Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-5_04-cv-00017/USCOURTS-cand-5_04-cv-00017-10/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 442
Nature of Suit: Civil Rights Employment
Cause of Action: 28:1332 Diversity-Employment Discrimination

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United States District Court

For the Northern District of California

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 The jury trial is scheduled to take place over twelve afternoon sessions, from 1:00pm

to 4:00pm, Tuesdays through Fridays, except as specified above. At the Final Pretrial Conference,

the Court reserves the right to fold the last few afternoon sessions into morning sessions (9:00am -

12:00pm) thus creating full days for trial. The final trial schedule will be confirmed at the Final

Pretrial Conference. 

United States District Court

For the Northern District of California

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

SAN JOSE DIVISION

Sam Abboud,

Plaintiff,

 v.

International Business Machines Corp.,

Defendant. /

No. C 04-00017 JW 

 PRELIMINARY PRETRIAL CONFERENCE

SCHEDULING ORDER - (JURY TRIAL)

On May 21, 2007, the Court conducted a Preliminary Pretrial Conference. The Court orders

the parties to comply with the following:

TRIAL SCHEDULE

Final Pretrial Conference at 9 a.m. (¶ 4 ) September 4, 2007

Joint Pretrial Conference Statement and 

In Limine Motions Due 

(30 days before Final Pretrial Conference)

August 5, 2007

Jury Trial Date Jury Selection: September 18, 2007, 1 PM

Jury Trial Date and Sessions1 Sessions 1-3: September 19-21, 2007, 1-4 PM

Sessions 4-7: September 25-28, 2007, 1-4 PM

Session 8: October 2, 2007, 1-4 PM

Sessions 9-12: October 9-12, 2007, 1-4 PM

Case 5:04-cv-00017-JW Document 194 Filed 05/25/07 Page 1 of 9
United States District Court

For the Northern District of California

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 Meet and Confer Requirement

1. No later than 30 days prior to the Final Pretrial Conference, the parties shall meet

and confer with respect to the Joint Pretrial Conference Statement, submission of a joint list of

witnesses, a joint list of trial exhibits and a joint list of discovery material which each party intends

to offer in evidence as a part of its case-in-chief. Unless objections are made in accord with this

Order, all witnesses, exhibits and discovery material contained on the joint submission shall be

deemed admissible into evidence by stipulation.

Objections and Lodging Disputed Material with the Court

2. If a party objects to receipt into evidence of a witness, exhibits or discovery response,

the party shall advise all opposing parties during the conference described in Paragraph 1, and

attempt to resolve the dispute. If the parties are unsuccessful in resolving the dispute, any party

wishing to object to receipt of the testimony of any witness, any exhibit or discovery response into

evidence shall lodge with Chambers a copy of the disputed material at the commencement of trial. 

Attached to the submission shall be a brief statement of the objection and any response by the

proffering party. The Court will indicate on the submitted copy whether the objection is overruled

or sustained and return the material to counsel.

Lodging Joint Pretrial Conference Statement and In Limine Motions

3. Pursuant to the date set forth in the Case Schedule, the parties shall file and lodge

with Chambers the following:

a. Joint Pretrial Conference Statement: The parties shall file a joint pretrial

statement which shall contain the following information: (1) a brief description of

the substance of claims and defenses which remain to be decided; (2) a detailed

statement of all the relief claimed, particularly itemizing all elements of damages

claimed as well as witnesses, documents or other evidentiary material to be presented

concerning the amount of those damages; (3) a plain and concise statement of all

relevant facts not reasonably disputable, as well as which facts the parties will

stipulate for incorporation into the trial record without the necessity of supporting

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United States District Court

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testimony or exhibits; (4) a plain and concise statement of all disputed factual issues

which remain to be decided; (5) a statement assessing whether all or part of the action

may be presented upon an agreed statement of facts; (6) a statement of stipulations

requested or proposed for pretrial or trial purposes; (7) without extended legal

argument, a concise statement of each disputed point of law concerning liability or

relief, citing supporting statutes and decisions; (8) a list of all witnesses likely to be

called at trial; (9) a list of evidence the parties intend to present at trial through use of

excerpts from depositions, from interrogatory answers, or from responses to requests

for admission; and (10) any other subjects relevant to the trial of the action, or

material to its just, speedy and inexpensive determination. 

Counsel are directed to meet and confer in advance of the date for submission of

pretrial material with respect to the pretrial conference statement.

b. In Limine Motions: Any In limine motions shall be filed in writing and

submitted along with the Joint Final Pretrial Conference Statement. Any opposition

shall be filed in writing and served no later than 10 days before the Final Pretrial

Conference. These motions will be deemed submitted without oral argument, unless

the Court orders otherwise.

