Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-3_05-cv-04057/USCOURTS-cand-3_05-cv-04057-7/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Allstate Insurance Company
Defendant
Heckendorn
Defendant
Eugene Taback
Plaintiff
Gail Taback
Plaintiff

Document Text:

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

GAIL TABACK; EUGENE TABACK,

Plaintiffs,

 vs.

ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY; FRED

HECKENDORN; et al.,

Defendant(s).

 /

No. C 05-4057 MEJ

CASE MANAGEMENT ORDER

On May 11, 2006, the Court held a hearing on the above entitled matter. Pursuant to Federal

Rule of Civil Procedure 16, the Court ORDERS as follows:

A. ADR Program: 

The parties are hereby referred to a settlement conference with a Magistrate Judge to occur

on or before July 10, 2006. Plaintiffs' deposition must be completed before the settlement

conference in order to ensure the settlement conference is productive.

B. Jury or Court Trial:

The Court hereby sets this matter for a jury trial.

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C. Pretrial Motions:

1. All pretrial motions shall be filed in accordance with Civil Local Rule 7. A motion shall be

noticed pursuant to Civil Local Rule 7-2 without calling the Court. Civil law and motion is

heard on Thursday mornings at 10:00 a.m. 

D. Discovery: 

1. The parties shall abide by Judge James’ standing order regarding discovery and dispute

procedures.

E. Disclosure of Expert Witnesses: 

1. Any party wishing to present expert witness testimony with respect to a claim or defense

shall serve on all other parties the name, address, qualifications, resume, and a written report

which complies with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(2)(B) on or before July 13,

2006. Generally, this occurs 210 days before trial. Given Plaintiffs' desire to fast track the

trial date, the Court is using its discretion and aggressively setting all the deadlines in order to

take the case to trial by November 13, 2006. 

2. This disclosure must be made with respect to a person who is either (a) specifically retained

or specially employed to provide expert testimony pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 702

or (b) a regular employee or agent or treating physician who may be called to provide expert

opinion testimony.

3. A party or counsel has a continuing duty to supplement the disclosure of expert 

witnesses when required under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(e)(1).

F. Rebuttal Expert Witnesses:

1. If the testimony of the expert is intended solely to contradict or rebut opinion testimony on

the same subject matter identified by another party, the party proffering a rebuttal expert shall

make the disclosures required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(2)(B), no later than

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July 23, 2006. 

G. Limitation on Testimony by Expert Witnesses:

1. Unless the parties enter into a written stipulation otherwise, upon timely objection, an expert

witness shall be precluded from testifying about any actions or opinions not disclosed prior to

the expert’s deposition. This is to ensure that all factual material upon which expert opinion

may be based and all tests and reports are completed prior to the expert deposition. 

2. Unless application is made prior to the close of expert discovery, each party is limited to

calling only one expert witness in each discipline involved in the case.

3. Any party objecting to the admissibility of the testimony of person disclosed as an expert

witness must file a written motion in limine to exclude the testimony no later than the

deadline set in this order for filing motions in limine.

H. Close of Discovery:

1. All discovery, including depositions of expert witnesses, must be completed by August 1,

2006. 

2. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16(b) and Civil Local Rule 26-2, a discovery

request or stipulation that calls for responses or depositions after the discovery cut-off date

are not enforceable except by order of the Court and upon a showing of good cause. 

3. Pursuant to Civil Local Rule 26-2, no motions to compel discovery may be filed later than 10

days after the discovery cut-off date. 

I. Dispositive Motions:

1. Pursuant to Civil Local Rule 7-2, all dispositive motions shall be filed, served and noticed

August 11, 2006. The parties shall file a joint statement of undisputed facts pursuant to Civil

Local Rule 56-2(b) when filing a motion for summary judgment or summary adjudication.

2. The Court shall hear dispositive motions on September 14, 2006 ( 120 prior days to trial) at

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10:00 a.m. in Courtroom B, 15th Floor of the Federal Building, located at 450 Golden Gate

Avenue, San Francisco, California.

J. Exchange and filing of Trial Papers:

1. By September 14, 2006 (60 days before trial) lead counsel who will try the case shall meet

and confer with respect to the preparation and content of the joint pretrial conference

statement and shall exchange (but not file or lodge) the papers described in paragraph 2

below.

