Wilkerson v. Boston Scientific Corporation

Filing 97

SCHEDULING ORDER setting Jury Trial and Jury Selection for Monday, 12/7/2015 @ 10:00 AM in Courtroom, 200 W Broad St, Statesville, NC 28677 before District Judge Richard Voorhees. See Order for other scheduled hearings and deadlines. Signed by District Judge Richard Voorhees on 6/2/15. (smj)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
STATESVILLE DIVISION
CASE NO. 3:15CV226-RLV

HANNA WILKERSON,
Plaintiff,

)
)
)
v.
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BOSTON SCIENTIFIC
)
CORPORATION,
)
Defendant.
)
____________________________________)

SCHEDULING
ORDER

THIS MATTER is before the court upon transfer from consolidated pretrial proceedings
in the Southern District of West Virginia, In Re Boston Scientific Corporation Pelvic Repair
System Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2326, and remand to this Western District of
North Carolina for trial.
IT IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED THAT:
1)

Trial Date. Jury trial will be held during a special term in December 2015 in the

Statesville Division. Jury selection will commence on Monday, December 7, 2015 at 10:00
a.m. Opening statements and the presentation of Plaintiffs’ evidence will begin immediately
following the impaneling of the jury.
2)

Deposition Designations. If counsel intend to use depositions at trial, counsel are

directed to resolve any objections prior to trial. With respect to video depositions, counsel are
expected to edit the video in such a way that the video may be shown without interruption.
In order to facilitate this process, deposition designations shall be filed by Monday,
August 24, 2015. The designations shall specifically identify exhibits to be offered through the
deposition testimony. Any objections to an opposing party’s designations and the accompanying

exhibits, and any counterdesignations and accompanying exhibits, shall be filed by Tuesday,
September 8, 2015. Any objections to the counter-designations and exhibits, and any counterdesignations to an opposing party’s counterdesignations, shall be filed by Monday, September
21, 2015. No additional testimony may be designated after September 21, 2015 absent leave of
Court. The parties shall meet and confer no later than Monday, September 28, 2015 to resolve
objections to testimony and exhibits and to resolve any proposed redactions to exhibits. Any
unresolved objections shall be presented to The Honorable U.S. Magistrate Judge David C.
Keesler for resolution at a hearing to be held on October 7, 2015.
Failure to accomplish this prior to trial will result in objections being deemed to be waived.
3)

Judicial Settlement Conference. Pursuant to Local Civil Rules 16.2(A) and

16.3(D), the parties shall participate in a Judicial Settlement Conference with U.S. Magistrate
Judge Keesler on November 5, 2015.
4)

Motions In Limine. All motions in limine shall be filed on or before Monday,

November 9, 2015. Responses shall be due on or before Monday, November 23, 2015. It is
the practice of the Court to defer ruling on motions in limine raising evidentiary issues until the
evidence is underway and the question of admissibility is squarely presented at trial. Absent
specific direction from the undersigned judge, issues raised in motions in limine may not be
referenced or mentioned in any way during either voir dire or opening statements.
5)

Proposed Jury Instructions / Verdict Form. The parties shall submit proposed jury

instructions and a proposed verdict form on or before Monday, November 16, 2015. Counsel
should number each proposed instruction and submit each instruction on a separate page. Each
proposed instruction must contain a supporting citation(s) as a footnote. A proposed instruction
submitted without supporting adequate legal authority may not be considered. Counsel need not

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submit introductory or preliminary boilerplate instructions. In addition to filing proposals via
CM/ECF, counsel shall also provide the Judge’s Chambers with Word document versions of
their proposals.
6)

Counsel’s Obligations Two Weeks Before Trial. On or before Monday,

November 23, 2015, counsel for all parties shall:
(a) File a Trial Brief addressing all questions of law and any anticipated evidentiary
issues not previously raised in a motion in limine;
(b) Exchange copies of exhibits or permit inspection if copying is impractical;
(c) Submit copies of all exhibits to the Courtroom Deputy in a format compatible with
JERS (See Paragraph 8); and
(d) Agree upon Stipulations of Fact and file with the Court.
7)

Counsel’s Duties First Day Of Trial. On or before December 7, 2015, counsel

for each party shall file the following:
(a) A Witness List containing the name of every proposed witness;
(b) A statement of the education, experience, and qualifications of each expert witness,
unless the parties have stipulated to the qualifications of each expert witness;
(c) Stipulations concerning the authenticity of as many proposed exhibits as possible;
and
(d) An Exhibit List and / or Exhibit Notebook(s) for the Judge’s Chambers’ out-of-court
use. (See Paragraph 8).
8)

Presentation of Exhibits / Jury Evidence Recording System (“JERS”). Parties are

expected to use presentation technology available in the courtroom to display evidence to the
jury. Training on the equipment should be arranged well in advance of trial with the courtroom

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deputy. (See “Courtroom Technology” link on the district website at www.ncwd.uscourts.gov.)
Counsel shall provide in electronic format any exhibits of documents, photographs, videos, and
any other evidence that may be reduced to an electronic file, for the use of Court personnel and
the Court’s Jury Evidence Recording System (“JERS”) during trial. Documents and photographs
shall be in .pdf, .jpg, .bmp, .tif, or .gif format. Video and audio recordings shall be in .avi,
.wmv, .mpg, .mp3, .wma, or .wav format. Each electronic exhibit shall be saved as a separate,
independent file, and provided to the Court on a storage device, such as cd, dvd, or flash drive.
Exhibit files shall be named consistent with their order and name on the exhibit list. For
example:
Exhibit 1 − photograph of . . .
Exhibit 2 − contract
Exhibit 3 − video deposition of . . .
If counsel for any party intends to tender more than fifteen (15) documentary exhibits,
counsel for that party shall prepare one (1) exhibit notebook, or set of notebooks, for the Court’s
out-of-court use. Each exhibit notebook, shall contain an index listing all of the exhibits and a
copy of each exhibit. Counsel shall tab each exhibit and shall numerically arrange each exhibit
notebook, or set of exhibit notebooks.

Signed: June 2, 2015

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