IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI
WESTERN DIVISION
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Plaintiff, )
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v. ) Case No. 00-00000-CV-W-BP
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Defendant. )
SCHEDULING AND TRIAL ORDER
Pursuant to Rules 16(b) and 26(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and upon
consideration of the parties’ views in the matter, the following schedule is hereby established:
1. TRIAL SETTING. This case is scheduled for a jury trial, commencing at 8:30
a.m., on _____________, at the United States District Courthouse in Kansas City, Missouri.
2. TELECONFERENCE. A teleconference is set at __:__ a.m./p.m., on
______________ to discuss the progress of the case and possible court ordered mediation.
3. PRETRIAL CONFERENCE. A final pretrial conference in this case will be held
at __:__ a.m./p.m., on ______________, at the United States District Courthouse in Kansas City,
Missouri.
4. MOTION TO AMEND PLEADINGS. Any motion to amend the pleadings shall
be filed on or before ___________.
5. MOTION TO JOIN ADDITIONAL PARTIES. Any motion to join additional
parties shall be filed on or before __________.
6. DISCOVERY DEADLINE. All pretrial discovery authorized by the Federal
Rules of Civil Procedure shall be completed on or before . This means that all
discovery shall be completed, not simply submitted, on the date specified by this paragraph.
The Court will not entertain any discovery motion absent full compliance with Local Rule
37.1. In the event that a teleconference is needed, email your request to my judicial assistant at
[email protected]. A memorandum of the discovery dispute, not to exceed
one page in length, should be electronically submitted by each party no later than forty-eight
hours prior to the teleconference.
7. EXPERT DESIGNATION DEADLINES. The plaintiff shall designate any expert
witnesses it intends to call at trial on or before , and the defendant shall designate any
expert witnesses it intends to call at trial on or before . This paragraph applies to all
witnesses retained or non-retained from whom expert opinions will be elicited at trial.
Along with each party’s designation of expert witnesses, each party shall provide the
other parties with a report, pursuant to Rule 26(a)(2)(B), Fed. R. Civ. P., from each expert
witness designated. Expert witnesses may testify only as to matters contained in the report
described above unless leave of Court is granted upon good cause shown.
With respect to treating physicians, coroners and like professionals not retained to testify
for a party, the report requirements of this Order may be satisfied by providing a copy of all the
treating physician’s files, records and notes relating to the treating physician’s patient to the
opposing party. For the purpose of this paragraph, a “treating physician” is a doctor (including
psychiatrist, dentist or other practitioner of the healing arts) retained by a party prior to retaining
counsel in this matter. A treating physician will not be allowed to give expert testimony beyond
the treatment provided by said physician unless designated as an expert. A treating physician
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who will provide expert testimony beyond the treatment provided by said physician must further
comply with the requirements of this Order.
8. DISPOSITIVE MOTION DEADLINE. All dispositive motions, except those
under Rule 12(h)(2) or (3), shall be filed on or before . All dispositive motions shall have
a separate section wherein each statement of fact is individually numbered so that any party
opposing such motion may refer specifically to a genuine issue of material fact. Suggestions in
opposition to a dispositive motion shall begin with a concise listing of material facts as to which
the party contends a genuine dispute exists. All motions for summary judgment shall comply
with Local Rules 7.0 and 56.1.
9. PRETRIAL CONFERENCE DOCUMENT DEADLINES. The documents listed
below shall be filed prior to the pretrial conference.
a. Motions in Limine. Motions in limine shall be filed at least ten (10) days
prior to the pretrial conference. Responses to motions in limine shall be
filed at least three (3) days prior to the pretrial conference.
b. Stipulation of Uncontroverted Facts. At least three (3) days prior to the
date the pretrial conference is to be held, the parties shall file a stipulation
of any uncontroverted facts. If no stipulated facts can be agreed upon,
including facts related to the Court’s subject matter jurisdiction, the parties
shall file a joint statement to that effect.
c. Witness List. At least five (5) days prior to the date the pretrial conference
is to be held, each party shall file and serve a list of all witnesses who may
be called to testify at trial. If a witness is not listed by a party, that witness
will not be permitted to testify absent leave of Court and then only for the
purpose of unanticipated rebuttal or impeachment.
