Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-4_18-cv-03314/USCOURTS-cand-4_18-cv-03314-1/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 360
Nature of Suit: Other Personal Injury
Cause of Action: 28:1332 Diversity-Product Liability

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United States District Court 

Northern District of California

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 

OAKLAND DIVISION 

AHMAD WESTCOTT, 

Plaintiff, 

v. 

THYSSENKRUPP ELEVATOR 

AMERICA, et al., 

Defendants. 

Case No. 18-cv-03314-SBA 

ORDER FOR PRETRIAL 

PREPARATION 

Pursuant to Rule 16 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (“FRCP”), 

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED AS FOLLOWS: 

I. DEADLINE FOR JOINDER OF PARTIES/AMENDING THE PLEADINGS 

 

The deadline for the joinder of other parties and to amend the pleadings is closed. 

II. DISCOVERY CUT-OFF

All discovery, except for expert discovery, shall be completed and all depositions 

taken on or before December 31, 2019. The deadline to file motions to compel is governed 

by the Local Rules. Discovery disputes will be referred to a magistrate judge. 

III. EXPERT DESIGNATION AND DISCOVERY

Plaintiff shall designate any experts by January 21, 2020; defendant by February 3, 

2020; rebuttal disclosure by February 18, 2020. Any expert not so named may be 

disallowed as a witness. 

No expert will be permitted to testify to any opinion, or basis or support for an 

opinion, that has not been disclosed in response to an appropriate question or interrogatory 

from the opposing party. 

Expert discovery shall be completed by April 8, 2020. 

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IV. MOTION PRACTICE

All dispositive motions shall be heard on or before July 13, 2020, at 2:00 p.m. 

A. Meet and Confer Requirement: The parties must meet and confer prior 

to filing any motion or request. The movant shall certify to the Court in its moving papers 

that it has complied with this requirement. Should the parties fail to meet and confer, the 

Court may decline to entertain the motion. 

B. Hearing Dates: The Court does not reserve motion hearing dates. The 

parties are advised to check Judge Armstrong's calendar at www.cand.uscourts.gov/sba to 

determine the next available hearing date. The parties are advised not to wait until 35 days 

prior to the law and motion cut-off to file and serve their motion. As the Court's law and 

motion calendar tends to fill quickly, there is no guarantee that a hearing date within the law 

and motion cut-off will be available. 

NOTE: Pursuant to Civil L.R. 7-1(b), the Court may, in its discretion, adjudicate 

motions without oral argument. 

C. Page Limits: All noticed motions (other than motions for summary judgment) 

and any opposition thereto, shall not exceed fifteen (15) pages in length, exclusive of the 

table of contents, table of authorities, exhibits and declarations, if required. Reply briefs 

may not exceed ten (10) pages in length. 

D. Failure to Oppose: The failure to timely file an opposition to any motion 

shall constitute a consent to the granting of the motion. 

 

E. Summary Judgment: Parties are limited to filing one motion for summary 

judgment. Any party wishing to exceed this limit must request leave of Court. Aligned 

parties (i.e., co-defendants) should file joint briefs where possible. Motions for summary 

judgment are subject to the page limits set forth in Civil Local Rule 7. If a Plaintiff wishes 

to file a motion for summary judgment, they shall do so at least 6 weeks before the cut-off 

date. If a Defendant desires to file a cross-motion, such motion shall be combined with the 

opposition to the motion, not to exceed 25 pages, and shall be filed 14 days after the filing of 

the motion. The opposition to any cross-motion shall be combined with the reply in support 

of the motion, not exceed 15 pages, and shall be filed 7 days after the filing of the 

opposition. A reply to any cross-motion, not to exceed 10 pages, shall be filed 7 days after 

the filing of the opposition. Separate statements of undisputed facts will not be considered. 

Joint statements of undisputed facts are helpful, but not required. 

F. Use of Dividers and Binders: Courtesy copies of multi-page exhibits for 

chambers should be clearly marked with tabbed dividers. Where the exhibits are 

voluminous, courtesy copies shall be submitted in tabbed binders.

 

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V. PRETRIAL CONFERENCE 

All Counsel who will try the case shall appear for a pretrial conference on June 10, 

2020 at 2:00 p.m. All Counsel shall be fully prepared to discuss all aspects of the trial. 

