IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE

MIDDLE DISTRICT OF ALABAMA, EASTERN DIVISION

CINCINNATI INSURANCE )

COMPANY, )

)

Plaintiff, )

) CIVIL ACTION NO.

v. ) 3:06cv733-MHT

) 

JOSEPH DONALD PRATHER )

and LINDA PRATHER, )

)

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 each

and every provision of this order in a timely manner, and

extensions will be granted in only extraordinary and

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 THAT 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:

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SECTION 1. A pretrial hearing of this case is

scheduled for the 19th day of November, 2007, and this

cause is set for trial during the term of court

commencing on the 7th day of January, 2008.

SECTION 2. Any dispositive motions, i.e., motions to

dismiss or motions for summary judgment, shall be filed

no later than NINETY (90) DAYS prior to the pretrial

hearing. 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 (21) DAYS after

the deadline for the filing of dispositive motions,

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 less

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. Information

about mediation is attached to this order.

SECTION 4. Any motions to amend the pleadings and to

add parties shall be filed on or before March 15, 2007.

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SECTION 5. Any motion for class certification shall

be filed on or before March 15, 2007. A brief discussing

the factors enumerated in Rule 23(a) and (b) 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 non-dispositive--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 14, 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 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)--on or before June 1, 2007.

From the defendant(s)--on or before July 2, 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 email

message sent to <propord_thompson@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. FORTY (40) DAYS BEFORE TRIAL, 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 Paragraph 8. Unless

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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. FORTY (40) DAYS BEFORE TRIAL, 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 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 not so

listed, with the exception of parts of depositions to be

used solely for the purpose of impeachment. Except to

the extent written objections are served and filed

FIFTEEN (15) DAYS BEFORE TRIAL, 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 12. FORTY (40) DAYS BEFORE TRIAL, 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

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objections are served and filed FIFTEEN (15) DAYS BEFORE

TRIAL, 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 pre-marked 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 October 18, 2006 (Doc. No. 14), 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 TWO

WEEKS 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.7

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 19th day of October, 2006.

 /s/ Myron H. Thompson 

UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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