Annabel v. Frost et al

Filing 336

ORDER Directing Parties to Submit Trial Preparatory Materials., ( Jury Trial set for 4/26/2023 09:00 AM before District Judge Robert H. Cleland) Signed by District Judge Robert H. Cleland. (LWag)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
SOUTHERN DIVISION
______________________________________________________________________
ROBERT ANNABEL,
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No. 14-10244

JACK FROST, et al.,
Defendants.
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ORDER DIRECTING PARTIES TO SUBMIT TRIAL PREPARATORY MATERIALS
The court, having held a status conference on March 9, 2023, advised the parties
to carefully read the following provisions of this order.
IT IS HERE BY ORDERED that
1. TRIAL
Trial for this case is set for April 26, 2023 at 9:00 am. No adjournment will be
allowed.
2. JURY INSTRUCTIONS
By no later than March 16, 2023, Defendants’ counsel is ORDERED to prepare
and exchange to Plaintiff a set of proposed jury instructions, which must include: (1) the
elements of Plaintiff’s claim; (2) the elements of any affirmative defenses; (3)
specialized case-specific instructions, e.g., concerning unusual factors in this case; and
(4) a form of the verdict, usually incorporating logically sequential questions based on
the elements of proofs. 1
The court will deliver its own standard introductory and concluding instructions
and will instruct the jury at the beginning of the case at least on the elements of proof.

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Defendants’ counsel is ORDERED to convene a meeting of the parties, which all
parties are ORDERED to attend, to discuss the proposed jury instructions and any
objections thereto by Plaintiff, in a good faith effort to narrow the areas of dispute and
agree on an acceptable form.
Defendant’s counsel is ORDERED to lodge with the court’s case manager a set
of the agreed-upon and contested instructions no later than March 23, 2023. The
submission must be in Word format and transmitted through email and not filed with the
clerk. The contested instructions must include the parties’ respective proposed versions,
as well as the reasons and supporting authorities supporting them.
3. EXHIBITS; EXAMINING, PRE-MARKING AND LISTING
Defendant's counsel is hereby ORDERED to convene a meeting of the parties,
which all parties are ORDERED to attend, and:
a.

identify any objections as to authenticity, foundation, relevance, etc., of

each proposed exhibit and deposition. Each party’s exhibits and depositions must then
be listed separately, first those as to which there are no objections, and second those
as to which there are objections. An “exhibit” includes both what a party fully intend to
introduce and might introduce. A “deposition” includes redacted portions thereof
intended for trial use. Agreed-upon exhibits and depositions, identified on a separate
listing and prepared for submission to the court, below, will be considered admitted at
the outset of trial and may be used by either party at any time.
b.

supply to the opposing party in writing the reason(s) for withholding

stipulation or asserting objections as to each exhibit proposed by the opposing party.

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c.

arrange to number and label all exhibits – both those agreed to and those

objected to – IN ADVANCE OF TRIAL. Court time cannot be used for the labeling of
exhibits; the court’s reporter does not label exhibits for a party. Plaintiff should use
exhibit numbers beginning with 101 and Defendants should use numbers beginning with
501. In the event of an extraordinarily large number of exhibits or for other reasons,
parties should agree upon a reasonable alteration to P-101 / D- 501 numbering.
4. EXHIBIT LISTS, TRIAL BRIEFS AND ELECTRONIC PRESENTATION
a. Defendants’ counsel is ORDERED by April 5, 2023:
i.

to file a list of exhibits, the admissibility of which is stipulated to by both
parties, and a list of the depositions similarly stipulated to; and

ii. to lodge with judge’s chambers copies of the exhibits themselves, unless
bulk or other considerations make such submission impractical (in which
case please advise court staff of the difficulties).
b. The parties each are ORDERED by the same date noted in section (a),
above, to file:
i.

a trial brief; 2 and

ii. a list of that party’s proposed exhibits, the admissibility of which has been
objected to by the opposing party, and the reason (supplied by opposing
party) for the objection; and
iii. proposed findings of fact and proposed conclusions of law if there are
any issues to be decided by the court alone.

A good trial brief will do more than merely summarizing the case, although a
theory of the case is usually the core. It may, for example, assist the court by outlining
your intended position on anticipated evidence or witness problems.

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c. Parties are directed to consider the use of electronic presentation
technologies to minimize the need for paper copies of documents. The court
can make available certain kinds of electronic presentation technology.
s/Robert H. Cleland
ROBERT H. CLELAND
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Dated: March 10, 2023

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I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing document was mailed to counsel of record
on this date, March 10, 2023, by electronic and/or ordinary mail.
s/Lisa Wagner
Case Manager and Deputy Clerk
[phone]
S:\Cleland\Cleland\NTH\Civil\14-10244.ANNABEL.OrderSubmittingTrialMaterial.NH.docx

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