UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
CHARLOTTE OR STATESVILLE DIVISION
CIVIL ACTION NO. ____________
___________________, )
)
Plaintiff[s], )
) PRETRIAL ORDER AND
v. ) CASE MANAGEMENT PLAN
)
___________________, )
)
Defendant[s]. )
IN ACCORDANCE WITH the Local Rules Governing Civil Cases in the Western District
of North Carolina (“Local Rules”) and pursuant to Rule 16 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
(“Fed. R. Civ. P.”), the Court enters the following Pretrial Order and Case Management Plan in
this matter.
DEADLINES AT A GLANCE1
Rule 26 Disclosures [ PTO + 30 days ]
Amendment of the Pleadings [ PTO + 4 months ]
Joinder of Other Parties [ PTO + 4 months ]
Plaintiff[s] Expert Report [ Discovery Deadline – 8 weeks ]
Defendant[s] Expert Report [ Discovery Deadline – 4 weeks ]
Completion of Discovery [ PTO + 8 months ]
Mediation Report [ Discovery deadline + 14 days ]
Filing of Dispositive Motions [ PTO + 9 months ]
Trial Date [ PTO + 12-14 months ]
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These deadlines and discovery guidelines are the Court’s presumptive guidelines. However, the parties may agree
to, and the Court may consider, proposals for more restrictive dates and discovery guidelines (e.g., 6 months of
discovery rather than 8 months or 20 interrogatories and 3 depositions rather than 25 interrogatories and 8 depositions).
I. PLEADINGS AND PARTIES
A. AMENDMENT OF PLEADINGS: The parties’ deadline to amend the pleadings is
___________.
B. JOINDER OF ADDITIONAL PARTIES: The parties’ deadline to join other parties
is _________.
II. DISCOVERY
A. DISCOVERY GUIDELINES: Discovery shall be proportional to the needs of the
case and is limited as set forth herein. Each party may propound on each opposing party: (a) no
more than 25 interrogatories, including subparts; (b) no more than 25 requests for admission,
including subparts; and (c) no more than 30 requests for production of documents, including
subparts. Each party may take no more than [8 or 40 hours of] depositions of non-expert
witnesses.
B. RULE 26 DISCLOSURES: The parties shall exchange the information set forth in
Rule 26 by _____________.
C. RESPONSES TO INTERROGATORIES AND REQUESTS FOR ADMISSION:
Every response to an interrogatory or request for admission, and every objection thereto, shall be
preceded by the original number and complete text of the corresponding interrogatory or request
for admission.
D. THE MAINTENANCE OF DISCOVERY MATERIALS: Discovery materials are
NOT to be filed with the Court. All counsel are advised to consult Local Rule 26.2 which provides
that initial disclosures, designations of expert witnesses and their reports, discovery requests or
responses thereto, deposition transcripts, or other discovery material shall not be filed unless: (1)
directed to do so by the Court; (2) the materials are needed for an in-Court proceeding; or (3) the
materials are filed to support or oppose a motion or petition. All such materials must be served on
other counsel or parties entitled to service. The parties are responsible for the preservation of any
and all discovery materials they may generate.
E. PROTECTIVE ORDERS: In order to avoid unnecessary delay in responding to
discovery requests, the Court has adopted a standing protective order that is applicable to each
case before the undersigned. The Court’s standing protective order is subject to supplementation,
modification, or vacatur, as the need may arise, upon motion of any party. If one or more of the
parties seeks to supplement, modify, or vacate the standing protective order, then the parties are
required to meet and confer and file with the Court a motion and joint draft proposed protective
order governing discovery, if applicable. If the parties cannot agree on the form of the
supplemental or modified proposed protective order, then each party shall submit a proposed
supplemental or modified protective order. Even with a protective order governing confidential
documents in place, however, Court filings may be kept under seal only upon written motion of a
party satisfying the requirements of Local Rule 6.1 and applicable law.
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F. DISCOVERY COMPLETION: All discovery shall be completed no later than
_______________. Counsel are directed to initiate discovery requests and notices, subpoenas, and
depositions sufficiently in advance of the discovery completion deadline so as to comply with this
Order. Discovery requests that seek responses or schedule depositions after the discovery
completion deadline are not enforceable except by order of the Court for good cause shown. The
parties may consent to extensions of the discovery completion deadline so long as any such
extension expires not later than 60 days prior to scheduled trial date and a joint stipulation
memorializing the extension is filed on the record.2 If the parties do not reach a joint stipulation
for the completion of discovery or they seek to extend discovery within 60 days prior to the
scheduled trial time, a party may move for an extension of time to respond to discovery requests
or to extend the discovery deadline and the motion must state the result of consultation with
opposing counsel.
