Galan v. Miami-Dade County

Full title: JESS I. GALAN, Plaintiff, v. MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Defendant

Court: United States District Court, S.D. Florida

Date published: Apr 11, 2005

CASE NO.: 05-20675-CIV-HUCK/SIMONTON (S.D. Fla. Apr. 11, 2005)

Opinion

CASE NO.: 05-20675-CIV-HUCK/SIMONTON.

April 11, 2005

ORDER SETTING CIVIL JURY TRIAL DATE AND PRETRIAL SCHEDULE, REQUIRING MEDIATION AND REFERRING CERTAIN MOTIONS TO MAGISTRATE JUDGE

PAUL C. HUCK, District Judge

Trial is scheduled to commence during the two-week period commencing Monday, November 14, 2005, before the Honorable Paul C. Huck, United States District Judge, 99 N.E. Fourth Street, 10^th Floor, Miami, Florida. Calendar call will be held on Wednesday, November 9, 2005 at 8:30 a.m. at the same location.

IT IS ORDERED AND ADJUDGED as follows:

1. No Pretrial Conference shall be held in this action, unless the parties so request or the Court determines, sua sponte that a pretrial conference is necessary. Should a pretrial conference be set, the compliance deadlines as set forth in the remainder of this Order shall remain unaltered.

2. Counsel must meet at least ONE MONTH prior to the beginning of the trial calendar to confer on the preparation of a pretrial stipulation.

3. The original and one copy of a Joint Pretrial Stipulation must be filed on or before the date set forth below. The stipulation shall conform to Local Rule 16.1(e) and include a joint, neutral summary of the claims and defenses in the case,not to exceed one short paragraph per litigant claim, to be read as an introduction for voir dire examination. The Court will not accept unilateral pretrial stipulations, and will strike sua sponte any such submissions. Should any of the parties fail to cooperate in the preparation of the joint pretrial stipulation, all other parties shall file a certification with the Court stating the circumstances. Upon receipt of such certification, the Court shall issue an order requiring the non-cooperating party or parties to show cause why such party or parties (and their respective attorneys) have failed to comply with the Court's order. A copy of the joint pretrial stipulation shall be delivered to chambers at the time of filing, together with a computer disk compatible with Corel WordPerfect version 8.0.

4. Proposed jury instructions and verdict form must be submitted at least ONE WEEK prior to the beginning of the trial calendar. The parties shall submit a SINGLE JOINT set of proposed jury instructions and verdict form, though the parties need not agree on the proposed language of each or any instruction or question on the verdict form. Where the parties do agree on a proposed instruction or question, that instruction or question shall be set forth in Times New Roman 14 point typeface. Instructions and questions proposed only by the plaintiff(s) to which the defendant(s) object shall be italicized. Instructions and questions proposed only the defendant(s) to which the plaintiff(s) object shall be bold-faced. Each jury instruction shall be typed on a separate sheet and must be supported by citations of authority. Each disputed jury instruction shall also state the basis for the objection(s) at the bottom of the sheet, before the citations of authority. In preparing their requested jury instructions, the parties shall utilize as a guide the Pattern Jury Instructions for Civil Cases approved by the United States Eleventh Circuit, including the Directions to Counsel contained therein. A copy of the proposed jury instructions and verdict form shall be delivered to chambers at the time of filing, together with a computer disk compatible with Corel WordPerfect version 8.0.

5. All exhibits must be pre-marked. The Plaintiff's exhibits shall be marked numerically. Defendant's exhibits shall be marked alphabetically. A typewritten exhibit list setting forth the number, or letter, and description of each exhibit must be submitted at the time of trial. The parties shall submit said exhibit list on Form AO 187, which is available from the Clerk's office.

6. A Motion for Continuance shall not stay the requirement for the filing of a Pretrial Stipulation and, unless an emergency situation arises, a motion for continuance will not be considered unless it is filed at least twenty (20) days prior to the date on which the trial calendar is scheduled to commence. A continuance of the trial date will be granted only on a showing of compelling circumstances.

7. Non-compliance with any provision of this Order may subject the offending party to sanctions, including dismissal of claims or striking of defenses. It is the duty of all counsel to enforce the timetable set forth herein in order to insure an expeditious resolution of this cause.

