Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-casd-3_06-cv-00894/USCOURTS-casd-3_06-cv-00894-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 362
Nature of Suit: Medical Malpractice
Cause of Action: 28:2671 Federal Tort Claims Act

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06cv0894H(JMA)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

JOYCE M. CHMURA,

Plaintiff,

v.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Defendant.

 

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Case No. 06-CV-0894-H (JMA)

CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE

ORDER REGULATING DISCOVERY AND

OTHER PRETRIAL PROCEEDINGS

(Fed. R. Civ. P. 16) 

(Local Rule 16.1)

(Fed. R. Civ. P. 26)

Pursuant to Rule 16 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure,

a telephonic Case Management Conference was held on October 3,

2006 at 9:30 a.m. After consulting with the attorneys of record

for the parties and being advised of the status of the case, and

good cause appearing,

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED:

1. Any motion to join other parties, to amend the

pleadings, or to file additional pleadings shall be filed on or

before October 30, 2006.

2. A Settlement Conference shall be conducted on December

13, 2006 at 2:00 p.m. in the chambers of Magistrate Judge Adler. 

Counsel shall submit settlement statements directly to Magistrate

Case 3:06-cv-00894-H-JMA Document 8 Filed 10/02/06 Page 1 of 8
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Judge Adler's chambers no later than December 6, 2006. The

parties may either submit confidential settlement statements or

may exchange their settlement statements. All named parties, all

counsel, and any other person(s) whose authority is required to

negotiate and enter into settlement shall appear in person at the

conference. The individual(s) present at the Settlement

Conference with settlement authority must have the unfettered

discretion and authority on behalf of the party to: 1) fully

explore all settlement options and to agree during the Settlement

Conference to any settlement terms acceptable to the party (G.

Heileman Brewing Co., Inc. v. Joseph Oat Corp., 871 F.2d 648, 653

(7th Cir. 1989)), 2) change the settlement position of a party

during the course of the Settlement Conference (Pitman v. Brinker

Int'l, Inc., 216 F.R.D. 481, 485-86 (D. Ariz. 2003)), and 3)

negotiate a settlement without being restricted by any

predetermined level of authority (Nick v. Morgan's Foods, Inc.,

270 F.3d 590, 596 (8th Cir. 2001)).

Governmental entities may appear through litigation counsel

only. As to all other parties, appearance by litigation counsel

only is not acceptable. Retained outside corporate counsel shall

not appear on behalf of a corporation as the party who has the

authority to negotiate and enter into a settlement. The failure

of any counsel, party or authorized person to appear at the

Settlement Conference as required shall be cause for the

immediate imposition of sanctions. All conference discussions

will be informal, off the record, privileged, and confidential.

3. A telephonic Case Management Conference shall be held

before Magistrate Judge Adler on November 21, 2006 at 9:00 a.m.

Case 3:06-cv-00894-H-JMA Document 8 Filed 10/02/06 Page 2 of 8
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for the purpose of confirming that the December 13, 2006

Settlement Conference should take place. Counsel for each party

shall appear telephonically at this conference. The Court will

initiate the conference call.

4. Plaintiff (or the party(ies) having the burden of proof

on any claim) shall serve on all parties a list of experts whom

that party expects to call at trial on or before January 12,

2007. Defendant (or the party(ies) defending any claim,

counterclaim, crossclaim, or third party claim) shall serve on

all parties a list of experts whom that party expects to call at

trial on or before January 26, 2007. On or before February 9,

2007, any party may supplement its designation in response to any

other party's designation, so long as that party has not

previously retained an expert to testify on that subject. Expert

designations shall include the name, address, and telephone

number of each expert, and a reasonable summary of the testimony

the expert is expected to provide. The list shall also include

the normal rates the expert charges for deposition and trial

testimony.

The parties must identify any person who may be used at

trial to present evidence pursuant to Rules 702, 703 or 705 of

the Federal Rules of Evidence. This requirement is not limited

to retained experts.

Please be advised that failure to comply with this section

or any other discovery order of the Court may result in the

sanctions provided for in Fed. R. Civ. P. 37, including a

prohibition on the introduction of experts or other designated

matters in evidence.

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5. All expert disclosures required by Fed. R. Civ. P.

26(a)(2) shall be served on all parties on or before March 9,

2007. Any contradictory or rebuttal information shall be

disclosed on or before April 13, 2007. In addition, Fed. R. Civ.

P. 26(e)(1) imposes a duty on the parties to supplement the

expert disclosures made pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2)(B)

by the time that pretrial disclosures are due under Fed. R. Civ.

P. 26(a)(3) (discussed below). This disclosure requirement

applies to all persons retained or specially employed to provide

expert testimony, or whose duties as an employee of the party

regularly involve the giving of expert testimony. 

Please be advised that failure to comply with this section

or any other discovery order of the Court may result in the

sanctions provided for in Fed. R. Civ. P. 37, including a

prohibition on the introduction of experts or other designated

matters in evidence.