G. REQUIREMENT OF CONFERENCE AND MOTIONS TO COMPEL: Before
filing a motion to compel or any other motion related to a discovery dispute, the parties are required
to schedule and submit to an informal conference with the Court. Such conferences will be
conducted by conference call and need not be recorded. A motion to compel or any other motion
related to a discovery dispute may only be filed, if needed, after the informal conference. A motion
to compel or any other motion related to a discovery dispute must include a statement by the
movant that the parties have conferred in good faith in an attempt to resolve the dispute and are
unable to do so. Consistent with the spirit, purpose, and explicit directives of the Federal Rules of
Civil Procedure and the Local Rules of the Western District of North Carolina, the Court expects
all parties and counsel to attempt to resolve discovery disputes in good faith without the necessity
of Court intervention. Failure to do so may result in appropriate sanctions.
H. VIDEO DEPOSITIONS: If video depositions are taken and counsel intend to use
them at trial, counsel are directed to resolve any objections and edit the video accordingly so that
the video may be shown without interruption. Failure to do this prior to trial will result in
objections being deemed to be waived.
I. DE BENE ESSE DEPOSITIONS: De bene esse trial depositions may not be taken
outside of the discovery period without consent of all parties or leave of Court upon motion. Such
depositions should be presented at trial by video recording whenever possible.
J. EXPERT WITNESSES: The Plaintiff[s] shall provide reports from expert witnesses
pursuant to Rule 26(a)(2) by __________. Defendant[s] shall provide expert reports from expert
witnesses by __________. Supplementations per Rule 26(e) shall be due as provided by Rule
26(e).
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Stipulated extensions of the deadline for completion of all discovery will not alter the deadlines for filing, briefing,
and hearing dispositive motions, nor do they provide grounds for a continuance of a trial setting.
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III. SETTLEMENT DISCUSSIONS AND MEDIATION
A. MEDIATION: The parties are ordered to conduct a mediation [or other approved
ADR process if agreed]. The parties shall complete and file a report on the results of mediation
[or other approved ADR process if agreed] no later than __________________.
B. ADDITIONAL SETTLEMENT CONFERENCES: The mediation ordered above is
not meant to limit the timing of the parties’ efforts to settle the case. Rather, the parties are
encouraged to discuss settlement at any time that might lead to a resolution of the dispute. The
parties may only request a judicial settlement conference by motion after conducting mediation.
C. SETTLEMENT PROCEDURES: If a settlement is reached, it shall be reported
immediately to the Court, in writing, together with a realistic target date by which the parties can
have a formal stipulation of dismissal filed. Until the case is dismissed, counsel and the parties
shall take notice that the filing of a Notice of Settlement does not stay or toll any deadlines without
further order of the Court.
IV. MOTIONS
A. MOTIONS DEADLINE: All motions except motions in limine and motions to
continue shall be filed no later than ______________. Parties may not extend this deadline by
agreement and stipulated extensions for the completion of discovery do not extend the motions
deadline.
B. MOTIONS HEARINGS: Hearings on motions will be conducted only when the Rules
require a hearing, when the memoranda filed in support of and in opposition to the motion do not
provide an adequate basis for decision, or when the Court determines a hearing would aid the
decisional process. The Clerk will notify all parties as far in advance as possible of the date and
time set for the hearing.
C. MEMORANDA IN SUPPORT OF MOTIONS, REQUIREMENTS AND
DEADLINES: Every motion shall include, or be accompanied by, a brief written statement of the
facts, a statement of the law, including citations of authority and the grounds on which the motion
is based. Unless prior permission has been granted, memoranda of law pertaining to any discovery
or evidentiary motion shall not exceed 12 pages. Unless prior permission has been granted,
memoranda of law in support of or in opposition to any dispositive motion shall not exceed 25
pages and reply memoranda shall not exceed 15 pages. All filings must be double spaced. All
text (excluding footnotes) must be in 12-point font. Memoranda not in compliance with this Order
may be stricken.
D. RESPONSES AND REPLIES: Responses to motions, if any, shall be filed within 14
days of the date on which the motion is filed. Replies to responses, if any, shall be filed within 7
days of the date on which the response is filed. The Parties are advised that the Court’s ECF
system may automatically generate a due date that is different than set in this Order. In that event,
the time set by this Order controls.
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E. EXHIBITS: A copy of all exhibits upon which a party relies in support of or in
opposition to a motion shall be filed with the Court. However, a party may not file any exhibits
which the party does not cite in the motion or a supporting or responsive memorandum. Except
as requested by the Court, parties should not deliver “courtesy copies” of memoranda or exhibits
to the Judge’s chambers or the Clerk of Court. If parties are submitting more than ten sealed
exhibits, the parties are directed to contact chambers for further instructions.
