UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA
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v. ) Case No.: Case Number.
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SCHEDULING ORDER
The court enters this order under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16(b)
based on the parties’ report of a planning meeting. (Doc. __). This governs further
proceedings in this action unless modified for good cause shown.
1. Pleadings and Parties: Unless the party’s pleading may be amended as a
matter of course pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(a), the party
must file a motion for leave to amend. Such motion for leave to amend shall
state, specifically, those matters the party wishes to add or delete and shall
contain, attached as an exhibit, the complete and executed amended
pleading, which is suitable for filing. The motion for leave to amend, with
the attached amended pleading, shall be served in accordance with Federal
Rule of Civil Procedure 5.
No causes of action, defenses, or parties may be added after Click here to
enter a date. as to plaintiff(s) and Click here to enter a date. as to
defendant(s).
2. Discovery Limitations and Deadlines:
a. Depositions: Maximum of __ by each party. Each
deposition is limited to a maximum of
7 hours.
Interrogatories: Maximum of __ by any party directed
to any other party.
Requests for Production: Maximum of __ by any party directed
to any other party
Requests for Admission: Maximum of __ by any party directed
to any other party.
b. Expert Testimony: Unless modified by stipulation of the parties, the
disclosures of expert witnesses—including a complete report under
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(2)(B) from any specially
retained or employed expert—are due:
From plaintiff(s): by Click here to enter a date.
From defendant(s): by Click here to enter a date.
c. Supplementation: Supplementation of disclosures and discovery
under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(e) is due within a
reasonable period of time after discovery of such information, but all
such supplementation shall be provided no later than 14 days before
the close of discovery.
d. Deadline: All discovery must be commenced in time to be
completed by Click here to enter a date.
3. Discovery Motions: Before a party files a motion to compel, a motion to
quash, or any other discovery-related motion, the party must seek leave of
the court to file the motion. Counsel for the moving party must confer in
person or by telephone with opposing counsel to attempt to resolve their
disagreements regarding discovery requests. If the parties are unable to
resolve their dispute in that manner, then the party filing the motion for
leave of the court shall describe all efforts taken to resolve the disputed
matter and shall certify in the motion that the parties conferred pursuant to
this order and were unable to reach an agreement. If an attorney makes a
good faith effort but is unable to contact opposing counsel, then the attorney
shall describe in the motion the attorney’s efforts to contact and coordinate
with opposing counsel. Failure to include a statement of the parties’
attempt to resolve the matter without the court’s intervention may
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result in an automatic denial of the motion. The motion for leave of the
court need only include the facts relevant to the dispute. Legal argument
and/or legal citations are not necessary.
If the motion for leave of the court is opposed, opposing counsel may file a
response within three days. If the non-moving party does not file a response,
then the court will consider the motion unopposed.
If the court grants leave, the moving party must file the discovery motion
within one day. The non-moving party must file a response to the discovery
motion within seven days.
4. Dispositive Motions: All potentially dispositive motions and evidentiary
submissions upon which a party will rely in support of the motion must be
filed no later than Click here to enter a date. (2 months and 1 week after
close of discovery).
Briefs in support of dispositive motions must be filed within one business
day of the filing of the dispositive motion and evidentiary submissions. All
briefs filed in support of or opposition to dispositive motions must
contain citations to the evidentiary record by CM/ECF document and
page number. To the extent that a party responding to a dispositive motion
relies on evidence that is not included in the moving party’s evidentiary
submission, the responding party must file that evidence on or before the day
the opposition brief is due.
The parties must file and brief all dispositive motions consistent with
Appendix II which is attached to the court’s initial order.
The court recognizes that Appendix II addresses only motions for summary
judgment. If the parties file a dispositive motion other than one for
summary judgment, the parties must comply with Appendix II to the extent
practicable.
5. Extensions: Parties requesting an extension of any deadline must file a
motion at least one week before the deadline, and must show good cause for
the extension. Good cause includes, at a minimum, a description of why the
party or parties cannot meet the existing deadline.
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6. Mediation: Unless a party objects, the court will enter an order referring
the parties to mediation and setting a deadline by which mediation must
occur. Objections to mediation should be included in the joint status report
as described in paragraph seven.
As a general rule, if the court refers the case to mediation, the court will not
stay discovery and dispositive motion deadlines. The court has extended the
deadline for dispositive motions in contemplation of mediation.
7. Joint Status Report: The parties shall file a joint status report on or before
Click here to enter a date. (one month before the close of discovery).
The status report should state whether the parties object to mediation and
include enough information to allow the court to understand the nature of the
case, its current status, including any pending motions, and any current or
anticipated problems in preparing the case for trial. Specifically, the court
should be advised of the pertinent issues and the parties’ positions as to
those issues. The status report should not be used to argue the party’s case,
or to present all possible legal theories; instead, the report should apprise the
court of the case and current issues affecting trial preparation, including the
status of critical discovery.
8. Status Conference: If the parties object to mediation in the joint status
report, the court will set the case for a status conference approximately two
weeks after the submission of the joint status report. If the parties do not
object to mediation and the court refers them to mediation, the parties must
submit, within a week of the completion of mediation, a joint status report
informing the court whether mediation was successful. If mediation is not
successful, the court will set a status conference by separate order.
Additional conferences, including a pretrial conference, will be scheduled as
needed by separate order. Due dates for lists of trial witnesses, exhibits, and
objections under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(3) shall be
established in a separate pretrial order.
9. Trial: The parties shall be ready for trial in Click here to enter a date., to be
scheduled by separate order.
10. Oral Argument: If a party wants oral argument on motion, the party must
clearly indicate that request in the motion. In the interest of exposing less
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experienced attorneys to oral argument, the court will, in addition to its other
considerations, take into consideration whether an attorney with less than
five years’ experience will be arguing before the court. If the court grants
the request for oral argument and one of the attorneys has less than five
years’ experience, the court will give the parties additional time for
argument in order to provide an experienced attorney the opportunity to
supplement the less experienced attorney’s argument.
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