d. Exhibit List. At least five (5) days prior to the date the pretrial conference
is to be held, each party will file and serve a list of all exhibits which may
be offered at trial. If an exhibit is not listed by a party, that exhibit will not
be admitted absent leave of Court.
e. Stipulation as to the Admissibility of Evidence. At least three (3) days
before the pretrial conference, the parties shall file a stipulation as to the
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admissibility of evidence, when the identification and foundation of the
exhibit is not to be contested.
f. Designation of Deposition Testimony. Fifteen (15) days before pretrial
conference, each party shall file and serve a designation, by page and line
number, of any deposition testimony to be offered in evidence by that
party.
g. Objections to Designated Deposition Testimony and Counter Designation.
At least ten (10) days prior to the pretrial conference, each party shall file
and serve:
1. Any objections to proposed deposition testimony designated
by any other party; and
2. A designation, by page and line number, of any deposition
testimony to be offered as counter-designation to deposition
testimony designated by other parties.
h. Submission of Deposition Designations. Seven (7) days prior to the
pretrial conference, each party shall file, serve, and deliver to all other
parties and the Court, its objections to any deposition testimony designated
pursuant to subparagraphs g. 1. and 2. above.
The Court should receive deposition designations in the following manner:
1. The parties are to jointly submit one copy of each designated
deposition.
2. Each party is to highlight the portion of the deposition they want to
designate, including counter-designations.
3. Each party should use a different highlight color to indicate their
designations (for example, plaintiff uses yellow; defendant uses
blue).
4. Each party should also indicate their objections on the actual
deposition by bracketing those portions in the margin of the
deposition, again using a different color to indicate the portion to
which each party objects.
5. Each party should submit to the Court a Word version document of
the Objections to Deposition Designations that you filed in
CM/ECF. Send that via email to my judicial assistant at
[email protected].
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i. Jury Instructions. Three (3) days prior to the pretrial conference, the parties
shall jointly file an annotated (with sources) set of proposed jury
instructions. Proposed instructions shall reflect the authorities upon which
the instruction is based and should be taken from or drawn in the manner
of Model Civil Jury Instructions for the District of Courts of the Eighth
Circuit and/or Missouri Approved Instructions (MAI) where available and
appropriate. All instructions shall be designated as Instruction No. ___.
The Court prefers to receive joint instructions from the parties. Separate
instructions are appropriate only when the parties cannot agree upon a
specific instruction. In that instance, the parties shall jointly submit the
instructions upon which they agree. Each party shall submit its proposed
version of the instructions upon which the parties do not agree, along with
a written objection to the other party’s version.
The instructions should also be submitted to the Court electronically, in a
Word document. Send the instructions via email to my judicial assistant at
[email protected].
j. Trial Brief. At least five (5) days prior to the pretrial conference, counsel
for each party may file a trial brief stating the factual and legal contentions
in the case.
k. Voir Dire Questions. At least five (5) days prior to the pretrial conference,
counsel for each party shall file a list of questions or topics for voir dire.
Objections to opposing party’s voir dire questions shall be filed at least
three (3) days prior to the pretrial conference.
At the pretrial conference, the Court will discuss the manner in which voir
dire will be conducted. In appropriate cases, the court will permit counsel
for the parties to conduct questioning of the panel members. However,
questions will be limited to those filed with the court, and the court will
limit the amount of time each party will be permitted to conduct
questioning.
10. SETTLEMENT DEADLINE. Unless otherwise ordered, the court hereby
imposes a settlement deadline of 12:00 Noon on the business day before trial. If the case is
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settled after that date, the court may enter an order to show cause why certain costs should not be
imposed on the party or parties causing the delay in settlement.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
BETH PHILLIPS, JUDGE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DATED:
NOTE: This document provides a sample of what Judge Phillips’ Scheduling Order will look
like when issued to the parties. This document is not to be used as parties’ proposed scheduling
order that is submitted for the Court’s review.
Parties proposed scheduling order should be signed by both parties and should not contain a
signature line for Judge Phillips.
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