Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-azd-2_04-cv-01700/USCOURTS-azd-2_04-cv-01700-7/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Church Mutual Insurance Company
Counter Claimant
Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church
Counter Defendant

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 The parties are hereby given notice that this Order requires disclosure greater than that

required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(2).

WO

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, 

Plaintiff,

v.

Church Mutual Insurance Company,

Defendant.

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No. CV-04-1700-PHX-SMM

RULE 16 SCHEDULING ORDER

On November 2, 2006, a Preliminary Pretrial Conference was held in open Court

pursuant to Rule 16(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Prior to the conference, the

parties filed a Rule 26(f) Case Management Plan. (Dkt. 102.) At the conference, the Court

ruled that it would adopt each of the deadlines set forth in the parties’ Case Management

Plan, with the exception of the trial date and the addition of a Final Pretrial Conference date.

Accordingly, 

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the current provisions of the Federal Rules of Civil

Procedure shall apply to all proceedings concerning this case. 

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Plaintiff shall disclose the identity of any

person who may be used at trial to present evidence under Federal Rules of Evidence 701,

702, 703, 704, and 705 no later than March 9, 2007.1

 The Defendants shall disclose the

identity of any person who may be used at trial to present evidence under Federal Rules of

Case 2:04-cv-01700-SMM Document 105 Filed 11/08/06 Page 1 of 6
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Evidence 701, 702, 703, 704, or 705 no later than May 11, 2007. Rebuttal experts if any,

shall be disclosed no later than June 8, 2007. No deposition of any expert witnesses shall

occur before the disclosures concerning expert witnesses mandated by this Order are made.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the disclosures of the identities of any persons

who may be used at trial to present evidence under Federal Rules of Evidence 701, 702, 703,

704, or 705 shall also include all of the disclosures required by Federal Rule of Civil

Procedure 26(a)(2)(B) if the witness is either (1) retained or specifically employed to provide

expert testimony in the case, or (2) is an agent or employee of the party offering the

testimony whose duties regularly involve giving expert testimony.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that all fact discovery, including depositions of

parties and witnesses, answers to interrogatories, production of documents, and requests to

admit must be completed by February 9, 2007. In no event, however, shall this provision

alter the duties and obligations imposed upon the parties by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure

26(e). This Order contemplates that each party will conduct discovery in such a manner as

to complete, within the deadline, any and all discovery. "Last minute" or "eleventh hour"

discovery which results in insufficient time to undertake additional discovery and which

requires an extension of the discovery deadline will be met with disfavor, and could result

in denial of an extension, exclusion of evidence, or the imposition of other sanctions.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that depositions shall be limited as provided by Rules

30 and 31 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure unless the parties otherwise stipulate in

writing when permitted to do so pursuant to the Rules or when granted permission to depart

from the provisions of the Rules by Order of this Court. Counsel shall conduct themselves

courteously and professionally, especially during the taking of depositions. Any objections

made during the course of a deposition must be in accordance with Rule 26(d)(1) of the

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that notwithstanding any provisions of the Federal

Rules of Civil Procedure or any other provisions of this Order, non-party witnesses shall not

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be permitted to attend, either physically, electronically, or otherwise, the deposition of any

other witness in this case without an Order of this Court to the contrary.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that discovery by interrogatory shall generally be

governed by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 33.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that requests for admissions shall be governed by

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 36. 

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that all discovery shall be complete no later than

June 29, 2007.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED reminding counsel of their duty under Rule 26(e) of

the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to supplement all Rule 26(a) disclosures and responses

to discovery requests. Pursuant to Rule 26(e)(1), any additions or other changes to

information previously disclosed must be made prior to the time that Rule 26(a)(3) Pretrial

Disclosures are due. Since this Court effectively requires all Rule 26(a)(3) Pretrial

Disclosures to be contained in the Proposed Final Pretrial Order, this Order contemplates that

all exhibits and witnesses that may be offered at trial will have been disclosed before the

close of discovery as established by the provisions of this Order. This Order therefore

supersedes the "thirty-day before trial" disclosure deadline contained in that Rule. Therefore

(1) failure to have timely supplemented a Rule 26(a) disclosure, including but not limited to

witnesses and exhibits, or (2) a failure to have timely supplemented responses to any valid

discovery requests, or (3) attempting to include any witnesses or exhibits in the Proposed

Final Pretrial Order that were not previously disclosed in a timely manner as to allow for

meaningful discovery prior to the discovery cutoff date as established by this Order, may

result in the exclusion of such evidence at trial or the imposition of other sanctions. 

