CMFG Life Insurance Company et al v. Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC

Filing 238

ORDER on Telephone Status Conference. Signed by District Judge William M. Conley on 10/13/2017. (kwf)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN
CMFG LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY,
CUMIS INSURANCE SOCIETY, and
MEMBERS LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY,

v.

Plaintiffs,

CREDIT SUISSE SECURITIES (USA) LLC,

ORDER
14-cv-249-wmc

Defendant.
In response to the parties’ motion for a status conference regarding several questions
about the upcoming bench trial, the court held a telephonic status conference today, at
which the parties appeared by counsel. Consistent with the court’s oral rulings,
IT IS ORDERED that:
1) The bench trial on liability will commence on Monday, October 30, 2017, and
continue that week. Unless the scheduled criminal trial resolves, which appears
unlikely, the second week of trial will be limited to Wednesday, November 8,
and Thursday, November 9, unless an abbreviated, additional session is needed
on Friday, November 10, when the courthouse is closed for Veterans Day.
The court will alert the parties promptly should the criminal trial be removed
from the calendar.
2) Generally, each day, the court will meet with the parties at 8:00 a.m. to discuss
any issues; evidence will begin at 8:30; and the trial day will end at 5:30, unless
the pace of trial requires evening sessions. The parties can plan on at least 20minute breaks in the morning and afternoon, as well as one hour for lunch.
3) For witnesses whose direct testimony will be provided by written questions and
answers by stipulation of the parties in lieu of direct testimony, the proponent
shall submit the Q&As by noon the day before the witness will testify.
4) By Friday, October 27, 2017, plaintiffs should file the order in which their
experts will be called; by November 1, 2017, defendant should similarly file its
order of experts.
5) By October 26, 2017, all exhibits and appendices to expert reports should be
provided to the court on thumb drives or similar devices using one of the

following formats:
Documents and Photographs: .pdf, .jpg, .bmp, .tif, .gif
Video and Audio Recordings: .avi, .wmv, .mpg, .mp3, .mp4, .wma, .wav,
.3gpp
Regarding the file size of electronic evidence, individual files should not exceed
500MB. If possible, exhibits approaching or exceeding this size limit should be
separated into multiple files. Not also that, PDF documents can often be
reduced significantly in size by using tools such as Adobe’s “Reduce File Size”
feature. Images can also be significantly reduced in file size by lowering its
resolution or dimensions, usually with minimal affect to viewing quality. Finally,
videos should be separated into 10 minute clips to satisfy the 500MB threshold.
6) Parties are relieved from filing proposed findings of facts before trial. Instead, the
court likely will require the parties to file those findings, along with supporting
legal briefs, 30 days after the trial transcript is filed. The court will determine
whether further briefing or proposed facts are necessary at the close of evidence.
7) By October 27, 2017, for those witnesses to be called by deposition designation,
the proponent shall provide the court by hard copy proponent designations,
counter-designations, and any objections clearly marked on the relevant pages
of each transcript. For example, the proponent designations could be clearly
marked in one color; counter-designations in another color; and objections
indicated by creating a box around the testimony that is subject to an objection.
Also by October 27, the parties should email these designations in word to
Chambers at [e-mail]. Finally, the proponent should
indicate at the time of submission in which order the court might most
productively review their submissions.
8) The parties should meet and confer on: (a) which, if any, of the video depositions
should be viewed in whole or in part in court during the course of trial; (b) which,
if any, of the experts should provide live direct testimony (rather than rely on
their respective expert reports); and (c) the possibility of streamlining the exhibit
list and objections to exhibits, including by use of 1006 summaries.
Entered this 13th day of October, 2017.
BY THE COURT:

/s/
__________________________________
WILLIAM M. CONLEY
District Judge

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