IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR

THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF ALABAMA

NORTHERN DIVISION

LAKITA JORDAN, )

)

Plaintiff, )

v. ) CASE NO. 2:06-cv-712-MEF

)

HOME DEPOT U.S.A., INC., )

)

Defendant. )

UNIFORM SCHEDULING ORDER

The court has adopted a new scheduling order in light of the amendments to the

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure which became effective on December 1, 2000. 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 each and every

provision of this order in a timely manner, and extensions will be granted in only

extraordinary unforeseeable circumstances. The parties are also 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/.

NOTE: Section 9 is NEW.

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

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

this Court as follows:

 SECTION 1. A pretrial conference is set in this case for October 1, 2007, in the

Chambers of United States District Judge Mark E. Fuller, United States Courthouse, One

Church Street, A-300, Montgomery, Alabama, and the trial of this case is set during the term

of court commencing on November 5, 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 July 3, 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.

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SECTION 3. On or before July 24, 2007, counsel for all parties shall conduct a

face-to-face settlement 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 (5) 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 amend the pleadings and to add parties shall be filed

on or before December 18, 2006.

SECTION 5. Any motion for class certification shall be filed on or before January

2 2007. A brief discussing the factors enumerated in Rule 23(a), (b) and (g) of the Federal

Rules of Civil Procedure shall be filed with any such motion.

SECTION 6. The failure to file a response to any motion -- either dispositive or nondispositive -- within the time allowed by the court shall indicate that there is no opposition

to the motion.

SECTION 7. All discovery shall be completed on or before September 17, 2007,

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

SECTION 10, the opposing party shall have the time extended in this paragraph to allow for

deposing such witnesses.

SECTION 8. The parties shall disclose to each other the identity of ANY person who

may be used at trial to present evidence under Rules 701, 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, as follows:

From the plaintiff(s) – July 3, 2007.

From the defendant(s) – August 3, 2007.

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

disclosure of expert testimony.

SECTION 9. General Provisions:

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(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

meet this requirement will be denied outright, unless the 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 e:mail message sent to propord_fuller@almd.uscourts.gov. For these purposes, the

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

format.

SECTION 10. On or before September 26, 2007, 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, except witnesses solely for impeachment

purposes, 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 Section 8. 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 11. On or before September 26, 2007, 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

ONE WEEK 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 15 days prior to 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. 

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SECTION 12. On or before September 26, 2007, 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 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 15 days prior to the trial date,

the evidence shall be deemed genuine and admissible in evidence. The written objections

shall set forth the grounds and legal authorities. All trial exhibits must be premarked prior

to trial.

SECTION 13. Except to the extent of any conflict with deadlines set out above, the

Discovery Plan contained in the Report of Parties' Planning Meeting, filed on September

28, 2006, is adopted and incorporated herein.

SECTION 14: If a jury trial: The parties shall file any requested voir dire questions,

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

of law thereon, ON OR BEFORE 15 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

ques t i onnai r e i s avai l abl e o n t he cour t ' s w ebs i t e at

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

SECTION 15. In cases involving jury trials, the term TRIAL DATE as used in the

foregoing deadlines shall mean the date set for jury selection.

SECTION 16. If any party has an objection to these deadlines, the party should

inform the Court within 14 days from the date of this Order; otherwise, the Court will assume

that the deadlines are agreeable to all parties. Unless this Order be modified by subsequent

Order of the Court, the provisions hereinabove set out are binding on the parties.

DONE this the 2nd day of October, 2006.

 /s/ Mark E. Fuller 

CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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