IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF ALABAMA

NORTHERN DIVISION

ELRICK HARRIS, )

 )

Plaintiff, )

 ) CIVIL ACTION NO. 2:06cv630-ID

v. )

 )

OPTION ONE MORTGAGE CORP., )

et al., )

 )

Defendants. )

UNIFORM SCHEDULING ORDER

 PLEASE READ THIS ORDER CAREFULLY. 

These deadlines and responsibilities may not be changed without leave of the

court. All parties are expected to comply with this order in a timely manner, without

unnecessary requests for extensions of time. The parties also are expected to comply

with the Middle District's Local Rules and the Middle District's Guidelines to Civil

Discovery Practice, both of which can be found at http://www.almd.uscourts.gov/. 

Under Rule 16, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, as amended, the Court is required

to set a schedule for the discovery and the filing of motions. Accordingly, it is ORDERED

by this Court as follows:

SECTION 1. A pretrial hearing of this case is scheduled for the 15th day of June,

2007, in Montgomery, Alabama, and this cause is set for trial during the term of court

commencing on the 23rd day of July, 2007, in Montgomery, Alabama. 

 

SECTION 2. Any dispositive motions, i.e., motions to dismiss or motions for

summary judgment, shall be filed no later than March 5, 2007. A brief and all supporting

evidence shall be filed with any such motion. In all briefs filed by any party relating to the

motion, the discussion of the evidence in the brief must be accompanied by a specific

reference, by page and line, to where the evidence can be found in a supporting deposition

or document. Failure to make such specific reference will result in the evidence not being

considered by the court.

SECTION 3. On or before TWENTY-ONE DAYS after the deadline for the filing

of dispositive motions, counsel for all parties shall conduct a face-to-face settlement

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conference at which counsel shall engage in good faith settlement negotiations. If settlement

cannot be reached, counsel shall also discuss whether mediation will assist the parties in

reaching settlement. Not more than FIVE DAYS after this conference, counsel for the

plaintiff shall file a pleading titled "Notice Concerning Settlement Conference and

Mediation." This pleading shall indicate whether settlement was reached and, if not, whether

the parties believe mediation will assist them in resolving this case short of trial.

SECTION 4. Any motions to add parties and to amend the pleadings shall be filed

no later than November 15, 2006, for Plaintiff(s), and no later than December 15, 2006, for

Defendant(s). 

SECTION 5. The failure to file a response to any motion -- either dispositive or

non-dispositive -- within the time allowed by the court shall indicate that there is no

opposition to the motion.

SECTION 6. All discovery shall be completed on or before May 31, 2007, except

that, as to any witnesses whose names are not revealed until the last day allowed under

SECTION 9 or whose names are not revealed with sufficient time for the other parties to take

a deposition prior to the pretrial conference, the opposing party shall have the time extended

in this paragraph to allow for deposing such witness.

SECTION 7. The parties shall disclose to each other the identity of ANY person

who may be used at trial to present evidence under Rules 702, 703, or 705 of the Federal

Rules of Evidence, and provide the reports of retained experts or witnesses whose duties as

an employee of the party regularly involved giving expert testimony, required by Rule

26(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The disclosure deadline is March 6, 2007,

for Plaintiff(s), and April 4, 2007, for Defendant(s).

The parties shall comply fully with all requirements of Rule 26(a)(2) in regard to

disclosure of expert testimony.

SECTION 8. GENERAL PROVISIONS: 

(A) All briefs on any matter before the court must be formal in format and filed with

the court. The court does not accept “letter briefs” or “letter reports.”

(B) A request or motion for extension of a deadline in any court order (i) must be in

writing; (ii) must indicate that movant has, in a timely manner, previously contacted counsel

for all other parties; and (iii), based on that contact, must state whether counsel for all other

parties agree to or oppose the extension request or motion. A request or motion that fails to

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meet thisrequirement will be denied outright, unlessthe movant offers a credible explanation

in the request or motion why this requirement has not been met. Absent stated unforeseen

and unavoidable circumstances beyond the control of the movant, oral extension requests and

motions are not allowed, and “eleventh hour” extension requests and motions will be denied

outright.

