Local Rule LR 16.4: CONSOLIDATED PRETRIAL ORDER

LR 16.4 CONSOLIDATED PRETRIAL ORDER

(A) Procedure. The parties shall prepare and sign, in lieu of the Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(3) disclosures, a proposed consolidated pretrial order to be filed with the clerk no later than thirty (30) days after the close of discovery, or entry of the Court's ruling on any pending motions for summary judgment, whichever is later. It shall be the responsibility of plaintiff's counsel to contact defense counsel to arrange a date for the conference. If there are issues on which counsel for the parties cannot agree, the areas of disagreement must be shown in the proposed pretrial order. In those cases in which there is a pending motion for summary judgment, the Court may in its discretion and upon request extend the time for filing the proposed pretrial order.

If counsel desire a pretrial conference, a request must be indicated on the proposed pretrial order immediately below the civil action number. Counsel will be notified if the district judge determines that a pretrial conference is necessary. A case shall be presumed ready for trial on the first calendar after the pretrial order is filed unless another time is specifically set by the Court.

(B) Content. Each proposed consolidated pretrial order shall contain the information outlined below. No modifications or deletions shall be made without the prior permission of the Court. A form Pretrial Order prepared by the Court and which counsel shall be required to use is contained in Appendix B. Copies of the form Pretrial Order containing adequate space for response are available at the public filing counter in each division.

The proposed order shall contain:

(1) A statement of any pending motions or other matters.

(2) A statement that, unless otherwise noted, discovery has been completed. Counsel will not be permitted to file any further motions to compel discovery. Provided there is no resulting delay in readiness for trial, depositions for the preservation of evidence and for use at trial will be permitted.

(3) A statement as to the correctness of the names of the parties and their capacity and as to any issue of misjoinder or non-joinder of parties.

(4) A statement as to any question of the Court's jurisdiction and the statutory basis of jurisdiction for each claim.

(5) The individual names of lead counsel for each party.

(6) A statement as to any reason why plaintiff should not be entitled to open and close arguments to the jury.

(7) A statement as to whether the case is to be tried to a jury, to the Court without a jury, or that the right to trial by jury is disputed.

(8) An expression of the parties' preference, supported by reasons, for a unified or bifurcated trial.

(9) A joint listing of the questions which the parties wish the Court to propound to the jurors concerning their legal qualifications to serve.

(10) A listing by each party of requested general voir dire questions to the jurors. The Court will question prospective jurors as to their address and occupation and as to the occupation of a spouse, if any. Follow-up questions by counsel may be permitted. The determination of whether the district judge or counsel will propound general voir dire questions is a matter of courtroom policy which shall be established by each judge.

(11) A statement of each party's objections, if any, to another party's general voir dire questions.

(12) A statement of the reasons supporting a party's request, if any, for peremptory challenges in addition to those allowed by 28 U.S.C. § 1870.

(13) A brief description, including style and civil action number, of any pending related litigation.

(14) An outline of plaintiff's case which shall include:

(a) A succinct factual statement of plaintiff's cause of action which shall be neither argumentative nor recite evidence.

(b) A separate listing of all rules, regulations, statutes, ordinances, and illustrative case law creating a specific legal duty relied upon by plaintiff.

(c) A separate listing of each and every act of negligence relied upon in negligence cases.

(d) A separate statement for each item of damage claimed containing a brief description of the item of damage, dollar amount claimed, and citation to the law, rule, regulation, or any decision authorizing a recovery for that particular item of damage. Items of damage not identified in this manner shall not be recoverable.

(15) An outline of defendant's case which shall include:

(a) A succinct factual summary of defendant's general, special, and affirmative defenses which shall be neither argumentative nor recite evidence.

(b) A separate listing of all rules, regulations, statutes, ordinances, and illustrative case law creating a defense relied upon by defendant.

(c) A separate statement for each item of damage claimed in a counterclaim which shall contain a brief description of the item of damage, the dollar amount claimed, and citation to the law, rule, regulation, or any decision which authorizes a recovery for that particular item of damage. Items of damage not identified in this manner shall not be recoverable.

(16) A listing of stipulated facts which may be read into evidence at trial. It is the duty of counsel to cooperate fully with each other to identify all undisputed facts. A refusal to do so may result in the imposition of sanctions upon the non-cooperating counsel.

(17) A statement of the legal issues to be tried.

(18) (a) A separate listing, by each party, of all witnesses (and their addresses) whom that party will or may have present at trial, including expert (any witness who might express an opinion under Federal Rule of Evidence 702), impeachment and rebuttal witnesses whose use can or should have been reasonably anticipated. Each party shall also attach to the party's list a reasonably specific summary of the expected testimony of each expert witness.

