EDMOND v. PLAINFIELD BOARD OF EDUCATION

Filing 113

MEMORANDUM TO COUNSEL AND PROCEDURAL ORDER, Counsel's proposal that pretrial submissions be due by 2/9/2018. There will be an in-person Status and scheduling Conference on 2/9/2018 01:00 PM before Judge Kevin McNulty, etc. Signed by Judge Kevin McNulty on 1/12/2018. (JB, )

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY

TYEAST M. EDMOND,

No. 1 1—cv—2 805 (KM)(JBC)
Plaintifhi

MEMORANDUM TO COUNSEL AND
PROCEDURAL ORDER

V.

PLMNFIELD BOARD OF EDUCATION,
Defendant.

I have received by fax transmission a letter from plaintiffs counsel,
dated January 9, 2018 (“Jan. 9 Letter”). On this occasion only, I will have
the clerk file it on the docket.’
Counsel repeatedly objects that pretrial submissions were required
to have been “filed on Christmas Day.” (Jan. 9 Letter at 1) That of course
was a deadline, not a requirement that the papers be filed on that
particular day. See also Fed. R. Civ. p. 6(a) (where deadline is a legal
holiday, it is extended to the next day that is not a legal holiday).) That
deadline, by the way, was set three months previously, on September 25,
2017, giving the parties ample time to prepare. The papers were not filed
before Christmas; they were not filed after Christmas, either; and they
had not been filed as of January 3, 2018, five days before trial, when I
Please see the court’s procedures at www.njd.uscourts.gov/content/kevin
mcnulty.
All submissions, including correspondence, must be electronically filed via
CM/ECF. One Courtesy Paper Copy of all motion papers, marked “Courtesy
Copy,” should be sent to chambers by regular mail or by hand.
Proposed Orders and Jury Charges : An additional copy, in Microsoft Word or
WordPerfect format, should be emailed to [e-mail].
Email subject line and file name in this format: 12-3456 Smith v Jones
Proposed (order/jury charge).

entered my prior order. Counsel now state that a period of 30 days will
permit them to be prepared.
I do not accept counsel’s reasons for failing to prepare. As a result
of 30 years’ experience, however, I am well aware of the pressures and
exigencies of law practice. Counsel’s joint apology is fully accepted, with
no hard feelings. Moving forward, on the subjects raised in the Jan. 9
Letter,
IT IS this 12th day of Januan’, 2018
ORDERED as follows:
1.

Pretrial submissions. Counsel’s proposal that pretrial

submissions be due on February 9, 2018, is slightly modified; they will
be filed on or before February 8, 2018 at 4 p.m.
2.

Status conference. There will be an in-person status and

scheduling conference on February 9, 2018, at 1:00 p.m. in Courtroom
4, U.S. Post Office & Courthouse, Federal Square, Newark.
Ejifor in limine motion. The court will not currently accept
3.
additional briefing regarding the in limine motion for the following reason.
A Daubed hearing will be required to resolve the issues posed by the in
limine motion as to the permissibility and/or scope of the testimony of
Mr. Ejifor. In the December 22, 2017 telephone conference defense
counsel stated that Mr. Ejifor had left the country a few days earlier for a
period estimated to be 30 days. If Mr. Ejifor is available for a hearing
before the February 9 conference, defense counsel shall so notify the
court. If not, defense counsel shall be prepared at the February 9
conference to propose dates, within 7 days thereafter, when Mr. Ejifor
will be available for a Daubed hearing.
4.

Trial date. As stated in my prior order, a trial date will not

be scheduled until after all required filings are made. Counsel are
forewarned that, at the February 9 conference, trial may be scheduled
promptly. Subject to the Court’s schedule with respect to an intervening
trial, a trial date as early as February 20, 2018 is under consideration.

United States District Judge