6. All discovery, other than expert discovery, shall be

completed by all parties on or before December 29, 2006. All

expert discovery shall be completed by all parties on or before

May 11, 2007. "Completed" means that all discovery under Rules

30 through 36 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure must be

initiated a sufficient period of time in advance of the cutoff

date, so that it may be completed by the cutoff date, taking into

account the times for service, notice, and response as set forth

in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. All disputes concerning

discovery shall be brought to the attention of Magistrate Judge

Adler no later than thirty (30) days following the date upon

which the event giving rise to the dispute occurred. For oral

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1

Counsel should note that while historically motion cutoff

deadlines issued by this Court were deadlines for motion hearings, the

motion cutoff dates now being issued establish deadlines for the

parties to file motions.

5 06cv0894H(JMA)

discovery, the event giving rise to the discovery dispute is the

completion of the transcript of the affected portion of the

deposition. For written discovery, the event giving rise to the

discovery dispute is the service of the response. Counsel are

required to meet and confer prior to contacting the Court

regarding all discovery disputes pursuant to the requirements of

Local Rules 16.5(k) and 26.1(a).

7. All motions, other than motions to amend or join

parties, or motions in limine, shall be filed on or before June

11, 2007.1 Motions will not be heard or calendared unless counsel

for the moving party has obtained a motion hearing date from the

law clerk of the judge who will hear the motion. Be advised that

the period of time between the date you request a motion date and

the hearing date may be up to sixty (60) days. Please plan

accordingly. Failure of counsel to timely request a motion date

may result in the motion not being heard. 

Briefs or memoranda in support of or in opposition to any

pending motion shall not exceed twenty-five (25) pages in length

without leave of the judge who will hear the motion. No reply

memorandum shall exceed ten (10) pages without such leave of

court.

8. A Mandatory Settlement Conference shall be conducted on

September 14, 2007 at 10:00 a.m. in the chambers of Magistrate

Judge Adler. Counsel shall submit settlement statements directly

to Magistrate Judge Adler's chambers no later than September 7,

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2007. The parties may either submit confidential settlement

statements or may exchange their settlement statements. Each

party's settlement statement shall set forth the party's

statement of the case, identify controlling legal issues,

concisely set out issues of liability and damages, and shall set

forth the party's settlement position, including the last offer

or demand made by that party, and a separate statement of the

offer or demand the party is prepared to make at the settlement

conference. The settlement conference briefs shall not be filed

with the Clerk of the Court. 

All named parties, all counsel, and any other person(s)

whose authority is required to negotiate and enter into

settlement shall appear in person at the conference. The

individual(s) present at the Mandatory Settlement Conference with

settlement authority must have the unfettered discretion and

authority on behalf of the party to: 1) fully explore all

settlement options and to agree during the Mandatory Settlement

Conference to any settlement terms acceptable to the party (G.

Heileman Brewing Co., Inc. v. Joseph Oat Corp., 871 F.2d 648, 653

(7th Cir. 1989)), 2) change the settlement position of a party

during the course of the Mandatory Settlement Conference (Pitman

v. Brinker Int'l, Inc., 216 F.R.D. 481, 485-86 (D. Ariz. 2003)),

and 3) negotiate a settlement without being restricted by any

predetermined level of authority (Nick v. Morgan's Foods, Inc.,

270 F.3d 590, 596 (8th Cir. 2001)).

Governmental entities may appear through litigation counsel

only. As to all other parties, appearance by litigation counsel

only is not acceptable. Retained outside corporate counsel shall

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not appear on behalf of a corporation as the party who has the

authority to negotiate and enter into a settlement. The failure

of any counsel, party or authorized person to appear at the

Mandatory Settlement Conference as required shall be cause for

the immediate imposition of sanctions. All conference

discussions will be informal, off the record, privileged, and

confidential.

9. If Plaintiff is incarcerated in a penal institution or

other facility, the Plaintiff's presence is not required at

conferences before Judge Adler, and the Plaintiff may appear by

telephone. In that case, defense counsel is to coordinate the

Plaintiff's appearance by telephone.

10. Counsel shall serve on each other and file their

Memoranda of Contentions of Fact and Law and take any other

action required by Local Rule 16.1(f)(2) on or before September

24, 2007. On or before this date, the parties must also comply

with the pretrial disclosure requirements of Fed. R. Civ. P.

26(a)(3). 

11. Counsel shall confer and take the action required by

Local Rule 16.1(f)(4) on or before October 1, 2007. 

12. The Proposed Final Pretrial Conference order, including

written objections, if any, to any party's Fed. R. Civ. P.

26(a)(3) pretrial disclosures, shall be prepared, served, and

lodged with the Clerk's Office on or before October 9, 2007 and

shall be in the form prescribed in Local Rule 16.1(f)(6). Any

objections shall comply with the requirements of Fed. R. Civ. P.

26(a)(3). Please be advised that the failure to file written

objections to a party's pretrial disclosures may result in the

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waiver of such objections, with the exception of those made

pursuant to Rules 402 (relevance) and 403 (prejudice, confusion

or waste of time) of the Federal Rules of Evidence.

13. The final Pretrial Conference is scheduled on the

calendar of the Honorable Marilyn L. Huff on October 15, 2007 at

10:30 a.m. The trial date will be assigned by the district judge

at the pretrial conference.

14. The dates and times set forth herein will not be

modified except for good cause shown.

15. Plaintiff's counsel shall serve a copy of this order on

all parties that enter this case hereafter.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

DATED: October 3, 2006

Jan M. Adler

U.S. Magistrate Judge

Case 3:06-cv-00894-H-JMA Document 8 Filed 10/02/06 Page 8 of 8