IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
[MARSHALL / TEXARKANA] DIVISION
[PLAINTIFF][, et al.,] §
§
Case No. [2 / 5]:00-CV-000-[JRG / RSP /
v. §
JBB]
§
[DEFENDANT][, et al.] §
SAMPLE DOCKET CONTROL ORDER FOR NON-PATENT CIVIL CASES
ASSIGNED TO JUDGE RODNEY GILSTRAP IN
THE MARSHALL AND TEXARKANA DIVISIONS
In accordance with the scheduling conference held in this case, it is hereby ORDERED
that the following schedule of deadlines is in effect until further order of this Court:
Date Provided by the *Jury Selection – 9:00 a.m. in [Marshall / Texarkana], Texas
Court
4 Weeks Before Jury * If a juror questionnaire is to be used, an editable (in Microsoft Word
Selection format) questionnaire shall be jointly submitted to the Deputy Clerk
in Charge by this date. 1
5 Weeks Before Jury *Pretrial Conference – _______ [a.m. / p.m.] in [Marshall /
Selection Texarkana], Texas before [Judge Rodney Gilstrap / Judge Roy
Payne / Judge Boone Baxter] 2
6 Weeks Before Jury *Notify Court of Agreements Reached During Meet and Confer
Selection
The parties are ordered to meet and confer on any outstanding
objections or motions in limine. The parties shall advise the Court of
any agreements reached no later than 1:00 p.m. three (3) business
days before the pretrial conference.
1
The Parties are referred to the Court’s Standing Order Regarding Use of Juror Questionnaires in
Advance of Voir Dire.
2
The proposed DCO shall include this specific deadline. The deadline shall read, “10 days before
Jury Selection,” and shall not include a specific date.
6 Weeks Before Jury *File Joint Pretrial Order, Joint Proposed Jury Instructions, Joint
Selection Proposed Verdict Form, Responses to Motions in Limine, Updated
Exhibit Lists, Updated Witness Lists, and Updated Deposition
Designations
7 Weeks Before Jury *File Notice of Request for Daily Transcript or Real Time Reporting.
Selection
If a daily transcript or real time reporting of court proceedings is
requested for trial, the party or parties making said request shall file
a notice with the Court and e-mail the Court Reporter, Shawn
McRoberts, at
[email protected].
8 Weeks Before Jury File Motions in Limine
Selection
The parties shall limit their motions in limine to issues that if
improperly introduced at trial would be so prejudicial that the Court
could not alleviate the prejudice by giving appropriate instructions to
the jury.
8 Weeks Before Jury Serve Objections to Rebuttal Pretrial Disclosures
Selection
9 Weeks Before Jury Serve Objections to Pretrial Disclosures; and Serve Rebuttal Pretrial
Selection Disclosures
11 Weeks Before Jury Serve Pretrial Disclosures (Witness List, Deposition Designations,
Selection and Exhibit List) by the Party with the Burden of Proof
12 Weeks Before Jury *Response to Dispositive Motions (including Daubert Motions).
Selection Responses to dispositive motions that were filed prior to the
dispositive motion deadline, including Daubert Motions, shall be due
in accordance with Local Rule CV-7(e), not to exceed the deadline
as set forth in this Docket Control Order. 3 Motions for Summary
Judgment shall comply with Local Rule CV-56.
3
The parties are directed to Local Rule CV-7(d), which provides in part that “[a] party’s failure to
oppose a motion in the manner prescribed herein creates a presumption that the party does not
controvert the facts set out by movant and has no evidence to offer in opposition to the motion.”
If the deadline under Local Rule CV-7(e) exceeds the deadline for Response to Dispositive
Motions, the deadline for Response to Dispositive Motions controls.
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14 Weeks Before Jury *File Motions to Strike Expert Testimony (including Daubert
Selection Motions)
No motion to strike expert testimony (including a Daubert motion)
may be filed after this date without leave of the Court.
14 Weeks Before Jury *File Dispositive Motions
Selection
No dispositive motion may be filed after this date without leave of
the Court.
Motions shall comply with Local Rule CV-56 and Local Rule CV-7.
Motions to extend page limits will only be granted in exceptional
circumstances. Exceptional circumstances require more than
agreement among the parties.
