Revised January 19, 2024
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE
[PLAINTIFF], )
)
Plaintiff, )
)
v. ) C.A. No. 00-000-JLH
)
[DEFENDANT], )
)
Defendant. )
SCHEDULING ORDER [NON-PATENT]
This ___ day of , 20___, the Court having conducted an initial
scheduling conference pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16(b) and Local Rule 16.1(b),
and the parties having determined after discussion that the matter cannot be resolved at this
juncture by settlement, voluntary mediation, or binding arbitration;
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:
1. Rule 26(a)(1) Initial Disclosures and E-Discovery Default Standard. Unless
otherwise agreed to by the parties, the parties shall make their initial disclosures pursuant to
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(1) within five days of the date the Court enters this Order.
If they have not already done so, the parties are to review the Court’s Default Standard for
Discovery, Including Discovery of Electronically Stored Information (‘‘ESI”), which is posted at
https://www.ded.uscourts.gov/default-standard-discovery and is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Joinder of Other Parties and Amendment of Pleadings. All motions to join other
parties, and to amend or supplement the pleadings, shall be filed on or before ____________,
20___. Such motions must follow the provisions of Paragraphs 7(g) and 8.
3. Application to Court for Protective Order. Should counsel find it will be necessary
to apply to the Court for a protective order specifying terms and conditions for the disclosure of
confidential information, counsel should confer and attempt to reach an agreement on a proposed
form of order and submit it to the Court within ten days from the date the Court enters this Order.
Should counsel be unable to reach an agreement on a proposed form of order, counsel must follow
the provisions of Paragraph 7(g) below.
Any proposed protective order must include the following paragraph:
Other Proceedings. By entering this order and limiting the
disclosure of information in this case, the Court does not intend to
preclude another court from finding that information may be
relevant and subject to disclosure in another case. Any person or
party subject to this order who becomes subject to a motion to
disclose another party’s information designated “confidential” [the
parties should list any other level of designation, such as “highly
confidential,” which may be provided for in the protective order]
pursuant to this order shall promptly notify that party of the motion
so that the party may have an opportunity to appear and be heard on
whether that information should be disclosed.
4. Papers and Proceedings Under Seal. In accordance with section G of the Revised
Administrative Procedures Governing Filing and Service by Electronic Means, a redacted version
of any sealed document shall be filed electronically within seven days of the filing of the sealed
document.
Should any party intend to request to seal or redact all or any portion of a transcript of a
court proceeding (including a teleconference), such party should expressly note that intent at the
start of the court proceeding. Should any party subsequently choose to make a request for sealing
or redaction, it must, promptly after the completion of the transcript, file with the Court a motion
for sealing/redaction, and include as attachments (1) a copy of the complete transcript highlighted
so the Court can easily identify and read the text proposed to be sealed/redacted, and (2) a copy of
the proposed redacted/sealed transcript. With their request, the party seeking redactions must
demonstrate why there is good cause for the redactions and why disclosures of the redacted
material would work a clearly defined and serious injury to the party seeking redaction.
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5. Courtesy Copies. The parties shall provide to the Court two courtesy copies of all
briefs and any other document filed in support of any briefs (i.e., appendices, exhibits, declarations,
affidavits, etc.). This provision also applies to papers filed under seal. All courtesy copies shall
be double-sided.
6. ADR Process. If the case does not involve patents or securities, the parties may
request a referral to a Magistrate Judge for alternative dispute resolution. See District of Delaware
Standing Order No. 2022-2, dated March 14, 2022.
7. Discovery. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court or agreed to by the parties, the
limitations on discovery set forth in the Federal Rules and Local Rule 26.1 shall be observed.
(a) Discovery Cut Off. All discovery in this case shall be initiated so that it
will be completed on or before __________, 20___.
(b) Document Production. Document production shall be substantially
complete by __________, 20___.
(c) Requests for Admission. A maximum of ___ requests for admission are
permitted for each side.
(d) Interrogatories.
i. A maximum of ___ interrogatories, including contention
interrogatories, are permitted for each side.
ii. The Court encourages the parties to serve and respond to contention
interrogatories early in the case. In the absence of agreement among the parties, contention
interrogatories, if filed, shall first be addressed by the party with the burden of proof. The adequacy
of all interrogatory answers shall be judged by the level of detail each party provides (i.e., the more
detail a party provides, the more detail a party shall receive).