F. EXTENSIONS OF TIME: If counsel require more than 14 days to file a response or
7 days to file a reply, a motion for extension of time shall be filed, accompanied by a proposed
order. The moving party must show consultation with opposing counsel regarding the requested
extension and must notify the Court of the views of opposing counsel on the request. If a party
fails to make the requisite showing, the Court may summarily deny the request for extension.
V. PRETRIAL AND TRIAL PROCEDURES
A. TRIAL DATE: A [jury or bench] trial is scheduled to commence on ____________.
The trial is anticipated to last ___________ days. The term “trial date” has been used throughout
this Order to refer to the first day of the term in which this case is ultimately set for trial, that also
being the date on which jury selection is scheduled to begin for this case.
B. FINAL PRETRIAL CONFERENCE: The Court will schedule a final pretrial
conference following dispositive motions. At the final pretrial conference, the Court will inquire
about the potential settlement of the matter and otherwise prepare for trial.
C. TRIAL SUBPOENAS: Counsel must subpoena all witnesses at least 14 days prior to
the trial date. The Court may elect not to enforce subpoenas that have not been issued in
compliance with this deadline or, if requested, may quash subpoenas that have not been issued in
compliance with this deadline.
D. PRETRIAL SUBMISSIONS: The Court requires the following pretrial submissions
to be jointly drafted and submitted to chambers at least 14 days prior to the trial date.
1. A joint statement of the case, the purpose of which is to acquaint the jury with the nature
of the case. Unless the case is extremely complex, this statement should not exceed one
page.
2. Stipulations as to all issues of law or fact to which the parties can agree for purposes of
streamlining trial.
3. A brief synopsis (no argument) of the legal or factual contentions about which the parties
have been unable to stipulate. Any advocacy should be reserved for a trial brief, which
may be submitted as provided in Paragraph V.J. below.
4. A list of exhibits that each party may offer at trial (except those offered solely for
impeachment or cross-examination), numbered sequentially, a brief description of the
exhibit, and any stipulations as to authenticity. This information shall be entered into a
table in substantially the following format (the last two columns should be left blank to be
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completed by the Courtroom Deputy at trial):
Stipulation as to
Party Exh. Description Authenticity Identified By Admitted
No. (Yes or No only)
1 Police Report
2 Draft of Contract
5. Deposition testimony a party intends to offer as evidence at trial. Counsel should not file
deposition designations for any witness that a party plans to have testify in person or who
is unlikely to testify at all. In the event that a witness expected to appear is unexpectedly
unable to appear or a witness’ deposition testimony becomes unexpectedly necessary, then
counsel will be given a reasonable opportunity to file deposition designations for that
witness.
6. A witness list containing the name of every proposed witness each party may offer at trial.
7. A statement of the qualifications of any expert witness a party may offer at trial, unless
the parties have stipulated to the qualifications of the expert witness as provided above.
E. JURY VOIR DIRE: The Court will conduct its standard voir dire. In addition to the
Court’s standard voir dire, counsel may prepare and jointly file a single compilation of voir dire
questions sought to be asked no later than 14 days prior to the trial date. The filing shall also note
the parties’ agreement or objection to each proposed question. Pursuant to Rule 47(a), the Court
will ask prospective jurors only such of the proposed voir dire as it deems proper. In addition to
filing the joint proposed voir dire questions electronically, counsel should electronically send to
chambers a copy of the proposed questions in a document prepared or compatible with a standard
word processing program, preferably Microsoft Word.
F. PROPOSED JURY INSTRUCTIONS AND VERDICT SHEET: If a jury trial has
been requested, all counsel shall submit proposed jury instructions no later than 14 days prior to
the trial date. Counsel shall jointly file a single compilation of proposed jury instructions that are
narrowly tailored to the anticipated issues arising at trial (e.g., the elements of the claims and
defenses at issue), subject to supplementation at the close of evidence as necessary, as
contemplated by Rule 51. Counsel shall identify and index each proposed instruction by number
and heading, and support each proposed instruction with adequate legal authority. Where there is
disagreement as to any instruction, this jointly prepared submission shall disclose the basis for a
party’s objection and (if applicable) provide a proposed alternate instruction. Counsel shall also
file a single verdict sheet no later than 14 days prior to the trial date. If the parties cannot agree on
the form of the verdict sheet, then each party shall submit a separate proposed verdict sheet. In
addition to filing the joint proposed jury instructions and verdict sheet(s) electronically, counsel
should electronically send to chambers a copy of the proposed instructions and verdict sheet(s) in
a document prepared or compatible with a standard word processing program, preferably
Microsoft Word.