Failure to file the requisite pretrial documents in advance of the pretrial conference may 

result in vacation of the pretrial conference and/or the imposition of sanctions. 

NOTE: Each party is required to have a person with full 

settlement authority present at the pretrial conference. 

 

VI. PRETRIAL PREPARATION 

Prior to the date pretrial preparation is due, Counsel shall meet and confer in good 

faith in advance of complying with the following pretrial requirements in order to clarify and 

narrow the issues for trial, arrive at stipulations of facts, simplify and shorten the 

presentation of proof at trial, and explore possible settlement. In addition, Counsel shall 

meet and confer regarding anticipated motions in limine, objections to evidence, jury 

instructions, and any other matter which may require resolution by the Court. 

The following briefing schedule applies to all pretrial documents: 

FILINGS DUE DATE 

Pretrial Statement 

Trial Briefs 

Findings of Fact 

Witness Lists 

Exhibit Lists 

Discovery Designations 

Proposed Jury Instructions 

Proposed Jury Voir Dire 

Proposed Verdict Forms 

5/6/2020 

Motions in Limine 

Objections to Evidence 

Objections to Separately Proposed Jury Instructions 

5/20/2020 

Oppositions to Motions in Limine 

Responses to Objections to Evidence 

5/27/2020 

Replies for Motions in Limine 

Objections to Evidence (optional) 

6/3/2020 

A. Joint Pretrial Statement: Counsel are required to file a joint pretrial 

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conference statement containing the following information: 

1. The Action

a. Substance of the Action. A brief description of the substance of 

claims and defenses which remain to be decided. 

b. Relief Prayed. 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. 

2. Factual Basis 

 a. Undisputed Facts. A plain and concise statement of all relevant 

facts not reasonably disputed, as well as those facts to which the parties will 

stipulate without the necessity of supporting testimony or exhibits. 

b. Disputed Factual Issues. A plain and concise statement of all 

disputed factual issues which remain to be decided. 

c. Agreed Statement. A statement assessing whether all or part of 

the action may be presented upon an agreed statement of facts. 

3. Disputed Legal Issues

Without extended legal argument, a concise statement of each disputed 

point of law concerning liability or relief, citing supporting statutes and 

decisions. Unless otherwise ordered, parties should cite to briefs served and 

lodged setting forth briefly the nature of each party's contentions concerning 

each disputed point of law, including procedural and evidentiary issues. 

4. Stipulations 

 A statement of stipulations requested or proposed for pretrial or trial 

purposes. 

B. Trial Briefs

 

Each party shall serve and file a trial brief which shall briefly state their contentions, 

the relevant facts to be proven at trial, and the law on the issues material to the decision. 

C. Findings of Fact & Conclusions of Law (non-jury trial)

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In non-jury cases, each party shall serve and lodge with the Court proposed findings 

of fact and conclusions of law on all material issues. Findings shall be brief, clear, written in 

plain English and free of pejorative language and argument. 

D. Jury Instructions

The parties shall file a joint set of proposed jury instructions that sets forth those 

instructions on which the parties have reached agreement. As to any disputed instructions, 

each party shall also file its “separately proposed” instruction(s) supported by a brief 

memorandum setting forth the authority for its use. Responses or objections to any 

“separately proposed” jury instruction shall be filed in accordance with briefing schedule set 

forth above. All instructions shall be written in plain English that is comprehensible to 

jurors, concise and free of argument, and organized in a logical fashion so as to aid jury 

comprehension. Copies of the joint and separate proposed instructions shall be provided as 

Word documents on a USB drive or CD. The Court's practice is to utilize, whenever 

possible, instructions found in the Ninth Circuit Manual of Model Jury Instructions. 

E. Jury Voir Dire

Each party shall file proposed questions for jury voir dire. 

F. Verdict Forms

Each party shall file a proposed form of verdict. 

G. Witnesses

Each party shall serve and file with the Court a list of all persons who may be called 

as witnesses. The list shall include a summary of the substance of each witness' proposed 

testimony. Retained and non-retained expert witnesses shall be identified as such. 

H. Exhibits

Each party shall serve and file a list of all exhibits anticipated to be used at the trial. 

