Rodeman v. Foster

Full title: KATHY "CARGO" RODEMAN, Plaintiff, v. ERIK FOSTER, individually and in his…

Court: United States District Court, D. Colorado

Date published: Jan 24, 2011

Civil Case No. 09-cv-01857-PAB-MJW (D. Colo. Jan. 24, 2011)

Opinion

Civil Case No. 09-cv-01857-PAB-MJW.

January 24, 2011

ORDER

PHILIP BRIMMER, District Judge

This matter is before the Court on defendants' Motion to Vacate and Reset Trial Preparation Conference or, Alternatively, to Appear by Telephone [Docket No. 91]. Defendants indicate that plaintiff has no objection to this motion.

The trial preparation conference and trial date in this case were set during the Final Pretrial Conference on September 10, 2010 [Docket No. 64]. Magistrate Judge Watanabe directed the parties to contact chambers following the Pretrial Conference if there was a conflict with either of those dates. Neither side contacted the Court.

The Court's Practice Standards state that "Counsel who will try the case must attend" the Trial Preparation Conference. Practice Standards (Civil Cases), Judge Philip A. Brimmer § IV.E. Moreover, the Court issued an order on September 23, 2010 that stated, "Lead counsel who will try the case shall attend in person." Docket No. 70.

Despite the fact that lead trial counsel are required to attend the Trial Preparation Conference and that neither side objected to the April 1, 2011 setting in this case, the defendants' motion states that, on April 1, 2011, lead counsel for plaintiff will be camping and lead counsel for defendants will be in Singapore "on a business matter." The Court has concerns about whether counsel are taking their obligations in this case seriously. Wherefore, it is

ORDERED that, on or before January 28, 2011, counsel for plaintiff shall indicate when he made plans to go camping on April 1 and, depending on the circumstances, why he either accepted the April 1 date for the Trial Preparation Conference in this case or scheduled a camping trip in light of the conflict. It is further

ORDERED that, on or before January 28, 2011, lead counsel for defendants shall indicate when he scheduled his conflicting business trip to Singapore and, depending on the circumstances, why he either accepted the April 1 date for the Trial Preparation Conference in this case or scheduled the Singapore trip in light of the conflict.

DATED January 24, 2011.