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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS

FORT WORTH DIVISION

MITCHELL RYAN §

§

 Plaintiff, §

§

v. § Civil Action No. 4:21-CV-01075-P

§

GRAPEVINE-COLLEYVILLE 

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, 

ET AL.,

§

§

§

§

 Defendants. §

SCHEDULING ORDER

I. SUMMARY OF CRITICAL DATES

Deadline for Motions for Leave to Join 

Parties or Amend Pleadings (¶ 2)

February 14, 2022

Initial Expert Designation & Report (¶ 4 a.) August 5, 2022

Responsive Expert Designation & Report (¶ 

4 b.)

September 6, 2022 

Rebuttal Expert Designation (¶ 4 c.) 30 days after disclosure made by other party

Expert Objections (¶ 4 d.) February 27, 2023

Dispositive Motions (¶ 3) December 5, 2022

Mediation (¶ 5) October 5, 2022 

Completion of Discovery (¶ 6) November 4, 2022

Pretrial Disclosures and Objections (¶ 7) February 22, 2023

Objections due 14 days thereafter

Pretrial Materials (pretrial order etc.)(¶ 8) March 9, 2023

Exchange of Exhibits (¶ 9) March 20, 2023

Pretrial Conference (¶ 11) To be set if necessary.

Trial Date (¶ 1) April 3, 2023

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II. SCHEDULING INSTRUCTIONS 

Pursuant to Rule 16(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the local rules of this 

Court (except as modified herein), the Court, having considered the status report submitted by the 

parties (ECF No. 43), finds that the following schedule should govern the disposition of this case:

Unless otherwise ordered or specified herein, all limitations and requirements of the 

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the local rules of this Court must be observed. 

Please note that the Court has attempted to adhere to the schedule requested by the 

parties. In so doing, the Court assumes that the parties thoroughly discussed scheduling 

issues prior to submitting their status report and that the parties understand that the 

deadlines imposed in this Order are firmly in place, absent the few exceptions set forth below.

1. Trial Date: This case is set for trial on this Court’s four-week docket beginning 

April 3, 2023. Counsel and the parties shall be ready for trial on two days’ notice 

at any time during this four-week period.

2. Joinder of Parties or Amendment of Pleadings: By February 14, 2022, all 

motions requesting joinder of additional parties or amendments of pleadings shall 

be filed. 

3. Dispositive Motions: By December 5, 2022, all motions that would dispose of all 

or any part of this case (including motions for summary judgment) shall be filed. 

4. Experts:

a. Initial Designation of Expert(s): Unless otherwise stipulated or directed by 

order, the party with the burden of proof on the issue subject to the expert 

designation shall file a written designation of the name and address of each expert 

witness who will testify at trial for that party and shall otherwise comply with Rule 

26(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure on or before August 5, 2022. 

(Unless otherwise noted, all references to Rules in this Order shall refer to the 

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.)

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b. Responsive Designation of Expert(s): Each party without the burden of proof 

on the issue subject to expert designation shall file a written designation of the name 

and address of each expert witness who will testify at trial for that party and shall 

otherwise comply with Rule 26(a)(2) on or before September 6, 2022.

c. Rebuttal Expert(s): If the evidence is intended solely to contradict or rebut 

evidence on the same subject matter identified by another party under Rule 

26(a)(2)(B), the disclosures required under Rule 26(a)(2) shall be made within 30 

days after the disclosure made by the other party.

d. Challenges to Experts: The parties are directed to file any objections to, or 

motions to strike or exclude expert testimony (including Daubert motions), no later 

than February 27, 2023. 

5. Mediation: In accordance with the Court’s Civil Justice Expense and Delay 

Reduction Plan, the Court hereby REFERS this case to mediation and APPOINTS

Mr. David Seidler (Mediator) as the mediator in this case. A party opposing either 

mediation referral or the appointed provider should file a written objection within 

10 days of the date of this Order. The parties shall mediate with Mr. Seidler on or 

before October 5, 2022. Within seven days after the mediation, the parties shall 

jointly prepare and file a written report, which shall be signed by counsel for 

each party, detailing the date on which the mediation was held, the persons present 

(including the capacity of any representative), and a statement informing the Court 

of the effect of their mediation and whether this case has been settled by agreement 

of the parties.

