RULES OF PRACTICE FOR CIVIL CASES
CHRISTINE D. LITTLE
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
1. Behavior before the Court:
Parties and their counsel shall comply at all times with LGnR3, governing
Courthouse and Courtroom Conduct. Professionalism, courtesy, decorum, and
common sense shall dictate all behavior before the Court.
2. Pretrial Rules:
a. Compliance with LCvR16-1 and the pretrial deadlines set forth in the
judge’s Scheduling Order is mandatory, absent court order modifying the
requirements.
b. Consistent with the Judge’s Scheduling Order, parties and counsel are
expected to provide the Court as much advance written notice as possible
of any anticipated question of law or evidence that is particularly difficult
so that such issue may be determined before trial.
c. Motions in limine and Daubert motions shall be timely filed in accordance
with the Scheduling Order. Any such motion filed after the pretrial
conference is untimely and will not be considered absent a showing of
manifest injustice. Absent leave of court, all limine issues shall be
presented in a single motion and brief. A copy of any evidence sought to
be excluded (e.g. exhibits, expert opinions as reflected in a report, or
testimony identified in a prior deposition) shall be submitted to the Court
with the motion briefing.
d. The parties shall utilize the form of proposed pretrial order available at
https://www.oknd.uscourts.gov/cdl. The jointly prepared, proposed
pretrial order shall be submitted to
[email protected].
e. The parties shall exchange all trial exhibits sufficiently in advance of the
deadline for submission of the proposed pretrial order to permit the parties
to comply with the requirements in the Court’s Scheduling Order that the
parties (1) list any objections to exhibits, as well as responses to those
objections, in the proposed pretrial order and (2) meet and confer in an
attempt to resolve any objections prior to submission to the Court.
f. In the proposed pretrial order, exhibits shall be listed and described by
Bates numbering or other easily identifiable and distinguishable
characteristic. Listing by broad categories of exhibits (e.g. “medical
records,” “photographs,” “invoices”) without such numbering is
impermissible. Exhibits and witnesses not listed in the final Pretrial Order
will not be allowed at trial absent written motion showing good cause for
untimely disclosure and establishing that manifest injustice will occur
absent admission of such evidence.
g. Counsel shall prepare sets of exhibit notebooks as follows for use at trial:
(1) the witness stand; (2) the opposing party; (3) the judge; and (4) the
judge’s law clerk. The parties shall submit the judge’s set of exhibit
notebooks to the Courtroom Deputy at least three days in advance of the
pretrial conference. All other exhibit notebooks shall be available on the
morning of trial.
h. At the Pretrial Conference, the parties’ counsel and any pro se parties shall
be prepared to: (1) discuss and present arguments on pending motions,
objections to exhibits, and requested voir dire and jury instructions; and
(2) discuss any anticipated procedural or substantive matters that would
require bench conferences or otherwise waste time if raised during or at
the outset of trial.
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3. Trial Rules:
a. Joint Statement of the Case Submitted Prior to Trial: Counsel shall
prepare a joint statement briefly identifying the parties and describing the
nature of the case and claims and defenses of the parties. This statement
will be read to the venire by the judge at the outset of jury selection. The
joint statement shall be submitted to the judge’s email intake box at least
three days prior to the commencement of trial.
b. Professional Courtesy to Court Reporter: Absent advance Court
permission and suitable arrangement with the court reporter, daily copy
transcript will not be permitted. A party seeking daily copy shall present
any such request in advance of trial. If a party anticipates the use of
technical, medical, or unusual terms during the course of trial, counsel
should provide a list or glossary of those terms to the Court and the court
reporter prior to trial.
c. Early Arrival on First Day of Jury Trial: In order to start at the time
designated for a jury trial, the judge expects the parties and counsel to be
present in the courtroom, organized, and ready for trial 30 minutes prior to
the designated trial start time. This is for the purpose of being prepared to
address with the judge any last-minute issues (e.g. potential pre-admission
of exhibits, the statement of the case, order of evidence presentation, etc.),
d. Voir Dire:
The judge will question the venire about prior jury service, knowledge
of the case, parties, witnesses, and counsel, prior involvement in
litigation, occupation / work experience, and education. The Court may
also include appropriate questions from the parties’ proposed voir dire.
If requested and deemed appropriate, the judge may permit
supplemental questioning by counsel, limited to a total of no more than
20 minutes by each party. Counsel shall not utilize voir dire to argue
the case, pose questions about anticipated evidence, legal theories, or
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instructions, or ask hypothetical questions intended to obtain a juror’s
commitment to a particular verdict.
e. Exhibits:
Prior to trial, all exbibits shall be pre-marked and numbered consistent
with their designation in the Pretrial Order. Court time may not be used
for marking exhibits.