(b) A representation that a witness will be called may be relied upon by other parties unless notice is given fourteen (14) days prior to trial to permit other parties to subpoena the witness or obtain the witness' testimony by other means.

(c) Witnesses not included on the witness list will not be permitted to testify, unless expressly authorized by Court order based upon a showing that the failure to comply was justified. The attorneys may not reserve the right to add witnesses.

(19) (a) A separate, typed, serially numbered listing, beginning with one (1) and without the inclusion of any alphabetical or numerical subparts, of each party's documentary and physical evidence. Adequate space must be left on the left margin of each list for court stamping purposes. A courtesy copy of each party's list must be submitted for use by the district judge. Learned treatises which counsel expect to use at trial shall not be admitted as exhibits but must be separately listed on the party's exhibit list.

(b) Prior to trial counsel shall affix stickers numbered to correspond with the party's exhibit list to each exhibit. Plaintiffs shall use yellow stickers; defendants shall use blue stickers; and white stickers shall be used on joint exhibits. The surname of a party must be shown on the numbered sticker when there are either multiple plaintiffs or multiple defendants.

(c) A separate, typed listing of each party's objections to the exhibits of another party. The objections shall be attached to the exhibit list of the party against whom the objections are raised. Objections as to authenticity, privilege, competency, and, to the extent possible, relevancy of the exhibits shall be included. Any listed document to which an objection is not raised shall be deemed to have been stipulated as to authenticity by the parties, and such documents will be admitted at trial without further proof of authenticity.

(d) A statement of any objections to the use at trial of copies of documentary evidence.

(e) Documentary and physical exhibits may not be submitted by counsel after filing of the pretrial order, except upon consent of all the parties or permission of the Court. Exhibits so admitted must be numbered, inspected by counsel, and marked with stickers prior to trial.

(f) Counsel shall familiarize themselves with all exhibits (and the numbering thereof) prior to trial. Counsel will not be afforded time during trial to examine exhibits that are or should have been listed herein.

(20) A listing of all persons whose testimony at trial will be given by deposition and designation of the portions of each person's deposition which will be introduced. Objections not filed by the date on which the case is first scheduled for trial shall be deemed waived or abandoned. Extraneous and unnecessary matters, including non-essential colloquy of counsel, shall not be permitted to be read into evidence. No depositions shall be permitted to go out with the jury.

(21) Any trial briefs which counsel may wish to file containing citations to legal authority on evidentiary questions and other legal issues. Limitations, if any, regarding the format and length of trial briefs is a matter of individual practice which shall be established by each judge.

(22) Counsel are directed to prepare, in accordance with LR 51.1(A), a list of all requests to charge in jury trials. These charges shall be filed no later than 9:30 a.m. on the date the case is calendared (or specially set) for trial. A short, one (l)-page or less, statement of the party's contentions must be attached to the requests. Requests should be drawn from the latest edition of the Eleventh Circuit District Judges Association's Pattern Jury Instructions and Devitt and Blackmar's Federal Jury Practice and Instructions whenever possible. In other instances, only the applicable legal principle from a cited authority should be requested.

(23) A proposed verdict form, if counsel desire that the case be submitted to the jury in a manner other than upon general verdict.

(24) A statement of any requests for time for argument in excess of thirty (30) minutes per side as a group and the reasons for the request.

(25) Counsel are directed to submit a statement of proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law in nonjury cases, which must be submitted no later than the opening of trial.

(26) A statement of the date on which lead counsel and persons possessing settlement authority to bind the parties met personally to discuss settlement, whether the Court has discussed settlement with counsel, and the likelihood of settlement of the case at this time.

(27) A statement of any requests for a special setting of the case.

(28) A statement of each party's estimate of the time required to present that party's evidence and an estimate of the total trial time.

(29) The following paragraph shall be included at the close of each proposed pretrial order above the signature line for the district judge:

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the above constitutes the pretrial order for the above captioned case (_____) submitted by stipulation of the parties or (_____) approved by the court after conference with the parties. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the foregoing, including the attachments thereto, constitutes the pretrial order in the above case and that it supersedes the pleadings which are hereby amended to conform hereto and that this pretrial order shall not be amended except by Order of the court to prevent manifest injustice. Any attempt to reserve a right to amend or add to any part of the pretrial order after the pretrial order has been filed shall be invalid and of no effect and shall not be binding upon any party or the court, unless specifically authorized in writing by the court. IT IS SO ORDERED this day of , 20 .

(30) The signature of lead counsel for each party on the last page below the district judge's signature.