IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
NASHVILLE DIVISION
JOHN Q. PUBLIC, )
)
Plaintiff, )
)
v. ) NO.
)
ACME CORPORATION, ) JUDGE CAMPBELL
) MAGISTRATE JUDGE
)
Defendant. )
PROPOSED INITIAL CASE MANAGEMENT ORDER
A. JURISDICTION: The court has jurisdiction pursuant to _____________.
B. BRIEF THEORIES OF THE PARTIES: [not to be verbatim recitation of the
pleading and should be limited to as few paragraphs as possible]:
For Plaintiff:
For Defendant:
C. ISSUES RESOLVED: Jurisdiction and venue [if resolved].
D. ISSUES STILL IN DISPUTE: Liability and damages.
E. INITIAL DISCLOSURES: The parties shall exchange initial disclosures pursuant
to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(1) on or before .
F. CASE RESOLUTION PLAN AND JOINT STATUS REPORTS: The parties are
encouraged to consider the Alternative Dispute Resolution options provided in Local Rule 16.02
through 16.05. [If the parties do not propose a detailed plan for resolution of the case in their
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proposed initial case management order, the Court will establish case resolution plan
requirements.] Approximately fourteen (14) days after the conclusion of fact discovery, the
parties shall submit a joint report confirming that the parties made a good faith attempt to resolve
the case. The joint report shall also state whether the parties believe ADR might assist in resolution
of the case. If a judicial settlement conference is requested in either joint report or separately, the
parties shall also state (i) the reasons why mediation is not feasible; (ii) their proposed timing for
scheduling of the settlement conference; and (iii) any preference of a particular Magistrate Judge
to conduct the settlement conference.
G. DISCOVERY: The parties shall complete all written discovery and depose all fact
witnesses on or before . Written discovery should proceed promptly (unless
otherwise provided for herein) and shall be served by no later than ____________. Discovery is
not stayed during dispositive or oth er motions, unless ordered by the Court.
No discovery disputes may be brought to the Court for resolution before l e a d counsel
for all parties has conducted an in-person meeting and made a good faith effort to resolve any
dispute(s). 1 Discovery disputes that cannot be resolved after the in-person meeting should be
brought promptly to the attention of the judge presiding over case management by a request for a
discovery conference. It will be within that judge’s discretion whether to allow for the filing of
discovery-related motions. All discovery disputes shall be brought to the Court’s attention no later
than __________. In connection with any discovery conference or discovery motion, the Court
may require the parties to file a joint discovery dispute statement, of no more than 3 pages per
affected party per issue, which identifies and describes the specific discovery request(s) in dispute
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In submitting the proposed case management order, the parties shall not modify the requirement for an
in-person meeting involving lead counsel. Should the parties seek to confer about discovery disputes in a
manner other than an in-person meeting, they may do so only with leave of the Court.
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and details each party’s position with supporting facts and legal authorities, including as to any
proportionality considerations. The joint discovery dispute statement shall certify that lead counsel
for all parties conducted the aforementioned in-person meeting and made a good faith effort to
resolve each discovery dispute presented in the statement. If the joint statement is filed and is
sufficiently detailed, any party may adopt by reference the joint statement for purposes of Local
Rule 7.01, but must clearly state in the filing made in accordance with the timing requirements of
Local Rule 7.01 that the joint statement is adopted as the party’s memorandum of law or response.
H. MOTIONS TO AMEND OR TO ADD PARTIES: Any motions to amend or to
add parties shall be filed by no later than ___________. Any motion to amend must be
accompanied by the proposed amended pleading, which shall be appended as an exhibit to the
motion. Prior to filing the motion to amend, counsel for the moving party shall discuss the
proposed amendment with all other counsel and shall state in the motion to amend whether or not
the motion is opposed.
I. [only if applicable] DISCLOSURE AND DEPOSITIONS OF EXPERTS: The
plaintiff shall identify and disclose all expert witnesses and expert reports on or before
__________. The defendant shall identify and disclose all expert witnesses and reports
on or before ________. Rebuttal experts shall be permitted only by leave of court. Unless
otherwise provided for in a separate pretrial order, supplemental expert disclosures, which
specifically include, but are not limited to, any supplemental information to expert reports, must
be made in accordance with Rule 26(a) and (e). Supplemental expert opinions or other expert
disclosures not timely disclosed may be excluded at trial. See Local Rule 39.01(c)(5)(C). Expert
depositions shall be completed by ____________________.
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J. SUBSEQUENT CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE. A subsequent case
management conference shall be held telephonically on ___________, to address: status of
discovery (including any known or anticipated discovery issues or disputes); prospect for
settlement (including propriety of ADR); and, any other appropriate matters. Plaintiff’s counsel
shall initiate the call.