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G. DEPOSITION TESTIMONY: For the deposition testimony required to be filed with
the Court as discussed above in Paragraph V.D.5, the parties must prepare and submit the
testimony to the Court as follows:
1. The party originally offering the testimony shall highlight in yellow all portions of the
deposition testimony it will seek to have admitted;
2. That party shall then provide the highlighted copy to the opposing party;
3. The opposing party shall highlight in a different color all portions of the deposition
testimony it will seek to have admitted;
4. The opposing party shall then list briefly in the margins, directly adjacent to the relevant
testimony, any objections it has to that testimony (e.g., Fed. R. Evid. 401, hearsay);
5. The opposing party shall then return the document to the party originally offering the
testimony, who will note on the transcript any objections to the opposing party’s
highlighted portion;
6. The parties shall prepare a document that consecutively lists all the testimony in each
deposition being objected to by either party along with the objection including citations to
legal authority, a response to the objection including citations to legal authority, a reply
where appropriate, and a blank box for the Court to rule on the objection. This information
shall be entered into a table in substantially the following format (the last column should
be left blank for the Court to rule); and
Deposition
Testimony Objection Response Reply Court Ruling
(including citation)
7. The party originally offering the testimony shall then file the highlighted depositions and
summary document through the Court’s ECF system. Counsel should also electronically
send chambers a copy of the summary document listing the objections prepared or
compatible with a standard word processing program, preferably Microsoft Word.
H. EXHIBITS: Parties are expected to use presentation technology available in the
courtroom to display evidence to the jury. Training on the equipment should be arranged well in
advance of trial with the Courtroom Deputy. See “Courtroom Technology” link on the District
website. Counsel shall provide in electronic format any exhibits consisting of documents,
photographs, videos, and any other evidence that may be reduced to an electronic file for the use
of Court personnel and the Court’s Jury Evidence Recording System (JERS) during trial.
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Documents and photographs shall be in .pdf, .jpg, .bmp, .tif, or .gif format. Video and audio
recordings shall be in .avi, .wmv, .mpg, .mp3, .wma, or .wav format. Each electronic exhibit
shall be saved as a separate independent file and provided to the Court on an encrypted or password
protected storage device, such as CD, DVD, or flash drive. Exhibit files shall be named consistent
with their order and name on the exhibit list. For example:
Exhibit 1 - photograph of . . .
Exhibit 2(a) - contract
Exhibit 2(b) - video deposition of . . .
I. EXHIBIT NOTEBOOKS: If counsel for any party intends to tender more than fifteen
documentary exhibits, counsel for that party shall prepare two identical exhibit notebooks, or sets
of exhibit notebooks, containing only those exhibits listed on the party’s exhibit list. Exhibits
which are voluminous (unless of particular importance) or which have a very low likelihood of
being introduced even though they have been included on the party’s exhibit list should not be
included in the exhibit notebooks. The exhibit notebooks shall contain an index of the exhibits
and a copy of each exhibit. Counsel shall tab each exhibit separately (i.e., no group exhibits) and
shall numerically arrange each exhibit notebook or set of exhibit notebooks. The exhibit notebooks
are necessary so that the witness and the Court may each have a set of exhibit notebooks in the
event that technical difficulties prevent the parties from presenting their exhibits electronically.
The parties may seek leave of Court to waive the requirement of exhibit notebooks where hard
copies of the proposed exhibits would be overly voluminous or otherwise unwieldy.
J. MOTIONS IN LIMINE AND TRIAL BRIEFS: Trial briefs and/or motions in limine,
if appropriate, shall be filed at least 21 days prior to the trial date. Written responses shall be due
at least 14 days prior to the trial date. Unless prior permission has been granted, motions in limine
shall not exceed 12 pages and trial briefs shall not exceed 20 pages.
K. PROPOSED FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW: If the case
will be tried by bench trial, proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law shall be due to be
filed at a time designated at the final pretrial conference.
L. ASSESSMENT OF JURY COSTS: Whenever a civil action scheduled for a jury trial
is settled or otherwise disposed of in advance of trial, the Court may assess all jurors’ costs,
including Marshal’s fees, mileage reimbursement, and per diem fees, equally against the parties or
otherwise may determine appropriate assessments unless the Clerk’s Office is notified at least one
day prior to the date on which the action is scheduled for trial or the parties establish good cause
why the Court should not assess jury costs against the parties. However, if the action is scheduled
for a jury trial on Monday the parties shall notify the Clerk’s Office by the end of the day on the
Friday before the trial date. When any civil jury trial is settled at trial in advance of the verdict,
the Court likewise may make the same assessments unless the parties establish good cause why
the Court should not do so.
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VI. EFFECT OF THIS ORDER
To the extent that any provisions of the Local Rules conflict with this Order, this Order
shall govern. This Order is subject to modification only by order of this Court and may not be
modified by agreements among the parties.
VII. SANCTIONS FOR FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THE PRETRIAL ORDER
Failure to comply with any of the provisions of this Order which causes added delay or
expense to the Court may result in the imposition of sanctions as provided by the Federal Rules of
Civil Procedure.
SO ORDERED.
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