15 Weeks Before Jury Deadline to Complete Expert Discovery
Selection
17 Weeks Before Jury Serve Disclosures for Rebuttal Expert Witnesses
Selection
20 Weeks Before Jury Deadline to Complete Fact Discovery and File Motions to Compel
Selection Discovery
20 Weeks Before Jury Serve Disclosures for Expert Witnesses by the Party with the Burden
Selection of Proof
3 Weeks After *File Proposed Protective Order and Comply with Paragraphs 1 & 3
Scheduling Conference of the Discovery Order (Initial and Additional Disclosures)
The Proposed Protective Order shall be filed as a separate motion
with the caption indicating whether or not the proposed order is
opposed in any part.
2 Weeks After *File Proposed Docket Control Order and Proposed Discovery Order
Scheduling Conference
The Proposed Docket Control Order and Proposed Discovery Order
shall be filed as separate motions with the caption indicating whether
or not the proposed order is opposed in any part.
1 Week After Join Additional Parties
Scheduling Conference
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(*) indicates a deadline that cannot be changed without an acceptable showing of good
cause. Good cause is not shown merely by indicating that the parties agree that the
deadline should be changed.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS
Mediation: While certain cases may benefit from mediation, such may not be appropriate
for every case. The Court finds that the Parties are best suited to evaluate whether mediation will
benefit the case after the issuance of the Court’s claim construction order. Accordingly, the Court
ORDERS the Parties to file a Joint Notice indicating whether the case should be referred for
mediation within fourteen days of the completion of fact discovery. As a part of such Joint
Notice, the Parties should indicate whether they have a mutually agreeable mediator for the Court
to consider. If the Parties disagree about whether mediation is appropriate, the Parties should set
forth a brief statement of their competing positions in the Joint Notice. Mediation shall be attended,
in person, by named parties (if an individual) or by a fully authorized representative (if not an
individual) and by lead counsel. Third party insurance carriers who may be obligated to indemnify
a named party and/or who owe a defense to any party shall also attend mediation, in person, by
means of a fully authorized representative. Non-compliance with these directives shall be
considered an intentional failure to mediate in good faith.
Lead Counsel: The Parties are directed to Local Rule CV-11(a)(1), which provides that
“[o]n the first appearance through counsel, each party shall designate a lead attorney on the
pleadings or otherwise.” Additionally, once designated, a party’s lead attorney may only be
changed by the filing of a Motion to Change Lead Counsel and thereafter obtaining from the Court
an Order granting leave to designate different lead counsel. The true lead counsel should be
designated early and should not expect to parachute in as lead once the case has been largely
developed.
Motions to Compel: The Court will refuse to entertain any motion to compel discovery
filed after the date of this Order unless the movant advises the Court within the body of the motion
that counsel for the parties have first conferred in a good faith attempt to resolve the matter. See
Eastern District of Texas Local Rule CV-7(h).
Motions for Continuance: The following will not warrant a continuance nor justify a
failure to comply with the discovery deadline:
(a) The fact that there are motions for summary judgment or motions to dismiss pending;
(b) The fact that one or more of the attorneys is set for trial in another court on the same day,
unless the other setting was made prior to the date of this order or was made as a special
provision for the parties in the other case;
(c) The failure to complete discovery prior to trial, unless the parties can demonstrate that it
was impossible to complete discovery despite their good faith effort to do so.
Amendments to the Docket Control Order (“DCO”): Any motion to alter any date on
the DCO shall take the form of a motion to amend the DCO. The motion to amend the DCO shall
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include a proposed order that lists all of the remaining dates in one column (as above) and the
proposed changes to each date in an additional adjacent column (if there is no change for a date
the proposed date column should remain blank or indicate that it is unchanged). In other words,
the DCO in the proposed order should be complete such that one can clearly see all the remaining
deadlines and the changes, if any, to those deadlines, rather than needing to also refer to an earlier
version of the DCO.
Proposed DCO: The Parties’ Proposed DCO should also follow the format described
above under “Amendments to the Docket Control Order (‘DCO’).”
Joint Pretrial Order: The Parties in a case which has been consolidated for pre-trial
purposes and which is moving towards a separate trial on the merits (subsequent to pre-trial) shall
file, as an exhibit to the parties’ Joint Pretrial Order, a list identifying all docket entries from the
lead case that relate to the applicable member case.
Depositions as Evidence: All depositions to be read into evidence as part of the parties’
case-in-chief shall be EDITED so as to exclude all unnecessary, repetitious, and irrelevant
testimony; ONLY those portions which are relevant to the issues in controversy shall be read into
evidence.
Trial: All parties must appear in person at trial. All non-individual (including but not
limited to corporate) parties must appear at trial through the presence in person of a designated
representative. Once they have appeared, any representative of a non-individual party shall not be
replaced or substituted without express leave of Court.
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