Local Rule 16.02: Scheduling Conference and Scheduling Order Content

16.02: Scheduling Conference and Scheduling Order Content.

(A) Conference with the Assigned Judge. It is the normal practice in this district to issue the scheduling order based on the information received from the Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(f) report to the court, including the disclosures required by Local Civ. Rule 26.03 (D.S.C.), without further conference. If one or more parties believe a conference is justified by the particular circumstances of the case, they shall so inform the assigned judge by letter as soon as practicable.

(B) Trial Date. Unless otherwise directed by the court, all cases shall be ready for trial on the date set for jury selection. Therefore, for scheduling purposes under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Local Civil Rules of this district, the jury selection date shall be deemed the trial date.

(C) Content of Scheduling Order. "[A]s soon as practicable, but in any event within the earlier of 90 days after any defendant has been served with the complaint or 60 days after any defendant has appeared" (Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b)(2)), the court shall issue a scheduling order setting deadlines for the following:

(1) Completion of Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(f) conference of the parties (to be held no later than forty-five (45) days after the appearance of a defendant).

(2) Exchange of Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(1) required initial disclosures (to be made no later than fourteen (14) days after the Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(f) conference).

(3) Filing Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(f) report to the court (to be filed no later than fourteen (14) days after the Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(f) conference).

(4) Filing motions to join parties and to amend pleadings (Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b)(3)).

(5) Exchange of Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2) expert witness disclosures and filing any related disclosure and certification required by the scheduling order.

Most of the judges in this district require that parties file a document identifying the expert witnesses and certifying that the required disclosures have been made. This is intended to preclude disputes at trial as to whether disclosures were made. The disclosures themselves should not be filed absent order to the contrary.

(6) Service of affidavits of records custodian witnesses proposed to be presented by affidavit at trial (See Fed. R. Evid. 803(6), 902(11), or 902(12) and Local Civ. Rule 16.02(D)(3) (D.S.C.)).

(7) Completion of discovery (Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b)(3)) and filing certification of consultation with client and opposing counsel as to the use of alternative dispute resolution as required by Local Civ. Rule 16.03 (D.S.C.).

(8) Conclusion of alternative dispute resolution conference, if any.

(9) Filing dispositive motions (Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b)(3)).

(10) Filing and exchanging Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(3) pretrial disclosures.

(11) Filing and exchanging Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(3) objections, any objections to use of a deposition designated by another party, and any deposition counter-designations under Fed. R. Civ. P. 32(a)(4).

(12) Meeting, marking, and exchanging exhibits and completing a final exhibit list with objections noted. See Local Civ. Rule 26.07 (D.S.C.) (instructions relating to exhibits).

(13) Submission of Local Civ. Rule 26.05 (D.S.C.) pretrial brief to the court.

(14) Jury selection.

The trial term commences on the date of jury selection whether the action is to be tried with or without a jury. Trial terms may last from one to two months. Absent a contrary instruction from the court, an action should be ready for trial on the date set for jury selection.

All disclosures shall be supplemented in a timely manner. In the event an action is carried over to a later trial term after pretrial disclosures are made and pretrial briefs are filed, the parties should file and serve any supplementation in a like period of time prior to the new trial term, but need not file and serve disclosures or briefs that are merely duplicative.

(D) Timeliness of Requests and Disclosures.

(1) Discovery requests are timely if served in time for the response to be served by the discovery deadline set by the scheduling order.

(2) Witnesses who are not timely identified may be excluded. All witnesses should be identified as early in the discovery process as is feasible. Witnesses identified within the last twenty-eight (28) days of the discovery period will be presumed not to be timely identified, absent a showing of good cause.

(3) Affidavits of records custodians that a party intends to offer for authentication in lieu of live testimony shall be served no fewer than thirty (30) days before the close of discovery unless otherwise ordered. Objections to such affidavits must be made within fourteen (14) days after the service of the disclosure unless otherwise ordered. See Local Civ. Rule 16.02(C)(6) (D.S.C.).