Final Pretrial Conference

4. The Court will conduct a Final Pretrial Conference on the date set forth in the Case

Schedule. The trial attorneys must attend the conference. At the final pretrial conference the Court

will consider issues raised in the Final Pretrial Conference Statement, motions in limine and discuss

the procedures for trial of the case.

Lodging Witness Lists, Exhibit Lists and Proposed Jury Instructions

5. At the Final Pretrial Conference, the parties shall lodge with Chambers the joint list

of witnesses, and a joint list of exhibits. Unless otherwise ordered, all exhibits shall be in a format

compatible with either the video or digital evidence presentation system utilized by the Court. The

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proffering party shall retain custody of all exhibits, schedules, summaries, diagrams or charts to be

used at the trial. 

6. To accommodate consideration of electronic exhibits, as the trial progresses, the parties

will load images of the admitted exhibits onto a stand alone hard drive or CD or DVD in “pdf”

format. The parties shall ensure that, apart from whatever technical material is necessary to operate

the system, the CD, DVD or hard drive contains only the items specified in this order and nothing

else. The images will be placed in a folder labeled “Admitted Exhibits” that shall contain all trial

exhibits received into evidence. In addition to the exhibits, themselves, the folder shall contain a file

labeled “List of Admitted Exhibits by Exhibit Number.” The “List” shall list in numerical order by

Trial Exhibit Number, each admitted exhibit, along with the date of the document (where available),

and a brief description of the exhibit. To the extend practicable, the “List” shall be text searchable

and hyperlinked to the Exhibits, themselves. The folder shall contain a second filed labeled “List of

Admitted Exhibits by Date.” This second “List” shall contain the same information, except that the

exhibits will be listed in chronological order, according to the date the document was prepared. The

external stand alone hard drive or CD or DVD and a printed copy of the exhibit lists will be marked

as exhibits and placed in evidence as demonstrative exhibits. 

6. Before the case is submitted for decision, each party will be deemed to have had an

opportunity to review the material described in the previous paragraph to ensure their accuracy. 

Unless a party objects before the case is submitted for decision to the judge or jury, the party will be

deemed to have waived any and all objections to the submitted materials.

7. To accommodate review of electronic exhibits, the parties will jointly provide the

jury with the following equipment: a laptop computer, the external stand alone hard drive, CD or

DVD, a printer (and, if practicable, an LCD projector).

8. During its closing instructions, the Court will advise the jury of the form in which

exhibits will be submitted to them. The jury will also be instructed that, unless impracticable, upon

a juror’s written request, a printed copy of any exhibit received in evidence will be provided to the

jury. Before the jury retires to deliberate, the parties will provide a tutorial to the jurors on how to

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operate the equipment, how to view the exhibits, and how to print the exhibits if the jury wishes to

do so. A written set of instructions on operations of the equipment will be sent into the jury room.

9. When the jury is deliberating, at least one lawyer for each side shall remain in close

proximity to the courtroom. In the event of any technical problem, or if the jurors have questions

about how to operate the equipment, the jurors shall pass a note to the clerk, just as with any other

questions they may have. The Court will read the note to the lawyers. Those lawyers shall consult

with each other and with their respective technicians, and propose to the Court how they wish to

address the technical problem. 

10. The parties shall maintain a backup laptop computer and a backup hard drive with

identical images and data at the courthouse such that, in the event of a technical problem that cannot

be quickly and easily remedied, the equipment can be replaced.

11. Unless the Court orders otherwise for good cause shown, the expense of the

equipment and the costs of preparation of the Lists and Exhibits will be shared equally among the

parties. 

12. This Standing Order also applies to cases tried to the Court sitting without a jury,

except that paragraphs 8-11 do not apply. 

13. The parties are ordered to meet and confer in advance of trial to establish a procedure

for complying with this Order with respect to electronic exhibits.

14. Upon request, in non-complex cases the Court will excuse the parties from using

electronic formatted documents. In that event on the first day of trial, the parties shall submit

exhibits as follows:

a. A copy for the trial judge;

b. A copy for the witness stand. Although the Court’s copy of exhibits shall be

in a single binder, the Court prefers the parties to prepare a binder for each

witness, which contains only those documents pertinent to that witness.

c. No duplicates of a document shall be submitted, unless the duplicate copy has

independent evidentiary value to prove some disputed issue of material fact

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(e.g., date stamp to prove receipt on a particular date, where date of receipt is

a disputed issue of a material fact). 

Jury Trial Schedule

The time allowed for trial shall be divided equally between the plaintiff’s side and the

defendant’s side. Co-parties are ordered to meet, confer and agree to an allocation among

themselves. A party may spend its allocated time presenting its own case or on cross-examination of

witnesses called by other parties or for presentation of a counterclaim. When a party's allocated time

period has expired, unless otherwise ordered for good cause shown, no further time will be allowed

to that party if it would interfere with the ability of the opposing party to present its case.

