Schmidt v. Tab Products Co. Group Disability Income Plan et al

Filing 13

ORDER signed by Judge J P Stadtmueller on 5/29/09 that counsel for the parties shall confer within 21 days of the date of this order and on or before 7/3/09 file with the court a single joint written report addressing the items specified together with a separate proposed scheduling order for the court's signature. See Order. (cc: all counsel)(nm)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN
S H A R O N L. SCHMIDT, P l a i n t if f , v. T A B PRODUCTS CO. GROUP DISABILITY INCOME PLAN a n d LIBERTY LIFE ASSURANCE COMPANY OF BOSTON, D e fe n d a n ts . C a s e No. 09-CV-322

ORDER
T h e above captioned matter was filed with the court on March 25, 2009, and h a s been assigned to this branch of the court for further proceedings. In order to fa c ilita te disposition of the case, IT IS ORDERED that, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(f), counsel for the parties s h a ll confer within 21 days of the date of this order and shall, on or before Friday, J u ly 3, 2009, file with the court a single joint written report, signed by counsel of re c o rd for each named party, that: 1 ) addresses the potential for prompt resolution or settlement of the case, in c lu d in g referral to the assigned magistrate judge, or other third-party neutral m u tu a lly agreed upon by the parties, for one or more mediation/settlement c o n fere n c e s , both before as well as after completion of discovery; 2 ) addresses each of the four subparts in Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(f) including w h e th e r, and to the extent the parties have met their respective obligations with re s p e c t to initial disclosures required under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26, as well as mandatory d is c o ve ry addressed in Civil L. R. 26. T h e parties shall also include a separate proposed scheduling order for t h e court's signature that, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 16 and Civil L. R. 16.1,

e s ta b lis h e s firm calendar cutoff dates for:

(1) naming additional parties or

a m e n d m e n t of the pleadings without the necessity of seeking formal leave of the c o u rt to do so; (2) naming expert witnesses in accordance with the requirements of F e d . R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2) and Civil L. R. 26.1; (3) completion of all discovery; and (4) filin g dispositive motions. T o avoid the unnecessary expenditure of resources associated with dispositive m o tio n s ultimately found lacking in merit owing to disputed issues of material fact, th e court contemplates that counsel for the parties will confer well in advance of the a g re e d upon cutoff date for filing such motions with the goal of preparing and filing a single agreed statement of material facts for the benefit of both the court and the p a rtie s in briefing and adjudicating such motions. In the event the parties are unable to reach agreement with respect to all material facts, they remain free to submit s e p a ra te additional proposed findings of fact consistent with the requirements of Civil L .R . 56.1 or 56.2. C o u n s e l and the parties are directed to include in the proposed s c h e d u lin g order language that the court will not grant more than one a m e n d m e n t of the scheduling order to be filed in compliance with this order, and th e n only if good cause is shown upon motion or stipulation of the parties filed with th e clerk of the court not less than 60 days prior to the expiration of any cutoff date s o u g h t to be modified.

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If, following summary judgment, disputed issues of fact remain and the case is not otherwise resolved through settlement, the court will, at that juncture, schedule th e matter for a final pretrial conference and trial. In the event counsel for the parties are unable to agree upon calendar cutoff d a te s to be included in the scheduling order, or for any other reason believe that a c o n fe re n c e with the court would be beneficial, counsel should promptly notify the c o u rt and a conference will be scheduled. D a te d at Milwaukee, W is c o n s in , on May 29, 2009. B Y THE COURT:

J .P . Stadtmueller U .S . District Judge

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