If a party wishes to utilize a summary pursuant to Fed. R. Evid. 1006
or an illustrative aid pursuant to Fed. R. Evid. 107, the summary or aid
shall be provided to opposing counsel 14 days prior to trial. Any motion
to exclude such summary or aid shall be filed no later than 7 days prior
to trial.
In cases with voluminous exhibits, counsel are encouraged to prepare
an exhibit notebook tailored to each witness. The purpose of this
requirement is the elimination of repeated trips by counsel to the
witness stand. If counsel intends to question a witness about a group of
exhibits, he or she should avoid delay by having the witness notebook
already on the witness stand.
The judge encourages the use of the electronic evidence presentation
system in the courtroom. Inexperienced users should contact the
judge’s courtroom deputy to schedule a short training session in
advance of trial.
f. Witnesses:
Parties shall ensure that their witnesses are readily available to avoid
needless delay and ensure the presence of a sufficient number of
witnesses for a full day of testimony, so that court does not have to be
adjourned early due to a party running out of witnesses.
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If the Rule of Sequestration is invoked, counsel shall ensure that their
prospective witnesses do not enter or remain in the courtroom during
any other witness’s testimony.
If a witness is to be called by video, the video recording shall be edited
prior to trial, and each parties’ counsel shall ensure that the video
portions to be played are consistent with any court rulings on
designations and objections as to that witness. Videotaped testimony
may be edited and presented by subject matter to assist the trier of fact
in understanding the evidence or determining a fact in issue.
At the conclusion of each trial day, counsel and pro se parties shall
advise the Court and opposing counsel of the next day’s witnesses and
the order in which those witnesses will be called.
All arguments and examinations shall be conducted from the lectern.
Courtroom demonstrations are prohibited unless advance permission
has been obtained from the judge outside the presence of the jury.
Absent exceptional circumstances, examination of a witness will
include direct examination, cross examination, one redirect, and one
recross.
Only the attorney handling the questioning of a witness may raise or
respond to an objection in regard to that witness’s testimony.
During witness examination and testimony, parties and counsel shall
not react with inappropriate gestures, facial expressions, or sounds
signifying agreement, disagreement, approval, or disapproval. No
person shall attempt to suggest an answer to a witness by expression or
gesture (e.g. head nod), and any such conduct may result in exclusion
of the person from the courtroom for the balance of trial.
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g. Jury instructions:
Requested jury instructions and verdict forms shall be filed in
accordance with the Scheduling Order, and a copy in Word format shall
be submitted to the judge’s email intake box.
Each requested jury instruction shall include a citation to a uniform or
model instruction or supporting legal authority applicable to the case.
Any objections to proposed jury instructions and pertinent case law
shall be filed at least five days prior to trial.
The Court will provide a draft set of jury instructions prior to
conclusion of trial. Thereafter, the judge will conduct an informal, off-
record jury instruction conference at a convenient break during trial. A
formal, on-record conference will thereafter be conducted to permit the
parties an opportunity to make a record of any objections that remain
following the informal conference.
The judge will read the final jury instructions to the jury before closing
arguments. If desired, the parties may utilize the Court’s final jury
instructions during closing arguments.
h. Behavior in Front of the Jury:
Stand a respectful distance from the jury at all times. Opening
statements and closing arguments shall be made from the lectern.
All objections in the presence of the jury must be short and to the point.
Counsel and pro se parties shall not argue the objection in the presence
of the jury and shall not argue with the ruling of the Court in the
presence of the jury.
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Motions (e.g., motion for mistrial or judgment as a matter of law) shall
not be made in the presence of the jury.
Requests for bench conferences shall be kept to a minimum.
Except in ruling on an objection, the judge will not, in the presence of
the jury, declare that a witness is qualified as an expert or qualified to
render an expert opinion, and counsel shall not ask the judge to do so.
Counsel shall never assert personal knowledge of a fact in issue or
assert a fact not in evidence.
4. Rules for Evidentiary Hearings:
a. Counsel shall prepare the following sets of exhibit notebooks for use at an
evidentiary hearing: (1) the witness stand; (2) the opposing party; (3) the
judge; and (4) the judge’s law clerk. The parties shall submit the judge’s
set of exhibit notebooks to the Courtroom Deputy at least three days in
advance of the evidentiary hearing. All other exhibit notebooks shall be
available on the morning of the hearing.
b. The foregoing rules in Paragraphs 3(b) (relating to court reporters) and 3(f)
(regarding witnesses) shall also apply in evidentiary hearings.
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