6. Completion of Discovery: By November 4, 2022, all discovery—including 

discovery concerning expert witnesses—shall be completed. The parties may agree 

to extend this discovery deadline, provided (a) the extension does not affect the 

trial setting, dispositive motions deadline, challenges to experts deadline, or pretrial 

submission dates; and (b) written notice of the extension is given to the Court.

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7. Pretrial Disclosures and Objections: Unless otherwise directed by order, the 

parties must make the disclosures required by Rule 26(a)(3)(A)-(B) by February 

22, 2023. With respect to the identification of witnesses who will be called by 

deposition, the parties must also identify the portions of the deposition transcript 

that they intend to use. (Modification of Rule 26(a)(3)(A)(ii)). Within 14 days 

thereafter, a party must serve and file a list disclosing any objections, together 

with the grounds therefor, to: (a) the use under Rule 32(a) of a deposition designated 

by another party under Rule 26(a)(3)(A)(ii); (b) the admissibility of materials 

identified under Rule 26(a)(3)(A)(iii); and (c) the use of any witnesses (except for 

expert objections) identified under Rule 26(a)(3)(A)(i)1, if any. Objections not so 

disclosed, other than objections under Rules 402 and 403 of the Federal Rules of 

Evidence, are waived unless excused by the Court for good cause.

8. Pretrial Materials: By March 9, 2023 except as otherwise noted below, all 

pretrial materials shall be filed. Specifically, by this date:

a. Pretrial Order: A joint pretrial order shall be submitted by the Plaintiff's 

attorney which covers each of the matters listed in Local Rule 16.4 and which states 

the estimated length of trial. If an attorney for either party does not participate in 

the preparation of the joint pretrial order, the opposing attorney shall submit a 

separate pretrial order with an explanation of why a joint order was not submitted 

(so that the Court can impose sanctions, if appropriate). Each party may present its 

version of any disputed matter in the joint pretrial order; therefore, failure to agree 

upon content or language is not an excuse for submitting separate pretrial 

orders. (Modification of Local Rule 16.4). When the joint pretrial order is 

approved by the Court, it will control all subsequent proceedings in this case. If 

submitted on paper, the parties must submit the original and one copy of the 

proposed pretrial order (styled as the “Pretrial Order”) directly to the Court’s 

chambers. Do not file it with the clerk. The Court will direct the clerk to file it 

after the Court signs it. The proposed pretrial order must be transmitted to the 

1 Requiring parties to file objections to witnesses disclosed under Rule 26(a)(3)(A)(i) is a 

modification of the requirements of Rule 26(a)(3)(B), which only requires that the parties file objections to 

deposition designations (Rule 26(a)(3)(A)(ii)) and exhibits (Rule 26(a)(3)(A)(iii)).

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electronic address used for receipt of proposed orders 

(pittman_orders@txnd.uscourts.gov) no later than March 10, 2023.

b. Witness List: A list of witnesses shall be filed by each party, which divides 

the persons listed into groups of “probable witnesses,” “possible witnesses,” 

“experts,” and “record custodians” and which provides:

(i) the name and address of each witness;

(ii) a brief narrative summary of the testimony to be covered by each 

witness;

(iii) whether the witness has been deposed; and

(iv) the expected duration of direct or cross-examination of the witness.2

The Witness list will include three columns. The first column will contain 

a brief statement of the subject matter to be covered by a particular witness. 

The second column will bear the heading “Sworn” and the third column will 

bear the heading “Testified” so that the Court can keep track of the 

witnesses at trial. 

If any witness needs an interpreter, please note this on the witness list. It is 

the obligation of the party offering such a witness to arrange for an 

interpreter to be present at trial.

