Cooke v. Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC

Filing 25

ORDER re 23 Scheduling Order.(Constantine, A.)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT
DENISE COOK,

:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:

Plaintiff,
V.
MERCEDES-BENZ USA, LLC,
Defendant.

Case No. 3:13cv1048(RNC)

SCHEDULING ORDER REGARDING CASE MANAGEMENT PLAN
Based on the parties' report [doc. #18], the following dates
are hereby adopted as reasonable and appropriate to serve the
purposes of Fed. R. Civ. P. 1:
1.

Pleadings and Joinder: The plaintiff shall have until October

1, 2013 to file motions to join additional parties and until
October 1, 2013 to file motions to amend the pleadings.

The

defendant shall have until December 16, 2013 to file motions to
join additional parties and until November 1, 2013 to file a
response to any amended complaint.

Any motion filed after this

date will be governed by the good cause standard of Fed. R. Civ. P.
16(b).
2.

Discovery Deadline:

relating

to

expert

All discovery, including all discovery

witnesses,

will

be

completed

(not

just

propounded) by November 13, 2014.
3.

Initial Disclosures: The parties will make the disclosures

required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(1) on or before September 17,

2013.
4.

Commencement of Formal Discovery: Initial interrogatories and

requests for production of documents will be served by October 12,
2013.
5.

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 August 1, 2014, and any such experts will be
deposed on or before September 15, 2014.

All such expert reports

will be disclosed by defendant on or before October 1, 2014, and
any such experts will be deposed by November 14, 2014.
6. Damages Analysis: Any party with a claim or counterclaim for
damages will serve a damage analysis on or before February 3, 2014.
7. 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.
timely

motion

in

accordance

with

this

Failure to file a

scheduling

order

may

constitute a waiver of the right to file a motion to compel.
NOTE: All discovery issues should be resolved in good faith by

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counsel in accordance with their obligations under the Federal and
Local Rules of Civil Procedure. Before filing any motion relating
to discovery, the parties are required to jointly confer with the
Court by telephone, 860-240-3659.
8.

Mandatory Settlement Conference: A settlement conference will

be scheduled for the month of December 2014.

Any party wishing to

have a settlement conference before then is encouraged to file a
motion that reflects the views of the other parties.
9.

Joint Trial Memorandum: A joint trial memorandum in the form

described in the attached Joint Trial Memorandum Instructions will
be filed on or before January 12, 2015.

Counsel signing the

memorandum must certify that it is the product of consultation
between the lawyers who will be trying the case.
10.

Trial Ready Date:

The case will be considered trial ready as

of February 2015.
11.

Dispositive Motions:

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

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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 October
1, 2014.

Failure to submit a timely request may 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.
12.

Joint Status Reports of Counsel:

A joint status report of

counsel will be submitted on or before December 12, 2013.

The

report will address the matters listed in the attached summary.
Joint status reports of counsel addressing those matters will be
submitted every 90 days thereafter until the case is resolved.
13.

Status Conference:

A telephonic status conference will be

conducted with Judge Chatigny on January 20, 2014 at 11:30 a.m.
14.

Extensions of Time:

All dates set forth in this order are

firm and will be extended only for good cause.
standard

requires

a

particularized
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showing

The good cause

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.
It is so ordered.
Dated at Hartford, Connecticut this13thday of September 2013.

/s/
Donna F. Martinez
United States Magistrate Judge

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STATUS REPORT INSTRUCTIONS

RE: CASE NO.3:13cv1048(RNC)
____________________________
TO: COUNSEL OF RECORD:
_____________________________
ON OR BEFORE December 12, 2013,

THE PARTIES SHALL FILE WITH THE COURT A JOINT STATUS REPORT,
STATING THE FOLLOWING:
a. THE STATUS OF THE CASE, IDENTIFYING ANY PENDING OR
ANTICIPATED MOTIONS AND ANY CIRCUMSTANCES POTENTIALLY INTERFERING
WITH THE PARTIES' COMPLIANCE WITH THE SCHEDULING ORDER, AS WELL AS
A DETAILED STATEMENT OF ALL DISCOVERY UNDERTAKEN TO DATE, INCLUDING
HOW MANY DEPOSITIONS EACH PARTY HAS TAKEN AND THE SPECIFIC
DISCOVERY THAT REMAINS TO BE COMPLETED;
b. ANY INTEREST IN REFERRAL FOR SETTLEMENT PURPOSES TO A
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE OR THE DISTRICT COURT'S SPECIAL
MASTERS PROGRAM;
c. WHETHER THE PARTIES WILL CONSENT TO EITHER A JURY TRIAL OR
A BENCH TRIAL BEFORE A MAGISTRATE JUDGE; AND
d. THE ESTIMATED LENGTH OF TRIAL.

BY ORDER OF THE COURT
ROBIN D. TABORA, CLERK

Joint Trial Memorandum Instructions
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, 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 supported by a brief
explanation of its position, including citation to applicable
authority.
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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.
f.
Courtroom Technology:
List all equipment to be
used during trial, including any equipment already installed in the
courtroom (see attached list), and any arrangements that have been
made for shared use of equipment; list any backup equipment that
will be available in the event of an equipment failure; identify
any presentation software to be used during trial, and state
whether each party is able to receive and use digital files of
presentation materials prepared by the other; and describe any
expected use of videoconferencing.

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Courtroom 3 Equipment List
Widescreen LCD Monitors at the following locations:
Counsel Tables
Witness Stand (Touch Annotation for marking documents)
Jury Box
Judge's Bench
Lectern (Touch Annotation for marking documents)
Court Reporter
Law Clerk
46" Wall mounted LCD Displays for Gallery Viewing
Document Came(Elmo)
Blu-Ray/DVD Player
VGA & HDMI Inputs at Lectern
VGA & HDMI Inputs at Counsel Tables

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