Trial Procedure

15. In opening statements, counsel shall not express personal knowledge or opinion

concerning any matter in issue.

16. Counsel must question witnesses from the podium, using the microphone. Without

requesting permission, counsel may approach witnesses for any proper purposes.

17. Address all remarks to the Court, not to opposing counsel.

18. Refer to all persons, including witnesses, other counsel and the parties by their

surnames and not by their first or given names.

19. In examining a witness, counsel shall not repeat or echo the answer given by the

witness.

20. Counsel must stand when making an objection. 

21. Conferences at the bench or sidebar are not favored by the Court. Any sidebar

conferences which are allowed will be off the record. If any counsel wishes to place matters on the

record, he or she may so request, and the Court will make a responsive order.

22. Counsel have full responsibility to arrange for the appearance of witnesses during

the presentation of their case so as to eliminate delay caused by waiting for witnesses who have been

placed on call by counsel.

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23. Unless an agreement to the contrary is entered into by opposing counsel, all

nonparty or nonexpert witnesses will be excluded from the courtroom when not testifying. When a

witness has completed his or her testimony, the witness is excused unless counsel indicates that he

or she wishes the witness to remain subject to being recalled. Any witness who has been excused

from further testimony may remain as a spectator. It will be the responsibility of counsel to make an

announcement at the time the witness steps down that he or she should remain in the environs of the

Court for a reasonable time to permit such counsel an opportunity to secure and serve a subpoena

upon the witness and assume responsibility for his or her per diem and other expenses as provided

by governing rule or statute.

24. Counsel shall admonish all persons at counsel table that gestures, facial expressions,

audible comments, or the like, as manifestations of approval or disapproval during the testimony of

witnesses, or at any other time, are prohibited.

25. Witness examination shall consist of direct examination, cross-examination and redirect examination. No recross-examination will be allowed without prior approval of the Court

specifically indicating the area for recross-examination. When there are multiple defense counsel,

they are directed to confer and designate to the Court the sequence in which they wish to be

recognized during trial for purposes of presenting opening statements and conducting crossexamination of witnesses. If one counsel conducts the direct examination of a witness, that same

counsel must make objections when the witness is cross-examined. Counsel who will conduct the

cross-examination should object while the witness is on direct.

26. After the commencement of trial testimony, upon request of co-parties, any

objection, motion or other application for relief made by any co-party, orally or in writing, shall be

deemed to be adopted and joined in by every other co-party, without announcement by counsel to

that effect, and the rulings of the Court shall be deemed applicable to each party unless otherwise

stated at the time the ruling is made. Accordingly, it shall be regarded as unnecessary and improper

for counsel to rise to "join in" an objection or motion. Rather, counsel should rise to be heard only

for the purpose of expressly opting out of an objection or motion if that is his or her position.

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27. Counsel are directed to deliver to opposing counsel at the end of each trial day (if

not earlier) a list of witnesses counsel anticipates calling the next trial day.

28. Counsel calling a non-client witness to testify should have no further discussions

with that witness concerning the case or any aspect of his or her testimony after the witness has been

tendered for cross-examination and until such time as the witness has been tendered back for redirect

examination. At all other times, within the bounds of governing ethics and the law, counsel may

engage in discussions with witnesses during trial.

29. Any time taken away from presentation of evidence to the trier of fact due to, for

example, lengthy legal motions made during the time allocated to the presentation of evidence, or

delays in the commencement of proceedings due to circumstances within the control of counsel, will

be deducted from the time allocated for the presentation of evidence. Upon timely application based

upon good cause, the Court may relieve a party of its stipulation to the agreed schedule.

30. It is the practice of the Court periodically to inform counsel of the Court's record of

how much time each side has remaining for the presentation of evidence based upon the stipulated

trial schedule.

Daily Trial Transcript

31. Any counsel desiring daily or expedited transcripts during trial should make

immediate arrangements with the court reporter and should inform the Court and other counsel of

such intentions.

Dated: May 21, 2007 

JAMES WARE

United States District Judge

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THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT COPIES OF THIS ORDER HAVE BEEN DELIVERED TO:

Bradford K. Newman bradfordnewman@paulhastings.com

Dugan William Bliss duganbliss@quinnemanuel.com

Melissa J Baily melissabaily@quinnemanuel.com

Scott Gregory Lawson scottlawson@quinnemanuel.com

William A. Morehead williammorehead@quinnemanuel.com

Dated: May 21, 2007 Richard W. Wieking, Clerk

By: /s/ JW Chambers 

Elizabeth Garcia

Courtroom Deputy

Case 5:04-cv-00017-JW Document 194 Filed 05/25/07 Page 9 of 9