(Modification of Local Rule 26.2(b))

c. Exhibit List and Deposition Testimony Designations: A list of exhibits

(including demonstrative exhibits) and a designation of portions of depositions

to be offered at trial shall be filed by each party. The list of exhibits shall describe 

with specificity the documents or things in numbered sequence. The documents or 

things to be offered as exhibits shall be numbered by attachment of gummed labels 

to correspond with the sequence on the exhibit list and identify the party submitting 

the exhibit. (Modification of Local Rule 26.2(b), (c)). Do not use letter suffixes to 

identify exhibits (e.g., designate them as 1, 2, 3, not as 1A, 1B, 1C). The Exhibit 

list will include two columns, one bearing the heading “Offered” and the other 

bearing the heading “Admitted.”

2 Pursuant to Rule 16(c)(2)(O) and Section VII of the United States District Court for the Northern 

District of Texas Civil Justice Expense and Delay Reduction Plan, the Court may impose a reasonable limit 

on the time allowed for presenting evidence in this case. See Commentary - 1993 Amendment to the 

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (court should ordinarily impose time limits only after receiving 

appropriate submissions from the parties).

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Each party’s exhibit list shall be accompanied by a written statement, signed by 

counsel for each party and state that, as to each exhibit shown on the list, 

(i) the parties agree to the admissibility of the exhibit; or

(ii) the admissibility of the exhibit is objected to, identifying the nature and 

legal basis of any objection to admissibility and the name(s) of the party or

parties urging the objection.

All parties shall cooperate in causing such statements to be prepared in a timely 

manner for filing with the exhibit lists. Counsel for the party proposing to offer an 

exhibit shall be responsible for coordinating activities related to preparation of such 

a statement as to the exhibit the party proposes to offer. This includes an obligation 

to make exhibits available for inspection in advance of the deadline for filing 

exhibit lists where a party needs to see exhibits to assess admissibility. The Court 

may exclude any exhibit offered at trial unless such a statement regarding the 

exhibit has been filed in a timely manner. In addition, objections not identified in 

the statement may be waived.

A list of each party’s exhibits to which no objection will be lodged (preadmitted) 

must be submitted at the pretrial conference.

3

 The Court expects the parties to 

confer and agree to admit the majority of their exhibits prior to trial.

d. Jury Charge: Requested jury instructions and questions (annotated)4 shall 

be filed as set forth below. In order to minimize time after commencement of the 

trial in resolving differences in the language to be included in the Court’s charge to 

the jury:

(i) Counsel for the Plaintiff shall deliver to counsel for Defendant by 

February 27, 2023 a copy of its proposed Court’s charge to the jury.

(ii) Counsel for Defendant shall deliver to counsel for the Plaintiff by 

March 1, 2023 (A) a statement, prepared with specificity, of any 

objection his client had to any part of the proposed charge that 

counsel for Plaintiff has delivered pursuant to this paragraph and (B) 

the text of all additional instructions or questions his client wishes 

to have included in the Court’s charge to the jury. Each objection 

3 This does not change the sequential manner in which each side should number its exhibits. In 

other words, a party should not separately number its exhibits into “objected to” and “unobjected to” 

categories. 4 “Annotated” means that each proposed instruction shall be accompanied by citation to statutory 

or case authority and/or pattern instructions. It is not sufficient to submit a proposed instruction without 

citation to supporting authority.

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and each such request shall be accompanied by citations of 

authorities supporting defendant’s objection or request.

(iii) At 10:00 a.m. on March 3, 2023, the lead attorneys for the parties 

to this action shall meet face-to-face at either (A) a mutually 

agreeable place, or (B) at the office of counsel for the Plaintiff 

located in Ft. Worth, Texas or within 50 miles of the Ft. Worth

Division of the Northern District of Texas, for the purposes of (1) 

discussing, and trying to resolve, differences between the parties as 

to language to be included in the Court’s charge to the jury and (2) 

identifying areas of disagreement that cannot be resolved. Such 

meeting shall be held for a sufficient length of time for there to be a 

meaningful discussion of all areas of disagreement and a meaningful 

attempt to accomplish agreement. Each attorney shall cooperate 

fully in all matters related to such a meeting.

(iv) By 2:00 p.m. on March 6, 2023 counsel for Plaintiff shall file a 

document titled “Agreed Charge” which in a single document shall 

contain, in logical sequence, all language to be included in the 

charge, including jury instructions and jury questions, about which 

the parties do not have disagreement and all language either party 

wishes to have included in the charge about which there is 

disagreement. All language of the proposed charge about which 

there is disagreement shall be (A) in bold face, (B) preceded by an 

indication of the identity of the party requesting the language, and 

(C) followed by a listing of citations of authorities in favor of and in 

opposition to the proposed language. Objections may be waived if 

not stated in the Agreed Charge. 

