in the attached addendum will be filed on or before
October 15, 2012. Counsel signing the memorandum must certify
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that it is the product of consultation between the lawyers who
will be trying the case.
Trial Ready List:

The case will be placed on the trial

ready list for November 2012.
Dispositive Motions: Except for the Motion(s) to Dismiss to
be filed by August 31, 2011, no dispositive motion will be filed
unless a prefiling conference is requested.

Any request for a

prefiling conference must be submitted in the form of a letter to
the court (with copies to all counsel of record or pro se
parties) briefly describing the nature and basis of the proposed
motion.

Except in cases involving pro se parties, no request for

a prefiling conference may be submitted unless the attorney
making the request has conferred with other counsel of record and
discussed the proposed motion in a good faith effort to clarify
the issues, eliminate or reduce the area of controversy and
arrive at a mutually satisfactory resolution. Cf. D. Conn. L.
Civ. R. 37(2)(requiring counsel to confer before filing motions
relating to discovery disputes).

Except in cases involving pro

se parties, any request for a prefiling conference must include a
statement that the attorney submitting the request has conferred
with other counsel and must briefly describe the results of the
conference.

To be timely, any request for a prefiling conference

regarding a motion for summary judgment must be submitted on or
before September 1, 2012.

Failure to submit a timely request may

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result in a waiver of the right to file a summary judgment
motion.

If a summary judgment motion is filed, the joint trial

memorandum will be due 30 days after a ruling on the motion.
Joint Status Reports of Counsel:

A joint status report of

counsel will be submitted on or before November 15, 2011. The
report will address the matters listed in Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(c).
Joint status reports of counsel addressing those matters will be
submitted every 90 days thereafter until the matter is resolved.
Extensions of Time:

All dates set forth in this order are

firm and will be extended only for good cause.

The good cause

standard requires a particularized showing that despite due
diligence, the party seeking the extension could not comply with
this order.

Because of the importance of the discovery deadline

to the entire schedule, motions to extend the discovery deadline
will be viewed with disfavor.

A motion to extend the discovery

deadline will not be granted unless the movant shows that
discovery was commenced promptly and pursued with due diligence
in a good faith effort to comply with the deadline established by
this order.
Counsel will provide their clients with a copy of this
order.
SO ORDERED at Hartford, Connecticut this 2nd day of August,
2011.
____/s/________________________
Donna F. Martinez
United States Magistrate Judge
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT
Addendum
SEBASTIAN HOLDINGS, INC. V. MICHAEL J. KUGLER, ET AL.,
Case No. 3:08CV1131(RNC)
1.

Pursuant to the pretrial schedule that has been

established for this case, the case should be ready for trial by
November 1, 2012. Counsel should inform their clients that the
court intends to try the case at that time or as soon thereafter
as possible.
2.

The pretrial schedule reflects the parties' case

management plan and is intended to provide sufficient time to
enable the parties to properly prepare the case for resolution by
trial or settlement.

No deadline set forth in the pretrial

schedule will be extended or stayed except by order of the court.
Motions for extension of time pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(b)
and Local Civil Rule 7(b) will not be granted except for good
cause.

Any such motion must be filed in writing at least five

days before the deadline in question.
3.

Before a party files a motion to dismiss, motion for

summary judgment or motion for partial summary judgment, a
prefiling conference will be held.

A party wishing to file such

a motion will submit a letter to chambers requesting a conference
no later than 45 days before the discovery deadline.

No such

request will be granted unless the attorney making the request
has conferred with other counsel beforehand.

At the prefiling

conference, consideration will be given to the timing and
appropriateness of the motion, formulation and simplification of
the issues encompassed by the motion, avoidance of unnecessary
motion practice and other matters that might facilitate the just,
speedy and inexpensive determination of the action.

The

conference may be conducted by telephone.
4.

On or before October 15, 2012, the parties will jointly

prepare and file for approval by the Court a joint trial
memorandum.

Counsel signing the memorandum must certify that it

is the product of consultation between the lawyers who will be
trying the case. The memorandum will be in the form prescribed by
the District Court's Standing Order Regarding Trial Memoranda in
Civil Cases (see Local Rules of Civil Procedure), and must be
certified that it is a joint product of consultation between the
lawyers trying the case, with the following modifications:
a.

Witnesses:

Set forth the name and address of each

witness to be called at trial.

Provide a brief summary of the

anticipated testimony of each witness and an estimate of the
probable duration of his or her testimony (e.g. less than one
hour, two to three hours, one full day).

For each expert

witness, set forth the opinion to be expressed, a brief summary
of the basis of the opinion and a list of the materials on which
the witness intends to rely.

If a party objects to all or any

part of the anticipated testimony of any witness, lay or expert,

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the objection must be stated in this section of the joint
memorandum so that it can be addressed prior to trial.
b.

Exhibits:

The parties will prepare the list of

exhibits required by the Standing Order.

The list must

specifically identify each exhibit by providing a brief
description of the exhibit.

The exhibits will be listed in

numerical order starting with Plaintiff's Exhibit 1 and
Defendant’s Exhibit 1.

If a party has an objection with regard

to a designated exhibit, the objection must be stated in this
section of the joint memorandum or it will be waived.

Each party

will prepare an original set of exhibits, plus a duplicate copy
for the Court and every other party, marked with exhibit tags
provided by the Clerk.

The duplicate sets of exhibits must be

submitted to the Court not later than the day before the final
pretrial conference.

Counsel will retain the original set of

exhibits for use at trial.
c.

Jury Instructions:

In jury cases, the parties

will meet and confer for the purpose of preparing and filing
tailored

jury instructions on the elements of the parties’

claims and defenses.

The proposed instructions will be submitted

as an attachment to the joint trial memorandum.

If the parties

cannot agree as to the appropriateness of a particular
instruction, each party must submit a proposed instruction

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supported by a brief explanation of its position, including
citation to applicable authority.
d.

Anticipated Evidentiary Problems:

The parties

will attach motions in limine with memoranda of law concerning
any anticipated evidentiary problems.
e.

Verdict Form:

In jury cases the parties will

submit as an exhibit to the joint trial memorandum a proposed
verdict form suitable for submission to a jury.

The form may

require the jury to return a special verdict with special
findings as permitted by Fed. R. Civ. P. 49(a) or a general
verdict with or without written interrogatories as permitted by
Fed. R. Civ. P. 49(b).

If the parties are unable to agree as to

the appropriateness of a proposed form, the objecting party must
state the basis for the objection and provide an alternative
proposal.

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