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(e) Depositions.
i. Limitation on Hours for Deposition Discovery. Each side is limited
to a total of ___ hours of taking testimony by deposition upon oral examination.
ii. Location of Depositions. Any party or representative (officer,
director, or managing agent) of a party filing a civil action in this Court must ordinarily be required,
upon request, to submit to a deposition at a place designated within this district. Exceptions to this
general rule may be made by order of the Court. A defendant who becomes a counterclaimant,
cross-claimant, or third-party plaintiff shall be considered as having filed an action in this Court.
(f) Disclosure of Expert Testimony.
i. Expert Reports. For the party who has the initial burden of proof on
the subject matter, the initial Federal Rule 26(a)(2) disclosure of expert testimony is due on or
before __________, 20___. The supplemental disclosure to contradict or rebut evidence on the
same matter identified by another party is due on or before __________, 20___. Reply expert
reports from the party with the initial burden of proof are due on or before __________, 20___.
No other expert reports will be permitted without either the consent of all parties or leave of the
Court. Along with the submissions of the expert reports, the parties shall advise of the dates and
times of their experts’ availability for deposition.
ii. Objections to Expert Testimony. To the extent any objection to
expert testimony is made pursuant to the principles announced in Daubert v. Merrell Dow
Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (1993), as incorporated in Federal Rule of Evidence 702, it
shall be made by motion no later than the deadline for dispositive motions set forth herein, unless
otherwise ordered by the Court. Briefing shall be presented pursuant to the Court’s Local Rules.
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(g) Discovery Matters and Disputes Relating to Protective Orders.
i. The following procedures will apply to discovery matters and
protective order disputes unless and until such matters are referred to a Magistrate Judge (who may
specify their own procedures). Any discovery motion filed without first complying with the
following procedures will be denied without prejudice to renew pursuant to these procedures.
ii. Should counsel find, after good faith efforts—including verbal
communication among Delaware and Lead Counsel for all parties to the dispute—that they are
unable to resolve a discovery matter or a dispute regarding a protective order, the moving party
(i.e., the party seeking relief from the Court) should file a “Motion for Teleconference To Resolve
[Discovery/Protective Order] Disputes.” The suggested text for this motion can be found in Judge
Hall’s section of the Court’s website, in the “Forms” tab.
iii. The Court will thereafter order a telephone conference and deadlines
for submissions. On the date set by court order, generally not less than seventy-two hours prior to
the conference (excluding weekends and holidays), the party seeking relief shall file with the Court
a letter, not to exceed three pages, outlining the issues in dispute and its position on those issues.
This submission shall include: (1) a proposed order, attached as an exhibit, setting out the nature
of the relief requested; and (2) to the extent that the dispute relates to responses to certain discovery
requests, an attached exhibit (or exhibits) containing the requests and the responses in dispute. On
the date set by court order, generally not less than forty-eight hours prior to the conference
(excluding weekends and holidays), any party opposing the application for relief may file a letter,
not to exceed three pages, outlining that party’s reasons for its opposition.
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iv. Each party shall submit two courtesy copies of its letter and any
other document filed in support to the Clerk’s Office within one day of e-filing. All courtesy copies
shall be double-sided.
v. Should the Court find further briefing necessary upon conclusion of
the conference, the Court will order it. Alternatively, the Court may choose to resolve the dispute
prior to the conference and cancel the conference.
8. Motions to Amend / Motions to Strike.
(a) Any motion to amend (including a motion for leave to amend) a pleading
or any motion to strike any pleading shall be made pursuant to the discovery dispute procedure set
forth in Paragraph 7(g), above.
(b) Any motion to amend shall attach the proposed amended pleading as well
as a “blackline” comparison to the prior pleading. Any motion to strike shall attach the document
sought to be stricken.
9. Case Dispositive Motions.
(a) All case dispositive motions, an opening brief, and affidavits, if any, in
support of the motion shall be served and filed on or before __________, 20___ [calculated so that
briefing is completed approximately four months prior to the pretrial conference]. Briefing will
be presented pursuant to the Court’s Local Rules. No case dispositive motion under Rule 56
may be filed more than ten days before the above date without leave of the Court.
