Whitaker v. Gates

Filing 33

ORDER: A telephone conference was held with the parties to discuss scheduling issues. Pretrial Conference set for 9/6/2013 10:00 AM in Courtroom 774 before Senior Judge John T. Nixon., Jury Trial set for 9/17/2013 09:00 AM in Courtroom 774 before Se nior Judge John T. Nixon. Discovery may remain open until 1/31/2013. Dispositive Motions will be due on or before 3/15/2013. Signed by Magistrate Judge Joe Brown on 9/26/12. (DOCKET TEXT SUMMARY ONLY-ATTORNEYS MUST OPEN THE PDF AND READ THE ORDER.)(afs) Modified on 9/26/2012 (afs).

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
NASHVILLE DIVISION
NANCY WHITAKER,

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Plaintiff
v.
LEON E. PANETTA,
SECRETARY OF DEFENSE,
Defendant

No. 3:11-0522
Judge Nixon/Brown
Jury Demand

O R D E R
A telephone conference was held with the parties to
discuss scheduling issues. Although Plaintiff’s counsel is late in
responding to the first set of discovery requests the Magistrate
Judge will not deem them admitted.
that

the

attorneys

did

not

Part of the problem clearly is

talk

to

each

other

directly

and

communications from their various assistants were not passed up to
them timely.

The Magistrate Judge strongly recommends that the

attorneys talk directly to each other about problems and not allow
them to reach the magnitude of this one.

Plaintiff advised that

she would be sending her responses today.
The Government expects to receive a disc containing
various discovery materials, which will be promptly provided to the
Plaintiff.
material

Plaintiff advised that she would have to have this
printed

out,

depositions are needed.

review

it,

then

see

what

additional

Plaintiff’s counsel advised that there

were some depositions of witnesses from Korea and Virginia, among
other locations.

Plaintiff’s counsel should provide the name of

these witnesses as soon as practicable.

The parties are strongly

encouraged to take out-of-town depositions by telephone, video
conferencing, or other electronic means.
Counsel for the Government advised that they normally
needed 30 days to arrange depositions of teachers to allow for
appropriate schedule adjustments. The Magistrate Judge is concerned
that costs in this matter seem to be rapidly increasing.
Because of these delays, discovery in this matter may
remain open until

January 31, 2013. The deadline for expert

witnesses has passed and neither party has advised they anticipate
experts. The Magistrate Judge will therefore not reopen expert
disclosure and there will be no experts in this case.
Dispositive motions will be due on or before March 15,
2013.

Responses

thereafter.

to

dispositive

motions

will

be

due

21

days

Briefs shall not exceed 25 pages. Optional replies,

limited to five pages, will be due seven days after service of the
response. If dispositive motions are filed early, the response and
reply dates are moved up accordingly.
After consulting with Judge Nixon’s chambers, the final
pretrial conference and trial dates set in Docket Entry 16 are
CANCELED. The parties estimate that this jury trial will take three
days, depending on what issues remain for trial.

After consulting

with Judge Nixon’s courtroom deputy, this matter is reset for trial
on September 17, 2013, at 9:00 a.m.
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Judge Nixon will conduct the

final pretrial conference on September 6, 2013, at 10:00 a.m.
Judge Nixon will issue a separate order covering his requirements
for the final pretrial conference and the trial.
Given

the

cost

and

complexity

of

this

case,

the

Magistrate Judge strongly recommends that the parties exchange
realistic settlement offers and consider requesting a settlement
conference if they believe that there is a reasonable possibility
of settlement in this case.

The Magistrate Judge stands ready to

assist in this endeavor at the parties’ request at any time.
It is so ORDERED.
/s/ Joe B. Brown
JOE B. BROWN
United States Magistrate Judge

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