IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI
SOUTHERN DIVISION
ORDER SETTING PRETRIAL CONFERENCES
The following cases in the Southern Division of this District are set for
TRIAL and will be heard during a three week civil calendar BEGINNING
MONDAY, THROUGH FRIDAY, at the United
States Courthouse, Courtroom 806, 2012 15 Street, Gulfport, Mississippi, Chief
th
United States District Judge Halil S. Ozerden, presiding. THERE WILL BE NO
CALL OF THE CALENDAR ON THE FIRST DAY OF TRIAL.
Only those scheduling conflicts listed in the Case Management Order will be
honored during this trial calendar.
A PRETRIAL CONFERENCE is ordered in the following cases as per the
attached schedule, at Suite 814, United States Courthouse, 2012 15th Street,
Gulfport, Mississippi.
ALL COUNSEL WHO WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE TRIAL MUST
ATTEND THE PRETRIAL CONFERENCE, UNLESS EXCUSED BY THE
COURT. SEE L.U. CIV. R 16(j)(6)(A):
ALL SCHEDULED CONFERENCES MUST BE
ATTENDED BY COUNSEL OF RECORD WHO WILL
PARTICIPATE IN THE TRIAL AND WHO HAVE
FULL AUTHORITY TO SPEAK FOR THE PARTY
AND ENTER INTO STIPULATIONS AND
AGREEMENTS.
I. PRETRIAL CONFERENCE
If settlement is to be discussed in jury cases, counsel are instructed to confer
with their clients in advance of the Pretrial Conference and to have their clients,
corporate representatives and/or adjusters present or available by telephone at the
appointed time. In cases where settlement discussions are contemplated, a
confidential memorandum (3 page maximum) setting forth a brief explanation of
the case and a candid appraisal of the respective positions, including possible
settlement figures, should be forwarded to the Court either via e-mail or by mail at
2012 15th Street, Suite 814, Gulfport, MS 39501, to be received no later than three
(3) business days prior to the Pretrial Conference. This document is not to be
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exchanged and will be viewed only by the Court. The memorandum will not
become a part of the Court file and will be destroyed upon the exhaustion of
settlement negotiations.
Do not submit settlement memoranda in non-jury cases.
In preparing for the Pretrial Conference, please refer to Local Rule 16(j)
governing Pretrial Orders and the official form for all pretrial orders.
EXCEPTIONS to this rule are (1) the requirement of the Magistrate Judge’s
signature appearing on the Pretrial Order is waived and (2) the completed
Pretrial Order (original) shall be submitted to Judge Ozerden at the
Pretrial Conference.
II. JURY INSTRUCTIONS
Requests for instructions shall be submitted not later than fourteen (14)
calendar days prior to the date for which trial is set. Proposed substantive jury
instructions are to be submitted to the Court via e-mail at
[email protected] in Word format. Counsel must confer
regarding substantive jury instructions prior to the Pretrial Conference
and should submit as many jointly agreed upon proposed substantive
instructions as possible.
III. NON-JURY CASES
Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law must be submitted to the
Court via e-mail at
[email protected] in Word format fourteen
(14) calendar days prior to the trial and copies exchanged between counsel.
IV. DEPOSITIONS
In all cases, depositions to be introduced at trial, other than for rebuttal or
impeachment purposes, shall be abridged and submitted to Judge Ozerden at the
Pretrial Conference in the Pretrial Order, in accordance with Local Rule 16(j)(5)(A),
(B) and (C). In the Pretrial Order, the offering party must designate by line and
page the portions of each deposition it plans to offer or indicate that it is offering the
entire deposition. The opposing party or parties must designate by line and page
in the Pretrial Order any additional portions of the deposition to be offered and
must identify distinctly any portions of the deposition previously designated by any
other party to which objection is made. Finally, the offering party must thereafter
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identify distinctly in the Pretrial Order any portions of the deposition previously
designated by any other party to which objection is made. Objections not noted
in the Pretrial Order are waived.
The offering party must supply the Court with one color-coded, hard copy of
the deposition transcript at least 14 calendar days prior to the date for which trial is
set. The color-coding must clearly indicate each party’s designations and
objections. In the event that the deposition will be offered via video, written
transcripts of those portions to which there are objections will be considered by the
Court. Video depositions shall be edited prior to trial as stated in Local Rule
16(j)(5)(D).
V. IN LIMINE MOTIONS
Please note Local Rule 7(b)(2)(E) stating all in limine motions shall be filed
twenty-one (21) calendar days prior to the Pretrial Conference. Responses shall be
filed fourteen (14) calendar days prior to the Pretrial Conference. Absent good
cause, untimely motions in limine will be summarily denied.
VI. EXHIBITS AND WITNESS LISTS
A. WITNESS LISTS
An original of the list of proposed witnesses should be e-mailed to the
courtroom deputy clerk at
[email protected] (Word format) no
later than two (2) business days before trial, with a copy to opposing counsel.
B. EXHIBIT LISTS
COPIES OF EXHIBIT LISTS – Provide the courtroom deputy clerk with an
e-mailed copy of the exhibit list (Word format) at
[email protected] no later than two (2) business days before
trial, with a copy to opposing counsel. The courtroom deputy clerk will use the
original of your exhibit list AFTER the trial to make a record of the documents.
EXHIBITS AND COPIES OF EXHIBITS – Parties preparing the exhibits
for a regular civil trial must make an appointment with the courtroom deputy clerk
to meet no later than two (2) business days before trial is scheduled to begin, to
jointly go over the exhibits and lists, prior to any copies being made. If any
corrections are necessary, parties will be responsible for making the appropriate
corrections before resubmitting exhibits. When approved, the courtroom deputy
clerk will be provided the originals and two copies of the exhibits.