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, in the event of a discovery dispute, the parties

shall contact the Court to request a telephonic conference prior to filing any discovery

motions. The parties shall not contact the Court regarding a discovery dispute unless they

have been unable to resolve the dispute themselves, despite personal consultation and sincere

efforts to do so. The parties shall not file any written materials related to a discovery dispute

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or discovery motion without express leave of Court. If the Court does order written

submissions, the movant shall include a statement certifying that counsel could not

satisfactorily resolve the matter despite personal consultation and sincere efforts to do so, in

accordance with LRCiv 7.2(j) of the Rules of Practice of the United States District Court for

the District of Arizona. 

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that all dispositive motions shall be filed no later than

July 27, 2007. Such motions must be, in all respects, in full compliance with the Rules of

Practice of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. 

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that no submissions to the Court shall contain any

footnotes in excess of five (5) lines.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that all parties are hereby specifically admonished that

failure to respond to a motion by serving and filing an answering memorandum within the

time period expressly provided for in LRCiv 7.2 of the Rules of Practice of the United States

District Court for the District of Arizona may be deemed a consent to the denial or granting

of the motion and the Court may then dispose of the motion summarily.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the parties shall not notice oral argument on any

motion. Instead, a party desiring oral argument on a motion shall request argument by

placing “Oral Argument Requested” immediately below the title of such motion, pursuant

to LRCiv 7.2(f) of the Rules of Practice of the United States District Court for the District

of Arizona. The Court will then issue a minute order scheduling the oral argument.

Oral argument shall be scheduled at the request of a party on all motions to dismiss

and motions for summary judgment. On all other motions on which a party requests oral

argument, the Court will determine whether oral argument is necessary. FURTHER, THE

PARTIES ARE REMINDED THAT OBTAINING A HEARING DATE IS PURELY

ADMINISTRATIVE. ACCORDINGLY, REGARDLESS OF A HEARING DATE, THE

COURT MAY, AT ANY TIME AFTER THE MOTION IS FULLY BRIEFED,

DETERMINE THAT A HEARING IS UNWARRANTED AND RULE ON THE MOTION

WITHOUT ORAL ARGUMENT.

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IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that any and all motions, requests, or stipulations for

extensions of time shall be made in accordance with the provisions of LRCiv 7.3 of the Rules

of Practice of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. Notwithstanding

this directive, however, if such a motion, request, or stipulation seeks an extension of time

in which to file a memorandum in response or in reply to a motion previously noticed for oral

argument, under no circumstances shall such a motion, request, or stipulation seek an

extension that would preclude the Court from having at least thirty (30) days from the due

date for the filing of the reply memorandum to consider the merits of the underlying motion

unless the motion, request, or stipulation also seeks to vacate and reschedule the oral

argument. Any motion, request, or stipulation that so seeks both an extension of time and

rescheduling of a hearing shall contain a memorandum of points and authorities which

demonstrates good cause for the Court to grant the requested extension.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, if no dispositive motions are pending before the

Court after the dispositive motions deadline has passed, Plaintiff(s) shall file a Notice of

Readiness for Order Re: Final Pretrial Conference within ten (10) days of the dispositive

motions deadline. 

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, if dispositive motions are pending before the

Court following the dispositive motions deadline, the Court will issue an Order Re: Final

Pretrial Conference following its resolution of the dispositive motions, if necessary. 

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Order Re: Final Pretrial Conference shall: 1)

set deadlines for the filing of and response to motions in limine; 2) instruct the parties on

their duties in preparing for the Final Pretrial Conference and for trial; and 3) include a form

for the completion of the parties’ Proposed Pretrial Form of Order.

IT IS ORDERED that the attorneys for each party who will be responsible for trial

of the lawsuit shall APPEAR and PARTICIPATE in a Final Pretrial Conference on

Monday, August 15, 2007 at 4:00 p.m. in courtroom # 605 on the sixth floor of the United

States Courthouse, 401 West Washington Street, Phoenix, Arizona. Because the Final

Pretrial Conference is held for the benefit of all parties, and further because the presence of

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all parties will facilitate frank discussion of the pertinent issues in the lawsuit, each party,

or a representative with binding settlement authority if the party is an entity, shall

attend the Final Pretrial Conference. At the Final Pretrial Conference, the Court shall set a

firm trial date.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the parties shall keep the Court informed

regarding the possibility of settlement and should settlement be reached, the parties shall file

a Notice of Settlement with the Clerk of the Court.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that this Court views compliance with the provisions

of this Order as critical to its case management responsibilities and the responsibilities of the

parties under Rule 16 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

DATED this 7th day of November, 2006.

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