8. The following timetable shall govern the pretrial procedures in this case. This schedule shall not be modified absent compelling circumstances. All motions for an enlargement of time for discovery and relating to dispositive motions must include a statement as to whether the requested extension will affect the trial date or any other deadline set forth in this timetable. Days Before Trial expert expert expert expert rebuttal expert rebuttal experts Note expert ¹ Note

1 The discovery cut-off is intentionally set after the dispositive motion deadline so that a party opposing summary judgment may take additional discovery necessary to RESPOND to the motion. Counsel who anticipate filing dispositive motions are expected to schedule discovery so as to meet the dispositive motion deadline. No extensions of the dispositive motion deadline will be granted based on the fact that discovery is not complete, absent exceptional circumstances.

170 days Motion to join additional parties, amend pleadings, and for class certification. 140 days Plaintiff shall furnish opposing counsel with a written list containing the names and addresses of all witnesses intended to be called at trial and shall designate all issues upon which each expert will render an opinion. Only those witnesses listed shall be permitted to testify. 130 days Plaintiff shall furnish opposing counsel with a written report from each expert intended to be called at trial. Within the fourteen day period following service of each expert's written report, the plaintiff shall make its experts available for deposition by opposing counsel. The experts' depositions may be conducted without further order from the Court. 130 days Parties shall furnish opposing counsel with a written list containing the names and addresses of all witnesses intended to be called at trial and only those witnesses listed shall be permitted to testify. 120 days Defendant shall furnish opposing counsel with a written list containing the names and addresses of all witnesses intended to be called at trial and shall designate all issues upon which each expert will render an opinion. Only those witnesses listed shall be permitted to testify. 110 days Defendant shall furnish opposing counsel with a written report from each expert intended to be called at trial. Within the fourteen day period following service of each expert's written report, the defendant shall make its experts available for deposition by opposing counsel. The experts' depositions may be conducted without further order from the Court. 100 days If plaintiff did not initially disclose experts but defendant elects to utilize experts and discloses them, then plaintiff shall furnish opposing counsel with a written list containing the names and addresses of any witnesses intended to be called at trial. Only those listed shall be permitted to testify. 90 days Plaintiff shall furnish opposing counsel with a written report from each rebuttal expert intended to be called at trial. Within the fourteen day period following service of each expert's report, the plaintiff shall make the expert available for deposition by the defendant. The experts' depositions may be conducted without further order from the Court. : These provisions pertaining to witnesses do not apply to treating physicians, psychologists or other health providers. 75 days All summary judgment and other dispositive motions must be filed. 50 days All discovery must be completed. : In the event that there are any unresolved discovery motions pending fifteen days prior to this date, the moving party shall immediately advise the Court of all such unresolved motions together with their status. 40 days All motions in limine and other pretrial Motions must be filed. 25 days Joint Pretrial Stipulation must be filed. 7 days Jury instructions must be filed. 9. If the case is settled, counsel are directed to inform the Court promptly at (305) 523-5520 and to submit a stipulation for dismissal signed by all parties together with an appropriate Order of Dismissal, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 41 (a) (1). Such stipulation and order must be filed within fifteen (15) days of notification of settlement to the Court. To be excused from calendar call, the required stipulation and order must be filed at least 48 hours before calendar call.

10. The parties may stipulate to extend the time to answer interrogatories, produce documents, and answer requests for admissions. The parties shall not file with the Court notices or motions memorializing any such stipulation unless the stipulation interferes with the time set for completing discovery, for hearing a motion, or for trial. Stipulations that would so interfere may be made only with the Court's approval. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 29.

11. At least 90 days prior to the calendar call the parties shall select a mediator certified under Local Rule 16.2.B, shall schedule a time, date, and place for mediation, and shall jointly file a proposed order scheduling mediation in the form specified by Local Rule 16.2.H. If the parties cannot agree on a mediator, they shall notify the clerk in writing as soon as possible and the Clerk shall designate a certified mediator on a blind rotation basis. Counsel for all parties shall familiarize themselves with and adhere to all provisions of Local Rule 16.2. The parties shall complete mediation at least 45 days prior to the calendar call.

12. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636 and this District's Magistrate Rules, all discovery motions and non-dispositive motions filed pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12, 13 and 14 in this case are referred to the Magistrate Judge. It is the responsibility of the parties in this case to indicate the name of the Magistrate Judge on all motions and related papers referred by this order in the case number caption (CASE NO.: 05-20675-CIV-HUCK/SIMONTON), and to deliver a courtesy copy of all necessary materials filed after this date directly to the Magistrate's chambers.

DONE AND ORDERED.