UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
WESTERN DIVISION
________________________________________, )
Plaintiff(s), )
) Case No. ___________________
vs. ) Judge Iain D. Johnston
)
________________________________________, )
Defendant(s). )
PARTIES’ PROPOSED CASE MANAGEMENT ORDER
This pdf fillable form must be used as is, and not be retyped.
I.The parties held a Fed. R. of Civ. P. 26(f) meeting on _______________, attended by:
______________________________________________________________ for Plaintiff(s), and
_______________________________________________________________ for Defendant(s).
II.Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(1) Disclosures will be exchanged by ___________________. The Court
requires full and proper Rule 26(a)(1) disclosures by all parties.
III.Alternative Dispute Resolution Mediation. Counsel certify under 28 U.S.C. § 1746 that their
clients have read the Pamphlet governing the court’s mediation program, that counsel explained
the dispute resolution options available from the Court and private entities, and that counsel
considered how this case might benefit from those options. Further, counsel certify that they
gave their clients an estimate of fees and costs to litigate this matter through trial, as well as an
estimate of the fees and costs of an early successful mediation. Lastly, if this is a fee shifting
case, defense counsel certify they have discussed the advantages and disadvantages of making a
Rule 68 offer of judgment. Failure to comply with these requirements will result in sanctions.
See Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(c), (f).
The parties anticipate seeking a settlement conference with the Magistrate Judge:
immediately after initial disclosures after fact discovery after expert discovery.
The parties have reviewed this Court’s standing order on settlement conferences.
The parties agree to private ADR. The mediator/arbitrator is_____________________
and the mediation/arbitration is scheduled for ________________________.
The parties request this case be excused from ADR.
IV.Discovery Plan. The parties jointly propose the following discovery plan:
Discovery will be needed on the following subjects. (Do not just write “the claims and
defenses in this case,” or words to that effect. That is unhelpful.)
A) Maximum of ___________ interrogatories by each party to any other party.
B) Maximum of ___________ requests for admission by each party to any other party.
C) Maximum of ___________ depositions by Plaintiff(s) and ___________ by Defendant(s).
D) Each deposition is limited to ___ hours unless extended by agreement of the parties,
except that depositions of ___________________________________ are limited to ___ hours.
E) The deadline for amended pleadings, new counts or parties, and third-party complaints is
____________ (no later than 30 days before the close of fact discovery).
F) Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2)(C) disclosures are due by __________ (no later than 30 days
before the close of fact discovery). Absent unusual circumstances, the Court considers treating
physicians to be Rule 26(a)(2)(C) witnesses if opinion testimony will be elicited.
G) Rule 26(e) supplements will be made in a timely manner, but no later than ____________
(no later than 30 days before the close of fact discovery).
H) Fact discovery ends __________.
I) The parties anticipate retained experts on the following subjects:
Report from the Plaintiff’s expert retained under Rule 26(a)(2)(B) is due by _______________.
Deposition of the Plaintiff’s expert shall be taken by ______________.
Report from the Defendant’s expert retained under Rule 26(a)(2)(B) is due by _____________.
Deposition of the Defendant’s expert shall be taken by ______________.
(The parties must give serious thought to whether for this case (1) retained experts are
necessary, or (2) need to be deposed. See Gregory P. Joseph, The Temptation to Depose Every
Expert, 40 A.B.A. SEC. LITIG. 1 (2014); William Cirignani, The Case for Not Taking Defense
Expert Depositions, 18 TRIAL JOURNAL 20 (Winter 2016)).
J) Dispositive motions are due by ________ (no later than 30 days after the close of fact
discovery).
K) The parties suggest the next status hearing with the Court be __________.
L) Counsel may not stipulate to extend discovery deadlines, including for depositions,
beyond the dates already set in this case management order.
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M) These dates will not be amended absent a showing of good cause. The parties
understand that with entry of this case management order, the deadlines set out in the
order are governed by Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b)(4), and requests for extensions require a
showing of good cause under that Rule. Motions for extensions of time should be brought
as soon as possible, but at a minimum before the cut-off date. Failure to do so does not
demonstrate diligence, and runs the serious risk that the motion will be denied. See
McCann v. Cullinan, 11 CV 50125, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91362 (N.D. Ill. Jul. 14, 2015)
V.Electronically Stored Information. Electronically stored information that can reasonably be
anticipated to be relevant to the litigation will be preserved. When balancing the cost, burden, and
need for electronically stored information, the Court and the parties will apply the proportionality
standards embodied in Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(1) and (b)(2)(B), as well as consider the
technological feasibility and realistic costs of preserving, retrieving, reviewing, and producing
electronically stored information. The parties and the Court will discuss and consider any
appropriate and reasonable technologies that might further the goals of Fed. R. Civ. P. 1.
Counsel should review the helpful information found at www.ediscoverycouncil.com, including
the 7th Circuit Council on eDiscovery and Digital Information Model Discovery Plan.
VI.Claims of Privilege or of Protection. The parties shall detail below any agreements reached for
asserting claims of privilege or of protection as trial-preparation material after information is
produced, including whether they seek entry of their agreement as an order under Fed. R. Evid.
502. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b)(3)(B)(iv) and 26(f).
Absent any specific agreement reached by the parties, the following provisions will
apply:
1) The production of privileged or work-product protected documents, electronically
stored information (“ESI”) or information, whether inadvertent or otherwise, is not a waiver of
the privilege or protection from discovery in this case or in any other federal or state proceeding.
This order shall be interpreted to provide the maximum protection allowed by Fed. R. Evid.
502(d).
2) Nothing contained herein is intended to or shall serve to limit a party’s right to conduct
a review of documents, ESI or information (including metadata) for relevance, responsiveness
and/or segregation of privileged and/or protected information before production.
Signatures certify that this form was used as is and not retyped, the parties and counsel
understand they cannot extend deadlines without a court order, any request to extend a
deadline requires a showing of good cause under Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b)(4), and failing to seek
an extension before a deadline has passed does not establish good cause/diligence.
PLAINTIFF(S) _____________________ DEFENDANT(S) ____________________
By: _______________________________ By: ________________________________
Additional information may be included on separate sheets of paper attached to this order.
Rev. 3/4/2024
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