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Parties preparing the exhibits for a prisoner complaint trial will bring the
exhibit list and the exhibits to the pretrial conference and leave them with the
courtroom deputy clerk at that time.
At the Pretrial Conference, the parties must coordinate with the
courtroom deputy clerk to schedule an exhibit conference to review the
exhibits prior to trial. The exhibit conference shall occur no later than
two (2) business days before trial.
FORMAT – Attorneys must have the exhibit list in the format of the one
attached (Word format). This is an example of how it should look when e-mailed to
the courtroom deputy clerk prior to trial.
MARKING EXHIBITS – Pre-mark the front of the exhibits with a colored
exhibit sticker in the bottom center of the exhibit. If doing so would cover
important information on the exhibit, place the sticker in another location. This
helps to identify the exhibits quickly during trial.
NUMBERING EXHIBITS – Label stickers P-1, P-2, etc. for plaintiff and
D-1, D-2, etc. for defendant, or use additional distinguishing letters if there are
multiple plaintiffs or defendants. For example, in a case of multiple plaintiffs
Moran, Watkins, Bates and Baldwin who have separate exhibits, the distinguishing
letters would be PM-1 for Moran, PW-1 for Watkins, PBt-1 for Bates and PBl-1 for
Baldwin. If these same people were defendants, their numbers would be DM-1,
DW-1, DBt-1, and DBl-1, respectively. If they do NOT have separate exhibits,
simply use P-1 and D-1.
Joint exhibits will be numbered J-1, J-2, etc., and a SEPARATE Joint Exhibit
List must be provided to the courtroom deputy clerk, along with the standard
copies.
If you have a composite exhibit, for example P-1a through P-1c, list each one
on a separate line on your exhibit list, so that the courtroom deputy clerk can mark
each as it is admitted as evidence or for identification. To list only P-1 for a
composite (P-1a through P-1c) means that some of the exhibits are being left out.
Remember that during trial, each exhibit must be accounted for. For the
courtroom deputy clerk to have to write in P-1a, P-1b, etc. under your listing of P-1,
is wasting valuable court time and risking accuracy.
The Court prefers that copies of exhibits submitted to the Court be placed in
a notebook. If exhibits are not in a notebook, staple or otherwise permanently affix
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each exhibit which has multiple pages. Whether in or out of a notebook, number
each page in the bottom right corner for ease in referencing the page during trial.
ACCOUNTING FOR EXHIBITS – The courtroom deputy clerk must
account for all numbers, whether used or not. If the plaintiff’s list shows P-1, P-2,
P-3, but the plaintiff decides not to use P-3 after all, the exhibit list must show P-3
as WITHDRAWN or NOT OFFERED. If, using the same example of numbers, the
plaintiff discovers the defendant has the same document as P-1 listed on his exhibit
list as D-5, then the courtroom deputy clerk must put one or the other as admitted
under the other number. An example of this is P-1 shows as admitted into
evidence, but D-5 (same as P-1) would have the entry ADMITTED AS P-1. Please
do not duplicate exhibits, and it will not be an issue.
Please read this carefully and comply, so that valuable court time
will not be lost.
If you have any questions, please call the Courtroom Deputy Clerk at (228)
679-1070.
VII. CONFLICTS
Again, counsel are reminded that only scheduling conflicts listed in the Case
Management Order will be honored during this trial calendar. Any subsequent
conflicts not so listed will be considered when scheduling the exact dates of trial,
but not necessarily honored.
Should a party or the attorney for said party fail to appear or to follow the
directions set out herein, an ex parte hearing may be held and a judgment of
dismissal or default or other appropriate judgment entered or sanctions imposed.
VIII. ADVISORY FOR LIMITING PERSONAL INFORMATION IN
TRANSCRIPTS
The judiciary’s privacy policy restricts the publication of certain personal
data in documents filed with the court. The policy requires limiting Social Security
and financial account numbers to the last four digits, using only initials for the
names of minor children, and limiting dates of birth to the year. [For criminal
cases, also limit home addresses to city and state.] However, if such information is
elicited during testimony or other court proceedings, it will become available to the
public when the official transcript is filed of record unless, and until, it is redacted.
The better practice is for trial lawyers to avoid introducing this information into the
record in trial. Please take this restriction into account when questioning
witnesses or making other statements in court. If a restricted item is mentioned in
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court, the attorney may ask to have it stricken from the record or partially redacted
to conform to the privacy policy, or the court may elect to do so on its own motion.
As part of the Fifth Circuit’s Implementation of the Electronic Record
on appeal, the Court will now scan and docket exhibits admitted into
evidence at trial and during other evidentiary hearings in civil and
criminal cases in which a notice of appeal has been filed. The said
exhibits will be available to the public and it is the responsibility of the
parties to redact according to the E-Government Act of 2002 when
presenting exhibits.
SO ORDERED, this the _________ day of ____________, _____________.
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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI
SOUTHERN DIVISION
PLAINTIFF(S)
VERSUS CIVIL ACTION NO. *
DEFENDANT(S)
PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT LIST
(or DEFENDANT'S EXHIBIT LIST)
Number Description Sponsor Identification Evidence
P-1 or D-1 Briefly describe each Leave Sponsor,
exhibit Identification
and Evidence
Columns
blank, to be
completed by
court when
exhibits
entered
P-2 or D-2
THIS INSTRUMENT IS AN EXAMPLE ONLY.
DO NOT USE FOR YOUR EXHIBIT LIST.
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PRETRIAL CONFERENCES
BEFORE CHIEF JUDGE HALIL SULEYMAN OZERDEN
Civil Action No. Style Jury Time
Status
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Date
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Date
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