Opinion
No. Civ. S-03-949 LKK/GGH.
August 29, 2006
ORDER
The court is in receipt of defendants' objections and request to modify the July 28, 2006 tentative Pre-Trial Order. Contained therein, defendants' requested a continuance of the trial and a mandatory settlement conference. The court has also reviewed plaintiff's response to this request and defendants' reply. Accordingly, the court orders as follows:
1. Defendants' request for a continuance of the trial is DENIED.
2. Defendants' request for a mandatory Settlement Conference is GRANTED. A Settlement Conference is currently set for September 11, 2006 at 10:00 am before Magistrate Judge Drozd. Counsel are directed to submit a confidential Settlement Conference statement to the settlement judge not later than September 7, 2006 at noon. At counsel's option, such statements may be submitted in confidence pursuant to Local Rule 16-270 (d). The statements shall be no longer than eight (8) pages. Each party is directed to have a principal capable of disposition at the Settlement Conference or to be authorized to settle the matter on any terms and at the Settlement Conference.
3. Trial briefs shall be due on September 8, 2006 by 3:00 p.m. The trial brief shall not exceed thirty-five (35) pages.
4. The court will not review the hundreds of objections to the trial exhibits prior to trial. The court will address each objection at the time the exhibit is offered at trial. The court hereby warns both parties that if an objection is raised that is frivolous, unnecessary or unlikely to prevail, the court will impose a sanction of $200.00 per objection. This sanction shall not be billed to the clients, but shall be paid directly by counsel. Given the severity of the situation, the parties are asked to reevaluate the joint case-in-chief exhibit list (attached to the tentative pretrial order at "Attachment E") and remove any and all objections that are frivolous, unnecessary or unlikely to prevail. The parties are to bring a revised joint case-in-chief exhibit list to the first day of trial.
IT IS SO ORDERED.