K. DISPOSITIVE MOTIONS: As provided above, the parties must attempt to
resolve the case before the filing of dispositive motions. Dispositive motions shall be filed by no
later than _________. Responses to dispositive motions shall be filed within 28 days after the filing
of the motion. Briefs or memoranda of law in support of or in opposition to a dispositive motion
shall not exceed 25 pages. Optional replies may be filed within 14 days after the filing of the
response and shall not exceed 5 pages. No motion for partial summary judgment shall be filed
except by permission of the Court. Any party wishing to file such a motion shall first file a
separate motion that gives the justification for filing a partial summary judgment motion in terms
of overall economy of time and expense for the parties, counsel, and the Court. Before filing a
summary judgment motion, attorneys are required to read and follow Judge Richardson's
guidance in McLemore v. Gumucio, 619 F. Supp. 3d 816 (M.D. Tenn. 2021) (rev’d on other
grounds), regarding what should (or should not) be included in the movant's "statement of
undisputed material facts.”
L. ELECTRONIC DISCOVERY. The parties have reached an agreement on how
to conduct electronic discovery. Administrative Order No.174-1 therefore need not apply to this
case. [In the absence of an agreement, the default standards of Administrative Order No. 174-1
will apply.] Any agreement between the parties to address the topics provided by Administrative
Order No. 174-1 must be reduced to writing, signed by counsel, and, within fourteen days of the
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initial case management conference, either: (1) be filed as a stipulation of agreed-upon electronic
discovery procedures; or, (2) if the parties request court approval, submitted as proposed agreed
order with an accompanying motion for approval.
M. MODIFICATION OF CASE MANAGEMENT ORDER. Any motion to modify
the case management order or any case management deadline shall be filed at least seven (7) days
in advance of the earliest impacted deadline. Unless a joint motion, the motion for modification
must include a statement confirming that counsel for the moving party has discussed the requested
modification or extension with opposing counsel and whether or not there is any objection to the
requested modification or extension. The motion for modification must also include: (i) the trial
date and all deadlines, even unaffected deadlines, so that it will not be necessary for the Court to
review one or more previous case management orders in consideration of the motion and (ii) a
statement that the requested extension will still conform to the requirements of Local Rule
16.01(h)(1) that no dispositive motion deadline, including response and reply briefs, shall be later
than 90 days in advance of the trial date. Motions for extensions should also detail the moving
party’s efforts at diligently complying with the originally schedule deadline and the facts
demonstrating good cause for modification of the deadline as required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b)(4).
N. REQUESTS TO SEAL DOCUMENTS OR PORTIONS OF DOCUMENTS.
Any party requesting that documents or portions of documents be sealed, including without
limitation for use as exhibits at trial, must file a motion to seal in accordance with Section 5.07
of Administrative Order No. 167-1 (Administrative Practices and Procedures for Electronic Case
Filing) and Local Rules 5.03 and 7.01, which demonstrates compelling reasons to seal the
documents and that the sealing is narrowly tailored to those reasons. The motion to seal, even if
unopposed, must specifically analyze in detail, document by document, the propriety of secrecy,
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providing factual support and legal citations. Generally, only trade secrets, information covered
by a recognized privilege (such as the attorney-client privilege), and information required by
statute to be maintained in confidence is typically enough to overcome the presumption of public
access. Failure to comply with these procedures or to provide sufficiently compelling reasons
may result in denial of the request to seal documents or portions of documents. Protective orders
should not provide that documents produced in discovery and designated as “confidential” will
be automatically sealed upon filing or if used at trial. Any such language in proposed protective
orders will be stricken and may result in denial of the motion for entry of the proposed protective
order.
O. ESTIMATED TRIAL TIME AND TARGET TRIAL DATE: The [JURY or
BENCH] trial of this action is expected to last approximately ______ days. A trial date no earlier
than ____________is respectfully requested. 2 [Refer to Local Rule 16.01(h) for timing of target
trial date.]
It is so ORDERED.
United States [District/Magistrate] Judge
The parties were also reminded during the case management conference of their option to
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consent to final disposition by the Magistrate Judge pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 73 and Local Rule
73.01. As discussed, if the parties wish to utilize this option, they may jointly complete and
electronically file the form Notice, Consent and Reference of a Civil Action to a Magistrate Judge
found on the Court’s website under the link for Forms. Not consenting will not result in any adverse
consequences, and the Notice should be filed only if all parties consent to final disposition by the
Magistrate Judge.
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APPROVED FOR ENTRY:
Attorney for Plaintiff
Attorney for Defendant
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