(b) Concise Statement of Facts Requirement. Any motion for summary
judgment shall be accompanied by a separate concise statement, not to exceed six pages, which
details each material fact that the moving party contends is essential for the Court’s resolution of
the summary judgment motion (not the entire case) and as to which the moving party contends
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there is no genuine issue to be tried. Each fact shall be set forth in a separate numbered paragraph
and shall be supported by specific citation(s) to the record.
Any party opposing the motion shall include with its opposing papers a response to the
moving party’s concise statement, not to exceed six pages, which admits or disputes the facts set
forth in the moving party’s concise statement on a paragraph-by-paragraph basis. To the extent a
fact is disputed, the basis of the dispute shall be supported by specific citation(s) to the record.
Failure to respond to a fact presented in the moving party’s concise statement of facts shall indicate
that fact is not in dispute for purposes of summary judgment. The party opposing the motion may
also include with its opposing papers a separate concise statement, not to exceed four pages, which
sets forth material facts as to which the opposing party contends there is a genuine issue to be tried.
Each fact asserted by the opposing party shall also be set forth in a separate numbered paragraph
and shall be supported by specific citation(s) to the record.
The moving party shall include with its reply papers a response to the opposing party’s
concise statement of facts, not to exceed four pages, on a paragraph-by-paragraph basis.
10. Applications by Motion. Except as otherwise specified herein, any application to
the Court shall be by written motion. Any non-dispositive motion should contain the statement
required by Local Rule 7.1.1.
11. Amendments to the Scheduling Order. Any stipulation or other request to amend
the scheduling order shall include a chart that lists each court-ordered event with a deadline/date
(even if it is not being changed), the current deadline/date, and the new proposed deadline/date.
12. Motions in Limine. Motions in limine shall not be separately filed. All in limine
requests and responses thereto shall be set forth in the proposed pretrial order. Each side shall be
limited to three in limine requests, unless otherwise permitted by the Court. The in limine request
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and any response shall contain the authorities relied upon. Each in limine request may be supported
by a maximum of three pages of argument, may be opposed by a maximum of three pages of
argument, and the side making the in limine request may add a maximum of one additional page
in reply in support of its request. If more than one party is supporting or opposing an in limine
request, such support or opposition shall be combined in a single three-page submission (and, if
the moving party, a single one-page reply), unless otherwise ordered by the Court. No separate
briefing shall be submitted on in limine requests, unless otherwise permitted by the Court.
13. Pretrial Conference. On _______________, 20___, the Court will hold a pretrial
conference in Court with counsel beginning at __________. Unless otherwise ordered by the
Court, the parties should assume that filing the pretrial order satisfies the pretrial disclosure
requirement of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(3). The parties shall file with the Court the
joint proposed final pretrial order in compliance with Local Rule 16.3(c) not later than seven days
before the pretrial conference. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, the parties shall comply
with the timeframes set forth in Local Rule 16.3(d)(1)-(3) for the preparation of the joint proposed
final pretrial order.
The proposed final pretrial order shall contain a table of contents. The parties shall provide
the Court two double-sided courtesy copies of the joint proposed final pretrial order and all
attachments.
14. Jury Instructions, Voir Dire, and Special Verdict Forms. Where a case is to be
tried to a jury, pursuant to Local Rules 47.1(a)(2) and 51.1, the parties should file (i) proposed
voir dire, (ii) preliminary jury instructions, (iii) final jury instructions, and (iv) special verdict
forms seven days before the final pretrial conference. This submission shall be accompanied
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by a courtesy copy containing electronic files of these documents in Microsoft Word format,
which should be submitted by e-mail to
[email protected].
15. Trial. This matter is scheduled for a ___ day [jury/bench] trial beginning at
9:30 a.m. on _______________, 20___, with the subsequent trial days beginning at 9:00 a.m.
Until the case is submitted to the jury for deliberations, the jury will be excused each day at
5:00 p.m. The trial will be timed, and counsel will be allocated a total number of hours in which
to present their respective cases.
The Honorable Jennifer L. Hall
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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Revised January 19, 2024
[Counsel Shall Provide a Chart of All Relevant Deadlines]
EVENT DEADLINE
