Adelman et al v. Boy Scouts of America et al

Filing 190

Notice of Court Practice re Discovery Procedures for Magistrate Judge Goodman. Entered by Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman on 4/11/2011. (eg)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
MAGISTRATE JUDGE GOODMAN’S DISCOVERY PROCEDURES
The following discovery procedures apply to all civil cases assigned to
United States District Judge Alan S. Gold.
OVERALL STATEMENT
The procedures are designed to help the Parties and the Court work together
to timely resolve discovery disputes without undue delay and unnecessary expense.
MEET AND CONFER
Counsel must actually confer (in person or via telephone) and engage in
reasonable compromise in a genuine effort to resolve their discovery disputes
before filing discovery motions. In other words, there must be an actual
conversation before a discovery motion is filed. If counsel refuses to participate
in a conversation, then the movant shall so state in the required certificate of
conference and outline the efforts made to have a conversation.
The Court may impose sanctions, monetary or otherwise, if it determines
discovery is being improperly sought, is being withheld in bad faith or if a party
fails to confer in good faith. Sending an email or telefax to opposing counsel with
a demand that a discovery response or position be provided on the same day will
rarely, if ever, be deemed a good faith effort to confer before filing a discovery
motion.
DISCOVERY MOTIONS
If, after conferring, the parties are unable to resolve their discovery disputes
without Court intervention, then the moving party shall file a motion, no longer
than 5 pages (not counting the signature block and certificate of service).
The 5-page limit does not mean that parties are expected to file a motion of 5
pages. Instead, the parties should be governed by the “less-is-more” philosophy.
The purpose of the motion is merely to frame the discovery issues and succinctly
explain the dispute.

The moving party may attach as exhibits to the motion materials relevant to
the discovery dispute. For example, if the dispute concerns interrogatories, the
interrogatory responses (that restate the interrogatories) shall be filed, with some
indication of which interrogatories remain in dispute. Because the parties may
attach relevant discovery as an exhibit to the motion, compliance with the
requirement (in Local Rule 26.1(h) (2) or (3)) to state the specifics of the written
discovery requests at issue is not required. The movant shall include in the
motion a certificate of good faith that complies with S.D. Fla. L. R. 7.1 (A) (3).
Counsel shall also deliver a courtesy hard copy of the motion and tabbed
exhibits to Judge Goodman’s chambers at the time of filing.
Once a discovery motion is filed, the Court will review the motion and either
order a response, schedule the motion for a discovery conference/hearing or enter a
ruling. No written responses to the motion are permitted absent specific court
order.
The Court will designate one day per week for a discovery calendar and will
therefore usually be able to timely schedule a hearing/conference (if one is
appropriate).
RESPONSES TO MOTIONS
If the Court decides that a response is appropriate, then the responding party
shall file a response to the discovery motion within the time frame ordered by the
Court, or, if the Court sets the motion for a discovery conference, no later than the
close of business three business days before the discovery conference noticed by
the Court. The response shall be limited to 3 pages (not counting the signature
block and certificate of service). The responding party may attach as exhibits
materials relevant to the discovery dispute, as referenced above. Counsel shall
also deliver a courtesy hard copy of the response and tabbed exhibits to Judge
Goodman’s chambers at the time of filing.
No reply memoranda are permitted absent specific court order. The
Court anticipates that it will rarely conclude that a reply may be filed.
These procedures do not relieve parties from the requirements of any Federal
Rule of Civil Procedure or Local Rule, except as noted above.
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HEARINGS
Counsel must provide opposing counsel with citations to all cases and other
authority which counsel intends to cite at the hearing at least 2 business days
before the hearing. If a hearing/conference is scheduled, then the Court
anticipates that it will be able to do so within 7 to 10 days of receiving a hard copy
of the motion.
PRE-HEARING DISCUSSIONS
The mere fact that the Court has scheduled a discovery hearing/conference
does not mean that the parties should no longer try to resolve the dispute. To the
contrary, the parties are encouraged to continually pursue settlement of disputed
discovery matters. If those efforts are successful, then counsel should contact
Judge Goodman’s chambers as soon as practicable so that the hearing can be
timely canceled. Alternatively, if the parties resolve some, but not all, of their
issues before the hearing, then counsel shall also timely contact chambers and
provide notice about those issues which are no longer in dispute (so that the Court
and its staff do not unnecessarily work on matters which became moot).
EXPENSES, INCLUDING ATTORNEY’S FEES
The Court reminds the parties and counsel that Fed. R. Civ. Pro. 37 (a) (5)
requires the Court to award expenses, including fees, unless an exception (such as
the existence of a substantially justified, albeit losing, discovery position) applies
to the discovery dispute and ruling.
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