Hilborn et al v. Metropolitan Group Property and Casualty Insurance Company

Filing 188

ORDER, ( Jury Trial set for 7/27/2015 10:00 AM in Coeur d Alene - District Courtroom before Judge B. Lynn Winmill., Telephonic Pretrial Conference set for 7/7/2015 03:30 PM in Telephonic Hearing - Boise Chambers before Judge B. Lynn Winmill. The p arties shall notify the Court on or before June2, 2015 that the case has either settled or will definitely go to trial.) Signed by Judge B. Lynn Winmill. (caused to be mailed to non Registered Participants at the addresses listed on the Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF) by (jp)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF IDAHO

ROBERT HILBORN,
Case No. 2:12-cv-00636-BLW
Plaintiff,

ORDER

v.
METROPOLITAN GROUP PROPERTY
and CASUALTY INSURANCE CO.,
Defendant.

NOW THEREFORE IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the following deadlines and
procedures shall govern the remainder of this litigation:
1. Trial Date: A 5-day trial shall be set for July 27, 2015, at 10:00 a.m. in the Federal
Courthouse in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Beginning on day two, trial shall begin at 8:30
a.m. and end at 2:30 p.m., with two fifteen minute breaks. The Court recognizes that
the original trial took approximately 8 days. However, because the new trial involves
only one plaintiff, with only one main issue, and because it will be counsel’s second
time through, the Court believes the trial can be completed in 5 days. If counsel feel
they will need more than 5 days, counsel shall immediately contact Jeff Severson at
[phone].
2. Pretrial Date: A telephonic pretrial conference shall be held on July 7, 2015, at 3:30
p.m. Counsel for Plaintiff shall initiate the call. The Court can be reached at (208)
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334-9145. The purpose of the conference is to discuss and resolve (1) the legal issues
remaining in the case; (2) evidentiary issues; (3) trial logistics; and (4) any other
matter pertaining to the trial. Not less than twenty days prior to the date of the pretrial
conference, the parties shall communicate and reach agreement on as many items as
possible. The parties shall be prepared to discuss with the Court those items over
which counsel disagrees.
3. Rule 702 Motions: In cases involving serious Daubert issues, the parties shall contact
Jeff Severson on or before May 8, 2015 to determine whether a hearing is necessary.
4. Witness Lists: The parties shall exchange witness lists on or before June 23, 2015.
The witness lists shall contain the material listed in F.R.C.P. 26(a)(3)(A)&(B), and
shall include a full summary, not just the subject, of the witnesses’ expected
testimony.
5. Exhibit Lists, Exhibits, Proposed Voir Dire, Proposed Jury Instructions, Trial Briefs
and Motions in Limine: All exhibit lists, proposed voir dire, proposed jury
instructions, trial briefs, and motions in limine shall be filed with the Court on or
before June 23, 2015. On the same date the parties shall exchange all trial exhibits,
but shall not provide them to the Court until the day of trial. Counsel shall only
provide the Court with a set of original pre-marked exhibits. Because of the use of
electronic evidence presentation systems, it is unnecessary to provide any copies.
Counsel may wish to have available in the courtroom a copy of any exhibits which the
Court may find difficult to review through the evidence presentation system. The
exhibit lists shall follow the guidelines set out in Local Rule 16.3(f) to the extent it is
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not inconsistent with this Order. The exhibit lists shall be prepared on form provided
by the Deputy Clerk, with sufficient copies for the Judge, the Deputy Clerk, and the
Law Clerk. Exhibit numbers 1 through 999 shall be reserved for joint exhibits;
exhibit numbers 1000 through 1999 shall be reserved for plaintiff’s exhibits; exhibit
numbers 2000 through 2999 shall be reserved for the first defendant listed on the
caption; exhibit numbers 3000 through 3999 shall be reserved for the second
defendant listed on the caption; and so on. Counsel shall review their exhibits,
determine any duplication, and jointly mark and stipulate to the admission of those
exhibits that both sides intend to offer and rely upon. The proposed jury instructions
shall follow the guidelines set out in Local Rule 51.1 to the extent it is not
inconsistent with this Order. Additionally, counsel shall provide a clean copy of the
Jury Instructions to the Court in Word Perfect format and emailed to
[e-mail].
6. Settlement/Mediation Deadline: The parties shall notify the Court on or before June
2, 2015 that the case has either settled or will definitely go to trial.
7. Trial Procedures:
a. The Court will generally control voir dire, and counsel will be limited to
20-30 minutes. Counsel are cautioned not to repeat questions already asked
by the Court or other counsel and are advised that the Court will not permit
voir dire which appears intended to influence the jury rather than explore
appropriate concerns with a juror’s ability to be fair and impartial.

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b. Counsel shall exercise good faith in attempting to reach a stipulation on
undisputed facts and admission of exhibits.
c. During trial, the jury will be in the box hearing testimony the entire trial
day between 8:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., except for two standard fifteen
minute morning and afternoon recesses.
d. During the time the jury is in the jury box, no argument, beyond onesentence evidentiary objections, shall be allowed to interrupt the flow of
testimony. Almost all objections should be stated in one to three words
(“hearsay”, “asked & answered”, “irrelevant”, etc.). If counsel have matters
that need to be resolved outside the presence of the jury, they are to advise
the Court and counsel prior to the issue arising during trial so that it can be
heard during a recess, or before or after the jury convenes. Where the need
for such a hearing cannot be anticipated, the Court will direct the
examining counsel to avoid the objectionable subject and continue on a
different line of questioning so that the objection can be argued and
resolved at the next recess. To avoid late-night sessions, counsel are
advised to bring up all anticipated evidentiary questions in their pretrial
briefs.
i. Examples of improper objections: “I object to that question, Your
Honor, because I am sure that Charlie Witness did not read that
document very carefully before he signed it”; or, “I object, Your
Honor, because Charlene Witness has already testified that she
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can't remember”. These “speaking objections” would suggest an
answer.
e. Counsel shall have enough witnesses ready to ensure a full day of
testimony. If witnesses are unavoidable delayed, counsel shall promptly
notify the court and opposing counsel.
f. When counsel announce the name of a witness called to testify, the Court or
the clerk will summon the witness forward to be sworn, the clerk will
administer the oath and, after the witness is seated, ask the witness to state
her or his name and spell her or his last name for the record. I will then
indicate to counsel that she or he may inquire of the witness.
g. Please do not address parties or witnesses (including your own) by her or
his first name unless such familiarity is clearly appropriate, and is not likely
to be offensive to the witness or any juror. In case of doubt, don’t.
h. Your clients and your witnesses should be instructed that they should
always refer to you and opposing counsel by last names.
i. You are responsible to advise your clients, your witnesses and everyone
associated with your client to avoid all contact with the jurors. This
prohibition includes seemingly innocuous behavior like riding on an
elevator with a juror, saying hello to a juror, or even acknowledging the
juror’s presence.
j. I try to conduct at least 2 or 3 informal jury instruction conferences off the
record to try and resolve most differences by agreement. Those sessions
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will be held at the end of the trial day and may stretch into the evening. At
the end of those sessions, we will have refined the issues of contention so
that I can give you a set of my final instructions and you can state your
objections on the record.

DATED: April 29, 2015

_________________________
B. Lynn Winmill
Chief Judge
United States District Court

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