(C) Any proposed order that a party desires the court to enter should be submitted to

the court in both (a) an Adobe Acrobat PDF format attachment to the motion and (b) by

transmitting an electronic copy of the proposed pretrial order to the court as an attachment

to an email message sent to <propord_dement@almd.uscourts.gov>. For these purposes, the

electronic copy should be in WordPerfect or Word format and not in Adobe Acrobat PDF

format.

SECTION 9. No later than THIRTY DAYS PRIOR TO THE TRIAL DATE,

each party shall, pursuant to the provisions of Rule 26(a)(3) of the Federal Rules of Civil

Procedure, exchange the names, addresses and telephone numbers of all witnesses, separately

identifying those whom the party expects to present and those whom the party may call if

the need arises. The witness list should include the names of any witnesses required to be

disclosed under Paragraph 7. Unless specifically agreed between the parties or allowed by

the Court for good cause shown, the parties shall be precluded from calling any witness not

so identified.

SECTION 10. On or before TWENTY-ONE DAYS PRIOR TO THE TRIAL

DATE, the parties shall, pursuant to the provisions of Rule 26(a)(3) of the Federal Rules of

Civil Procedure, identify any part of a deposition or other document that a party expects to

use at trial. Adverse parties shall within SEVEN DAYS THEREAFTER identify any

responsive parts of depositions expected to be used, and a party shall within THREE DAYS

of the designation of such responsive parts designate any part which is desired as a rebuttal

thereto. Unless specifically agreed between the parties or allowed by the Court for good

cause shown, the parties shall be precluded from using any part of a deposition or other

document not so listed, with the exception of parts of depositions or documents to be used

solely for the purpose of impeachment. Except to the extent written objections are served

and filed within ELEVEN DAYS of the trial date, each party shall be deemed to have agreed

that one of the conditions for admissibility under Rule 32 of the Federal Rules of Civil

Procedure is satisfied with respect to any such deposition and that there is no objection to

the testimony so designated.

SECTION 11. On or before THIRTY DAYS PRIOR TO THE TRIAL DATE,

the parties shall, pursuant to the provisions of Rule 26(a)(3) of the Federal Rules of Civil

Procedure, furnish opposing counsel for copying and inspection all exhibits or tangible

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evidence to be used at the trial, and proffering counsel shall have such evidence marked for

identification prior to trial. Unless specifically agreed between the parties or allowed by the

Court for good cause shown, the parties shall be precluded from offering such evidence not

so furnished and identified, with the exception of evidence to be used solely for the purpose

of impeachment. Except to the extent written objections are served and filed no later than

TWENTY-ONE DAYS PRIOR TO THE SCHEDULED TRIAL DATE, the evidence

shall be deemed genuine and admissible in evidence. The written notice shall set forth the

grounds and legal authorities. All trial exhibits must be premarked prior to trial.

SECTION 12: Except to the extent of any conflict with the deadlines set out above,

the Discovery Plan contained in the Report of Parties' Planning Meeting (Doc. No. 8) is

adopted and incorporated herein.

SECTION 13. If a jury trial: The parties shall file any requested voir dire

questions, motions in limine fully briefed, and proposed jury instructions, together with

citations of law thereon, ON OR BEFORE TWENTY-ONE DAYS PRIOR TO THE

TRIAL DATE UNLESS SAID TIME IS SHORTENED BY THE COURT ON

MOTION OF EITHER PARTY. Trial counsel are DIRECTED to review the jury

questionnaire used in this court and to avoid any duplication of matters addressed therein in

their voir dire questions. The jury questionnaire is available on the court's website at

http://www.almd.uscourts. gov/juryinfo.htm.

SECTION 14. In cases involving jury trials, the term TRIAL DATE as used in the

foregoing deadlines shall mean the date set for jury selection.

SECTION 15. If any party has an objection to these deadlines, the party should

inform the Court within FOURTEEN DAYS from the date of this Order; otherwise, the

Court will assume that the deadlines are agreeable to all parties. Unless this Order is

modified by subsequent Order of the Court, the provisions hereinabove set out are binding

on the parties.

DONE this 21st day of September, 2006.

 /s/ Ira DeMent 

SENIOR UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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