The exhibit list shall identify each exhibit by number and include a brief description, 

followed by two blank columns to record the date on which it is marked for identification 

and the date on which it is admitted into evidence. Exhibits shall be premarked numerically, 

with Plaintiff’s exhibits preceded by the letter “P” (i.e., P1, P2, P3) and Defendant’s exhibits 

preceded by the letter “D” (i.e., D1, D2, D3). Exhibit markers shall also contain the case 

name and number, with space to record the date admitted and the Deputy Clerk’s initials. (A 

sample exhibit list and exhibit markers are available in the Court’s Standing Orders). 

Exhibits should be brought to Court on the first day of trial. Each party shall provide 

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every other party one set of exhibits to be used at trial. Additionally, the Court requires one 

original version of exhibits (as described above) for the Clerk and two copies (one for the 

Bench and one for the witness stand). Each set of exhibits, including the originals, shall be 

premarked and indexed into a binder for easy and quick reference, with a copy of the full 

exhibit list at the front of the binder. 

 

I. Designation of Discovery Excerpts

Each party expecting to use discovery excerpts as part of its case in chief shall serve 

and lodge with the Court a statement identifying: (1) by witness and page and line, all 

deposition testimony and (2) by lodged excerpt, all interrogatory answers and requests for 

admissions. Each interrogatory answer intended to be offered as an exhibit shall be copied 

separately and marked as an exhibit. The original of any deposition to be used at trial must 

be produced at the time of trial, along with a copy for the Court. 

If Counsel intend to present video or audio deposition testimony in lieu of live 

testimony pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 804(b)(1), and the parties are unable to 

reach a stipulation regarding the presentation of such testimony, the presenting party shall 

notify the Court of this fact at the time it files its designations and provide the reason for the 

witness’ unavailability. See Fed. R. Evid. 804(a). 

J. Motions in Limine and Objections to Evidence 

Motions in limine (“MILs”) shall be set forth in a single memorandum, not to 

exceed fifteen (15) pages in length. Responses to the MILs shall be set forth in a single 

memorandum, not to exceed fifteen (15) pages in length. Reply briefs shall not exceed ten 

(10) pages. No MIL will be considered unless the parties certify that they met and conferred 

prior to its filing. Any request to exceed the page limits must be submitted prior to the filing 

deadline and supported by a showing of good cause, along with a certification that the 

applicant has met and conferred with the opposing party regarding the request. 

Objections to evidence shall identify the exhibit, discovery excerpt, and/or deposition 

designation in dispute, indicate the basis for the objection (e.g., hearsay - FRE 802), and 

provide a brief statement in support thereof. Objections to deposition designations shall also 

include any counter-designations for completeness. See Fed. R. Evid. 106. For any 

deposition designations to which objections are raised, the parties shall provide a complete 

transcript with the designated portions thereof highlighted. The objecting party shall file the 

transcript as a searchable PDF and provide a printed courtesy copy. No objection will be 

considered unless the parties certify that they met and conferred prior to its filing. 

Responses to objections shall provide a brief statement in opposition (e.g., falls under an 

exception or offered for non-hearsay purpose). Replies are not required. 

 

VII. TRIAL DATE

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Trial before the Jury will begin on July 13, 2020, at 10:00 a.m., for an estimated 3-5 

trial days, or as soon thereafter as the Court may designate. The parties are advised that they 

must be prepared to go to trial on a trailing basis in the event that more than one case is set 

for trial on the same date. Trial will take place at 1301 Clay Street, Oakland, California, 

94612 (Courtroom to be determined at the pretrial conference). The Court's trial hours are 

10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with two fifteen-minute breaks, from Monday through Friday. 

NOTE: Each party is required to have someone with full 

settlement authority present on the first day of trial.

VIII. TRANSCRIPTS

If transcripts will be requested during or immediately after the trial, arrangements

must be made with the Court Reporter Coordinator (Telephone No. 510-637-3534) at least 

one week prior to the commencement of trial commences. 

IX. STATUS AND DISCOVERY CONFERENCES

Any party desiring to confer with the Court may, upon notice to all other parties,

arrange a conference through the courtroom deputy clerk (Telephone No. 510-637-3542). 

Conferences may be conducted telephonically, upon request (preferably in writing). 

X. SANCTIONS

Failure to comply with this order may result in the imposition of sanctions pursuant to

FRCP 16(f). 

IT IS SO ORDERED. 

Dated: ____________________________________ 

SAUNDRA BROWN ARMSTRONG 

Senior United States District Judge 

October 24, 2019

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