2. By September 29, 2006 ( 45 days before trial) counsel shall file the papers described in

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(3) and a joint pretrial conference statement including

the following:

(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 damages.

(C) Undisputed Facts: A plain and concise statement of all relevant facts not reasonably

disputable, as well as which facts parties will stipulate for incorporation into the trial record

without the necessity of supporting testimony or exhibits.

(D) Disputed Factual Issues: A plain and concise statement of all disputed factual issues

which remain to be decided.

(E) Agreed Statement: A statement assessing whether all or part of the action may be

presented upon an agreed statement of facts.

(F) Stipulations: A statement of stipulations requested or proposed for pretrial or trial

purposes.

(G) Witness list: A list of all witnesses to be called for trial. The parties shall submit a pagelength detailed summary of the substance of the proposed testimony of each witness, which

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shall also specify to which disputed fact the testimony relates and an estimate of the time

required for direct and cross examination of each prospective witness. 

(H) Exhibit list: A list of all exhibits to be offered at trial. The exhibit list shall list each

proposed exhibit by its number or alphabetical letter, description and sponsoring witness. All

documents shall be authenticated prior to trial.

(I) Estimated Time of Trial: An estimate of the number of hours needed for the presentation

of each party’s case.

(J) Settlement: A statement summarizing the status of the parties’ settlement negotiations.

No party shall be permitted to offer any witness or exhibit in its case in chief that is not

disclosed in its witness or exhibit list without leave of the Court for good cause 

shown.

3. Motions in limine: Counsel are directed to meet and confer to resolve any evidentiary 

disputes prior to filing motions in limine. Any motions in limine shall be filed September

29, 2006 (45 days prior to trial). Any Opposition to motions in limine shall be filed October

6, 2006 (38 days prior to trial). These matters will be deemed submitted on the papers

without oral argument, unless the Court orders otherwise.

4. Trial Briefs: Counsel shall file trial briefs setting forth the applicable legal standard, pursuant

to Ninth Circuit authority, all significant disputed issues of law, including foreseeable

procedural and evidentiary issues by October 13, 2006 (30 days prior to trial).

5. Joint Proposed Voir Dire (Jury Trial Only): Counsel should submit a joint set of requested

voir dire to be posed by the Court by October 13, 2006 (30 days prior to trial). Any voir

dire questions on which counsel cannot agree shall be submitted separately by October 13,

2006 (30 days prior to trial). Counsel will be allowed brief follow-up voir dire after the

Court’s questioning.

6. Joint Proposed Jury Instructions (Jury Trial Only): Jury instructions § 1.01 through § 2.02

and § 3.01 through § 3.15 from the Manual of Model Civil Jury Instructions for the Ninth

Circuit will be given absent objection. Counsel shall submit a joint set of additional

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proposed jury instructions by October 13, 2006 (30 days prior to trial). . The instructions

shall be ordered in a logical sequence, together with a table of contents. Any instruction on

which counsel cannot agree shall be marked as “disputed,” and shall be included within the

jointly submitted instructions and accompanying table of contents, in the place where the

party proposing the instruction believes it should be given. Argument and authority for and

against each disputed instruction shall be included as part of the joint submission, on separate

sheets directly following the disputed instruction. The Court prefers that all jury instructions

conform to the Manual of Model Civil Jury Instructions for the Ninth Circuit.

If possible, counsel shall deliver to the Courtroom Deputy a copy of their joint proposed jury

instructions on a computer disk in WordPerfect format. The disk label shall include the name

of the parties, the case number and be entitled “Proposed Jury Instructions.”

At the close of Defendant’s case in chief, the Court shall hear oral argument on the disputed

jury instructions and will then render its rulings. 

7. Proposed Verdict Forms, Joint or Separate (Jury Trial Only): Counsel shall submit any joint

proposed verdict forms and shall submit their separate verdict forms by October 13, 2006

(30 days prior to trial).

Whenever possible, counsel shall deliver to the Courtroom Deputy a copy of their joint

proposed verdict forms on a computer disk in WordPerfect. The disk label shall include the

name of the parties, the case number and be entitled “Proposed Verdict Forms.”

8. Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law (Court Trial Only): Counsel shall submit

joint proposed findings of facts by October 13, 2006 (30 days prior to trial). Counsel shall

submit separately a copy of their disputed findings of fact and conclusions of law by October

13, 2006 (30 days prior to trial).

Whenever possible, counsel shall deliver to the Courtroom Deputy a copy of their joint

proposed findings of fact on a computer disk in WordPerfect. The disk label shall include the

name of the parties, the case number and be entitled “Joint Proposed Findings of Facts.”

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K. Pretrial Conference:

1. On October 12, 2006 (30 days prior to trial) the Court shall hold a pretrial conference at

10:00 a.m. in Courtroom B, 15th Floor of the Federal Building, located at 450 Golden Gate

Avenue, San Francisco, California. Lead counsel who will try the case must attend the

pretrial conference. The purpose of the pretrial conference is for the Court to rule on any

issues raised in the final pretrial conference statement, motions in limine, and to discuss the

trial of the case.

L. Final Pretrial Conference:

1. On November 9, 2006 (4 days prior to trial) at 10:00 a.m., the Court shall hold a final pretrial

conference to address any outstanding trial issues.

M. Trial Date:

1. The trial shall commence [with jury selection taking place] on November 13, 2006 (Trial

schedule: Monday through Thursday, at 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.). The trial shall last 8 days. 

2. For any documents, including the deposition of a witness testifying at trial, which will be

shown presented to a witness but will not be admitted into evidence, counsel shall bring the

original plus three clean copies of the documents. The original document will be handed to

the Court during testimony, and the clean copies of the document will be given to the witness

during the examination and to opposing counsel. 

3. Counsel shall maintain their own exhibits during trial. Exhibits are to be premarked with

exhibit tags stapled to the upper lefthand corner. If a photo or chart is being used as an

exhibit, the exhibit tag should be placed on the back side of the exhibit. The Court will only

admit premarked exhibits which were listed on the earlier filed exhibit list.

Plaintiff shall mark the exhibits numerically; Defendant shall mark the exhibits

alphabetically. The exhibit markers shall each contain the name and number of the case, the

number or alphabetical letter of the exhibit, and blank spaces to accommodate the date

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admitted and the Deputy Clerk’s initials. 

4. On the day of trial, counsel shall bring the original premarked exhibits, a copy of the

premarked exhibits for opposing counsel and two binders which contain a copy of each side’s

premarked exhibits for the Court. The premarked exhibit binders are to be designated

with label dividers. The premarked exhibit binders will be given to the Courtroom Deputy

on the morning of the trial.

N. Jury Selection:

1. The Jury Commissioner will summon 20 to 25 prospective jurors. The Courtroom Deputy

will select their names at random and seat them in the courtroom in the order in which their

names are called.

Voir dire will be asked of sufficient venire persons that eight (or more for a lengthy

trial) will remain after all peremptory challenges and an anticipated number of hardship

dismissals and cause challenges have been made. 

The Court will then take cause challenges, and discuss hardship claims from the

individual jurors, at side bar. The Court will inform the attorneys which hardship claims and

cause challenges will be granted, but will not announce those dismissals until the process is

completed. Each attorney may then list in writing up to three peremptory challenges. The

attorneys will review each other’s lists and then submit them to the clerk.

Then, from the list of jurors in numerical order, the Court will strike the persons with

meritorious hardships, those excused for cause, and those challenged peremptorily. The

Court will then call the first eight people in numerical sequence remaining. These people

will be the jury. All jurors remaining at the close of the case will deliberate. There are no

alternates.

O. Sanctions:

Failure to comply with this Order is cause for sanctions under Federal Rule of Civil

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Procedure 16(f).

P. Transcripts:

Counsel who wants to receive a daily transcript shall contact Robert Stuart,

Supervisor Court Reporting Services, at (415) 522-2079, at least ten days in advance of the

trial date.

If any video or tape recording equipment or demonstrative devices will be used, a

signed order will need to be obtained at least ten days in advance of the trial date for the

items to clear security.

Q. Questions:

All questions regarding these instructions should be directed to Brenda Tolbert,

Courtroom Deputy Clerk to Judge James, at (415) 522-4708.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: 

MARIA-ELENA JAMES

United States Magistrate Judge

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