IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
CHARLOTTE DIVISION
CIVIL ACTION NO. X:XX-CV-XXX -MOC-DCK
____________, )
)
Plaintiff(s), ) PRETRIAL ORDER AND
) CASE MANAGEMENT PLAN
v. )
)
)
____________, )
)
Defendant(s). )
)
IN ACCORDANCE WITH the Local Rules of the Western District of North Carolina
and pursuant to Rule 16 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the undersigned enters the
following Pretrial Order and Case Management Plan in this matter.
DEADLINES AT A GLANCE
Rule 26 Disclosures:
Expert Reports: (Plaintiffs)
(Defendants)
Discovery Completion:
Mediation Report:
Dispositive Motions:
Trial Date: Charlotte Trials--Third Monday of Even
Months
Asheville Trials—First Monday of Even Months
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I. DISCOVERY
A. DISCOVERY GUIDELINES: Discovery shall be proportional to the needs of the case
and is limited as follows: Each party may propound no more than twenty (20)
interrogatories, including subparts; no more than twenty (20) requests for admission; and
take no more than six (6) depositions of non-expert witnesses. The Court reserves the right
to shift the costs of production of discovery to the party requesting it when the Court
determines that the request is not proportionate. When a party has an objection to
production, the objection must be specific. Production of documents may be accomplished
through production of hard copies instead of electronic data.
B. RULE 26 DISCLOSURES: The parties have agreed to 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. All counsel are advised to consult the local rule which provides that while
depositions, interrogatories, and requests for admission, and responses thereto, must still
be served on all parties, they are no longer to be filed unless upon order of the Court. The
parties are responsible for the preservation of any and all discovery materials they may
generate.
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E. 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.
F. PROTECTIVE ORDERS: Any objections made to discovery requests shall be
accompanied by a draft proposed protective order if such order is, or will be, requested.
When counsel submit proposed protective orders, they shall include a provision leaving the
ultimate disposition of protected materials subject to a final order of the Court on the
completion of litigation.
A PROTECTIVE ORDER is hereby entered in accordance with Rule 16(b)(1)(B) and
Rule 502 providing that privileged documents inadvertently produced may be “clawed
back” by the party that produced them within 14 days of being served with written notice
of the inadvertent disclosure by the party who received the document.
G. DISCOVERY COMPLETION: All discovery shall be complete no later than .
Supplementations per Rule 26(e) shall be due within thirty (30) days after obtaining
applicable information. Counsel are directed to initiate discovery requests and notice or
subpoena 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 ten (10) days prior to
scheduled trial time. If a party requests an extension of time to respond to discovery
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requests or to extend the discovery deadline, the result of consultation with opposing
counsel must be stated in the motion.
H. EXPERT WITNESSES: Plaintiff shall provide reports from expert witness(es) pursuant
to Rule 26(a)(2) by . Defendant shall provide reports from its expert
witness(es) by .
II. MOTIONS
A. DISPOSITIVE 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 of the completion of discovery do not
extend the Motions Deadline.
B. REQUIREMENT OF CONFERENCE WITH COURT BEFORE FILING
SUBSTANTIVE DISCOVERY MOTIONS: In accordance with Rule 16(b)(1)(B), a
party shall, before filing a disputed motion for an order relating to discovery, request a
conference with the Magistrate Judge. Only when that request is denied or an impasse is
reached at the conference may the party file a disputed motion for an order relating to
discovery. Such conferences may be conducted in chambers or by conference call and
need not be recorded, all in the discretion of the Magistrate Judge.
C. MOTIONS HEARINGS: Hearings on motions ordinarily will be conducted only when
the Rules require a hearing, when the papers filed in support of and in opposition to the
motion do not provide an adequate basis for decision, or at the request of a party and when
the Court determines it would aid the decisional process. All motions requiring a hearing
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will be heard as soon as is practical. The Clerk will notify all parties as far in advance as
possible of the date and time set for the hearing.
D. MEMORANDA IN SUPPORT OF MOTIONS: 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. Motions not in compli-
ance with this Order are subject to summary denial.
E. RESPONSES AND REPLIES: Responses to motions, if any, must be filed within
fourteen (14) days of the date on which the motion is filed. Replies to responses, if any,
must be filed within seven (7) days of the date on which the response is filed. Pursuant to
Rule 6(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, when a party serves a motion or response
by any manner, the respondent shall have an additional three (3) days to file a response or
reply.
F. ENLARGEMENT OF TIME: If counsel need more than fourteen (14) days to file a
response or seven (7) days to file a reply, a motion for extension of time shall be filed. 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.
G. MOTIONS TO COMPEL: A motion to compel must include a statement by the movant
that the parties have conferred in good faith with each other and have exhausted the
requirement of a conference with the Court in compliance with Subpart B, supra, in an
attempt to resolve the dispute and are unable to do so. Consistent with the spirit, purpose,
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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
in good faith to resolve discovery disputes without the necessity of court intervention.
Failure to do so may result in appropriate sanctions.
III. ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION
A. METHOD: The method of ADR to be utilized in this case is mediation.
B. DEADLINE: Mediation may be held earlier, at the parties’ discretion, but must be
completed, and a Mediation Report on the results filed, on or before
___________________. The Mediation Report may be filed by the mediator or the parties.
The parties are advised that the Court will not consider summary judgment motions until a
Mediation Report is filed.
IV. TRIAL
A. TRIAL DATE. The date for trial is . (Third Monday of Even Months
for Charlotte cases, First Monday of Even Months for Asheville cases) The parties
estimate that the total time needed for trial will be approximately ____ days.
B. TRIAL SUBPOENAS: Counsel must subpoena all witnesses at least ten (10) days before
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.
C. COUNSEL’S DUTIES PRIOR TO TRIAL: At least two (2) full weeks before the trial
date, counsel for all parties shall:
(a) Discuss the possibility of a settlement;
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(b) Exchange copies of exhibits or permit inspection if copying is impractical;
(c) Number and become acquainted with all exhibits; and
(d) Agree upon the issues, reduce them to writing, and file them with the Court. If
counsel cannot agree upon the issues, each party is directed to write his/her own
version and file it with the Court.
(e) Agree upon stipulations of fact and file them with the Court. The parties are
encouraged to stipulate to as many facts as possible to facilitate the trial of the case.
D. COUNSEL’S FILINGS ONE WEEK BEFORE TRIAL: At least one (1) full week
before the trial date, counsel for each party shall file with the Court each of the following:
(a) A trial brief addressing all questions of law and any anticipated evidentiary
issues;
(b) In all non-jury cases, proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law;
(c) Proposed jury instructions, as described below;
(d) Requested questions for voir dire; and
(e) Deposition testimony a party will offer as evidence at trial, as described
below in Subsection G.
E. PROPOSED JURY INSTRUCTIONS: If a jury trial has been requested, all counsel
shall file proposed jury instructions and verdict sheets no later than one (1) week before
the trial date. Additional instructions may be submitted during the trial as circumstances
may require. Counsel should number each proposed instruction and shall submit each
proposed instruction on a separate page. Each proposed instruction must contain a
supporting citation(s) as a footnote. A proposed instruction without a supporting citation
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may not be considered. Proposed instructions should be filed on the docket and also in
Microsoft Word form through Cyberclerk.
F. JURY VOIR DIRE: The Court, after consideration of the requests for voir dire submitted
by counsel, shall conduct initial jury voir dire. Counsel will be given an opportunity to
conduct voir dire in the manner otherwise utilized in the courts of the State of North
Carolina.
G. DEPOSITION TESTIMONY: If a party will offer deposition testimony as evidence at
trial, the parties are to prepare the following and submit it to the Court at least one full
week before the trial date:
(a) The party originally offering the testimony shall highlight in yellow all portions
of the deposition testimony it will seek to have admitted;
(b) That party shall then provide the highlighted copy to the opposing party;
(c) The opposing party shall highlight in a different color all portions of the
deposition testimony it will seek to have admitted;
(d) 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., 401, hearsay);
(e) The opposing party shall then return the document to the party originally
offering the testimony, who will list objections to the opposing party’s highlighted
portion;
(f) The party originally offering the testimony shall then file the document with
the Court.
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H. WITNESSES AND EXHIBITS: No later than seven days before the first day of trial,
counsel for each party shall file the following:
(a) A witness list containing the name of every proposed witness;
(b) A statement of the education, experience, and qualifications of each expert
witness, unless the parties have stipulated to the qualifications of each expert
witness;
(c) Stipulations concerning the authenticity of as many proposed exhibits as
possible; and
(d) An exhibit list.
I. EXHIBITS: Parties are expected to use presentation technology available in the
courtroom to display evidence to the jury. Training on the equipment must be arranged
well in advance of trial with the courtroom deputy, not on the day of trial. See “Courtroom
Technology” link on the district website at https://www.ncwd.uscourts.gov/jury-evidence-
recording-system-jers. Counsel shall provide in electronic format any exhibits 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 in the manner instructed by the courtroom deputy. Exhibit files
shall be named consistent with the order in which they are presented and contain a
descriptive name. For example:
Exhibit 1 - photograph of . . .
Exhibit 2(a) - contract
Exhibit 2(b) - video deposition of . . .
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J. FORMAT FOR EXHIBIT LIST: In preparing the exhibit list, each side shall identify
and number each exhibit, shall arrange the list numerically by exhibit number, and shall
place the following headings on the exhibit list:
Exhibit # Description Identified by Admitted
It is not necessary for counsel to make entries in either the “Identified by” column or the
“Admitted” column. Counsel shall also provide an electronic copy of the exhibit list with
the electronic exhibit files as the courtroom deputy instructs.
K. ASSESSMENT OF JURY COSTS: Whenever a civil action scheduled for a jury trial is
settled or otherwise disposed of in advance of the actual 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 (1) full business 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. 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.
V. 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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