IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS

FORT WORTH DIVISION

MAISHA SYKES, §

 §

Plaintiff, §

 §

v. § Civil Action No. 4:22-cv-00794-O-BP

 § 

AMERICAN AIRLINES, §

 §

Defendant. §

SCHEDULING ORDER

I. SUMMARY OF CRITICAL DATES

Initial Disclosures under Fed. R. Civ. P. 

26(a)(1) (¶ 1)

January 4, 2023

Motions for Leave to Join Parties (¶ 2a) February 6, 2023

Motions for Leave to Amend Pleadings 

(¶ 2b)

May 8, 2023

Initial Expert Designation & Report (¶ 3a) May 19, 2023

Responsive Expert Designation & Report 

(¶ 3b) July 19, 2023

Expert Objections (¶ 3c) August 21, 2023

Dispositive Motions (¶ 4) November 2, 2023

Mediation (¶ 5) June 21, 2023

Completion of Discovery (¶ 6) September 21, 2023

II. SCHEDULING INSTRUCTIONS 

Under Rule 16(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the local rules of this Court 

(except as modified by this Order), the Court, having considered the status reports submitted by 

the parties, if any, finds that the following schedule should govern the disposition of this case:

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Unless otherwise specified in this Order, 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, if any. 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. Initial Disclosures: By January 4, 2023, the parties shall serve all disclosures 

required by Rule 26(a)(1), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. (Unless otherwise 

noted, all references to Rules in this Order shall refer to the Federal Rules of Civil 

Procedure). As provided by the Rule, these disclosures shall not be filed with the 

Clerk of the Court.

2. a. Joinder of Parties: By February 6, 2023, all motions requesting leave to join

additional parties shall be filed.

b. Amendment of Pleadings: By May 8, 2023, all motions for leave to amend 

pleadings shall be filed.

3. 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) on or before May 19, 2023. 

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 July 19, 2023.

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

motions to strike or exclude expert testimony (including Daubert motions), on or 

before August 21, 2023. No challenges to experts shall be filed prior to July 20, 

2023 without obtaining leave of court.

4. Dispositive Motions: By November 2, 2023, all motions that would dispose of all 

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

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5. Mediation Deadline: The parties shall jointly select a mediator and mediate on or 

before June 21, 2023. 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 and by any unrepresented 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 September 21, 2023, 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.

7. Trial Date and Remaining Pretrial Schedule: This case was referred to the 

undersigned United States Magistrate Judge for pretrial management. The United 

States District Judge will set the trial date and the dates for the remaining pretrial 

schedule in a subsequent order. 

8. 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. 

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 

WordPerfect-compatible format as instructed in the CM/ECF system’s “Proposed 

Orders” Event. The proposed orders must be e-mailed to: ray_orders@txnd. 

uscourts.gov. Include the case number and the document number of the referenced 

motion in the subject line.

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

of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation. Particularly, counsel and any 

unrepresented party are directed to provide, where applicable, the subsections of 

cited statutes, and to provide pinpoint citations when citing cases.

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

adhere to the Local Civil Rules of the Northern District of Texas, available 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), available at http:// 

www.txnd.uscourts.gov/publications/index.html.

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11. 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.

It is so ORDERED on December 29, 2022.

______________________________________

Hal R. Ray, Jr.

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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