Plaintiff must also send, in a WordPerfect-compatible format, the Agreed Charge 

to: pittman_orders@txnd.uscourts.gov and include the case number and the 

document number of the referenced motion in the subject line.

e. Limited Number of Motions in Limine: Motions in limine should not be filed 

as a matter of course. If filed, counsel must file them with the Court and serve them 

on the opposing party by March 6, 2023. Responses must be filed with the Court 

and served on the opposing party by March 20, 2023. Replies to responses are not 

permitted except by leave of Court. Parties may file motions in limine on no more 

than TEN discrete topics (no subparts) that are actually in dispute. (good faith 

compliance with the conference requirements of Local Rule 7.1 will help to narrow 

issues that are actually in dispute). Motions in limine that contain boilerplate 

requests, that exceed ten topics or that cover undisputed issues will be stricken. 

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f. Voir Dire: The parties shall file any proposed voir dire questions which the 

Court is requested to ask during its examination of the jury panel by March 13, 

2023.

g. Trial Briefs: Trial briefs may be filed by each party. In the absence of a specific 

order of the Court, trial briefs are not required, but are welcomed. The briefing 

should utilize Fifth Circuit and/or Supreme Court authority or relevant state 

authority to address the issues the parties anticipate will arise at trial.

NOTE: Deadlines in this order regarding pretrial materials are dates for filing or 

delivery, not mailing dates.

9. Exchange of Exhibits: No later than March 20, 2023, counsel for each party 

intending to offer exhibits shall exchange a complete set of marked exhibits 

(including demonstrative exhibits) with opposing counsel and shall deliver a set 

of marked exhibits to the Court’s chambers (except for large or voluminous 

items that cannot be easily reproduced). 

10. Settlement Conference and Status Report: 

a. Settlement Conference: No later than March 20, 2023, the parties and their 

respective lead counsel shall hold a face-to-face meeting to discuss settlement of 

this case. Individual parties and their counsel shall participate in person, not by 

telephone or other remote means. All other parties shall participate by a 

representative or representatives, in addition to counsel, who shall have unlimited 

settlement authority and who shall participate in person, not by telephone or other 

remote means. If a party has liability insurance coverage as to any claim made 

against that party in this case, a representative of each insurance company providing 

such coverage, who shall have full authority to offer policy limits in settlement, 

shall be present at, and participate in, the meeting in person, not by telephone or 

other remote means. At this meeting, the parties shall comply with the requirements 

of Local Rule 16.3. 

b. Joint Settlement Report: Within seven days after the settlement conference, 

the parties shall jointly prepare and file a written report, which shall be signed 

by counsel for each party, detailing the date on which the meeting was held, the 

persons present (including the capacity of any representative), a statement 

regarding whether meaningful progress toward settlement was made, and a 

statement regarding the prospects of settlement.

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11. Pretrial Conference: A pretrial conference will be conducted, in person, if the 

Court determines such a conference is necessary. If the Court anticipates imposing 

time limits on the presentation of evidence that significantly reduces the parties’ 

estimated trial length, the Court will schedule a pretrial conference and advise of 

such deadlines so that counsel will have reasonable notice of such limits. Lead 

counsel for each party must attend, or, if the party is proceeding pro se, the party 

must attend. Fed. R. Civ. P. 16 (c)(1) & (e). Lead counsel and pro se parties must 

have the authority to enter into stipulations and admissions that would facilitate the 

admission of evidence and reduce the time and expense of trial. Id. All pretrial 

motions not previously decided will be resolved at that time, and procedures for 

trial will be discussed. At the final pretrial conference, it should be possible to 

assign the specific date for trial during the four-week docket. Telephone calls 

about the probable trial date prior to the final pretrial conference will not 

likely be beneficial to counsel or the Court staff.

