The following steps are required prior to making any discovery motion pursuant to Rules
26 through 37 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
a. Parties must make good faith efforts among themselves to resolve or reduce all
differences relating to discovery prior to seeking court intervention.
b. The moving party must confer in detail with the opposing party concerning the discovery
issues between them in a good faith effort to eliminate or reduce the area of controversy
and to arrive at a mutually satisfactory resolution. Failure to do so may result in denial of
a motion to compel discovery and/or imposition of sanctions.
c. If the parties' conference does not fully resolve the discovery issues, the party seeking
relief must then request a court conference with the assigned Magistrate Judge. Pro se
parties who are incarcerated are not subject to the court conference requirement prior to
filing a motion to compel discovery. The assigned Magistrate Judge may direct the party
making the request for a court conference to file an affidavit setting forth the date(s) and
mode(s) of the consultation(s) with the opposing party and a letter that concisely sets
forth the nature of the dispute and a specific listing of each of the items of discovery
sought or opposed. Immediately following each disputed item, the party must set forth
the reason why the Court should allow or disallow that item.
d. Following a request for a discovery conference, the Court may schedule a conference and
advise all parties of a date and time. The assigned Magistrate Judge may, in his or her
discretion, conduct the discovery conference by telephone conference call, initiated by
the party making the request for the conference, by video conference, or by personal
appearance.
e. Following a discovery conference, the Court may direct the prevailing party to submit a
proposed order on notice to the other parties.
f. If a party fails or refuses to confer in good faith with the requesting party, thus requiring
the request for a discovery conference, the Court, at its discretion, may subject the
resisting party to the sanction of the imposition of costs, including the attorney’s fees of
opposing party in accordance with Fed. R. Civ. P. 37.
g. A party claiming privilege with respect to a communication or other item must
specifically identify the privilege and the grounds for the claimed privilege. The parties
may not make any generalized claims of privilege.
h. The parties shall file any motion to compel discovery that these Rules authorize no later
than FOURTEEN DAYS after the discovery cut-off date. See L.R. 16.2. A party shall
accompany any motion that it files pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 37 with the discovery
materials to which the motion relates if the parties have not previously filed those
materials with the Court.
SECTION VI.
TRIALS
38.1 Notation of “Jury Demand” in the Pleading .................................................................. 34
39.1 Opening Statements and Closing Arguments ................................................................ 35
39.2 Submission of Pretrial Papers ........................................................................................ 35
40.1 Preferences ..................................................................................................................... 35
40.2 Trial Calendar ................................................................................................................ 35
41.1 Settlements, Apportionments and Allowances in Wrongful Death Actions.................. 35
41.2 Dismissal of Actions ...................................................................................................... 36
41.3 Actions Dismissed by Stipulation .................................................................................. 36
42.1 Consolidation; Separation of Issues in Civil Suits......................................................... 36
43.1 Examination of Witnesses.............................................................................................. 36
44.1 Official Records ............................................................................................................. 36
45.1 Subpoenas ...................................................................................................................... 37
46.1 Exceptions to Rulings .................................................................................................... 37
47.1 Grand and Petit Jurors .................................................................................................... 37
47.2 Jury Selection ................................................................................................................. 38
47.3 Assessment of Juror Costs ............................................................................................. 38
47.4 Jury Deliberation ............................................................................................................ 38
47.5 Jury Contact Prohibition ................................................................................................ 39
47.6 Social Media Juror Inquiries .......................................................................................... 39
48.1 Number of Jurors ........................................................................................................... 40
49.1 Special Verdicts and Interrogatories .............................................................................. 40
