Opinion
CASE NO. 07-60331-CIV-COHN/SELTZER.
April 8, 2008
THIS CAUSE is before the Court upon Plaintiff's Motion for Extension of Time to File Joint Pretrial Stipulation, including Witness and Exhibit Lists, and Jury Instructions [DE 118] and Defendants' Motion to Compel Plaintiffs' Trial Witness List and Trial Exhibit List and for Enlargement of Time to file Motions in Limine [DE 117]. The Court has carefully considered the motion and notes Defendants' objections thereto.
Defendants move to compel Plaintiff to furnish their trial witness and exhibit witness lists. Defendants assert that pursuant to Rule 26(a)(3) required trial witness and exhibit designations to be exchanged thirty (30) days before trial, in this case no later than March 28, 2008. Plaintiff had apparently agreed to produce its lists on April 9, 2008, though Defendants now allege that Plaintiff's counsel recently indicated that the lists will not be ready by then.
Plaintiff filed his own motion three hours later, seeking an extension from April 11, 2008 until April 17, 2008 to file the joint pretrial stipulation and proposed jury instructions. Defendants oppose the motion. Plaintiff requests this extension because of significant other work responsibilities related to a class action case pending before another judge of this Court. The problems with granting the extension are: 1) Further delay in Defendants' receipt of the witness and exhibit lists; 2) although Plaintiff has no objection to Defendants having an extension to file motions in limine after the disclosure, the Court expected to resolve evidentiary issues at the Calendar Call on April 17th (though the trial will not start until Monday, April 28, 2008 due to Plaintiff's counsel's unavailability the week of April 21, 2008); and 3) the Court and Defendants need to have time to review the pretrial stipulation prior to Calendar Call.
For all of these reasons, the Court will grant the extension to file the document only until 12 noon on Tuesday, April 15, 2008. This date will give the Court 48 hours prior to Calendar Call to review the filing. However, the Court will also grant Defendants' motion, and compel Plaintiff to disclose his trial exhibit and trial witness lists to Defendants' counsel by 4:30pm on Thursday, April 10, despite Plaintiff's counsel's other work responsibilities. This Court never intended for the pretrial stipulation deadline to be the first time a party discloses to the opposing party who the trial witnesses are to be and what the trial exhibits are to be, particularly when that deadline is just six days before Calendar Call. That deadline is the date for filing of the joint document, the contents of which should have been exchanged some time earlier.
The Court recognizes that perhaps its Scheduling Order is not clear, but the disclosure of who is to testify at trial and what witnesses are to appear should occur at the Rule 26 deadline of 30 days before trial.
Defendants shall receive an extension until 12 noon on April 17, 2008 to file any written motions regarding witnesses or exhibits first disclosed to be used at trial on April 10 (with hard copies served to Plaintiff's counsel at Calendar Call). If there are such additional motions, the Court can then plan to have a followup status conference on April 24 if necessary (with perhaps Plaintiff's counsel appearing by phone).
Accordingly, it is ORDERED AND ADJUDGED as follows: GRANTED in part GRANTED.
1. Plaintiff's Motion for Extension of Time to File Joint Pretrial Stipulation, including Witness and Exhibit Lists, and Jury Instructions [DE 118] is hereby , in that the Joint Pretrial Stipulation and Jury Instructions can be filed by noon on April 15, 2008; 2. Defendants' Motion to Compel Plaintiffs' Trial Witness List and Trial Exhibit List and for Enlargement of Time to file Motions in Limine [DE 117] is hereby Plaintiff shall deliver to Defendants by 4:30pm on Thursday, April 10, 2008, his trial and witness lists to be included in the Joint Pretrial Stipulation; 3. Defendants may file any additional motions in limine based upon the Plaintiffs' April 10 disclosures by 12 noon on April 17, 2008. DONE AND ORDERED in Chambers at Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, Florida.