12. Modification of Scheduling Order: As addressed above, this Order shall control 

the disposition of this case unless it is modified by the Court upon a showing of 

good cause and by leave of court. Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b)(4). Conclusory statements 

will usually not suffice to show good cause, even if the motion is agreed or 

unopposed. Moreover, the Court does not grant motions to modify the scheduling 

order as a matter of course. Any request that the trial date of this case be modified 

must be made (a) in writing to the Court, (b) before the deadline for completion 

of discovery, and (c) in accordance with the United States District Court for the 

Northern District of Texas Civil Justice Expense and Delay Reduction Plan ¶ 

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V and Local Rule 40.1 (motions for continuance must be signed by the party as 

well as by the attorney of record).

13. Sanctions: Should any party or counsel fail to cooperate in doing anything 

required by this Order, such party or counsel or both may be subject to sanctions. 

No pending dispositive motion or other request for affirmative relief (unless 

otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted by applicable law) relieves a 

party or counsel of their obligation to comply with the deadlines and 

instructions required by this Order. If the plaintiff does not timely file the 

required (or other) pretrial material, the case will be dismissed. If the 

defendant/third party does not timely file the required (or other) pretrial material, a 

default will be entered or the defendant/third party will not be permitted to present 

witnesses or exhibits at trial. Fines or other sanctions, if appropriate, may also be 

imposed under Rule 16(f). Failure to list a witness, exhibit, or deposition 

excerpt as required by this Order shall be grounds for exclusion of that evidence. 

This does not apply to testimony, exhibits, or deposition excerpts offered for 

impeachment; further, the use of unlisted witnesses, exhibits, or deposition excerpts 

for rebuttal shall be permitted if the attorneys could not have reasonably anticipated 

their need for that evidence.

14. Electronic Filing Procedures: This case has been designated for enrollment in 

the Electronic Case Filing System (CM/ECF). (For more information on the ECF 

system, please see http://www.txnd.uscourts.gov/filing/ecf.html). Now that the 

case is designated an ECF case, all documents must be filed electronically; 

however, the Court still requires that courtesy copies of dispositive motions (and 

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accompanying briefs and appendices) be sent to Chambers. Proposed orders are 

required to be submitted with EVERY motion. (Modification to Local Rule 

7.1(c)). Proposed orders must be submitted via e-mail in a Word or WordPerfectcompatible format as instructed in the CM/ECF system’s “Proposed Orders” Event. 

The proposed orders must be e-mailed to: pittman_orders@txnd.uscourts.gov. 

Include the case number and the document number of the referenced motion in the 

subject line.

15. Citations: All briefs filed with the Court shall comply with the most recent edition 

of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation. Particularly, counsel are directed 

to provide, where applicable, the subsections of cited statutes, and to provide 

pinpoint citations when citing cases, i.e., provide the page where the stated legal 

proposition can be found. See Bluebook Rules 3.2-3.4 (Columbia Law Review 

Ass’n et al. eds, 20th ed. 2015) (regarding pinpoint citations and subsections). 

Furthermore, if a brief contains citations to unpublished opinions or to LEXIS, 

counsel must attach copies of those cases to the brief.

16. Notice: Each attorney of record and any unrepresented party must review and 

adhere to the Local Civil Rules of the Northern District of Texas, which may be 

accessed at http://www.txnd.uscourts.gov/rules/localrules/lr_civil.html. 

Additionally, each attorney of record and any unrepresented party must review and 

abide by the standards of litigation conduct for attorneys appearing in civil actions 

in the Northern District of Texas, as outlined in Dondi Properties Corp. v. 

Commerce Savings & Loan, 121 F.R.D. 284 (N.D. Tex. 1988) (en banc), which 

may be accessed at http://www.txnd.uscourts.gov/publications/index.html.

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17. Inquiries: Questions relating to this scheduling order or legal matters should be 

presented in a motion, as appropriate. Questions regarding electronic notice or 

electronic case files shall be directed to the Help Desk at 1-866-243-2866. If any 

electronic equipment is needed in the courtroom, notify Brian Rebecek, Fort Worth 

Division Manager, at 817-850-6613.

SO ORDERED on this 15th day of December, 2021.

Mark T. Pittman

UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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