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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 

Brandy Williams, 

Plaintiff, 

v. 

G & K Services Incorporated, et al., 

Defendants.

No. CV-15-01744-PHX-DJH

RULE 16 SCHEDULING ORDER 

 On December 9, 2015, the parties filed with the Court their Joint Case 

Management Report (Doc. 17). On the basis of that Joint Report, and in accordance with 

Rule 16(b)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 

 1. Deadline for Initial Disclosures. Initial disclosures required by Federal 

Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a), if not already exchanged, shall be exchanged no later than 

December 11, 2015. The parties shall file with the Clerk a Notice of Initial Disclosure, 

rather than copies of the actual disclosures. 

 2. Deadline for Joining Parties, Amending Pleadings, and Filing Supplemental 

Pleadings. The deadline for joining parties, amending pleadings, and filing supplemental 

pleadings is 60 days from the date of this Order. 

 3. Discovery Limitations. Depositions shall be limited to seven hours each as 

Rule 30(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides. The number of depositions 

and interrogatories are governed by the limits in Rules 30, 31, and 33 of the Federal 

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Rules of Civil Procedure. Therefore, each party is limited to 10 depositions and 25 

interrogatories, including all discrete subparts. The procedures for requests for 

admissions and requests for production in Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 34 and 36 are 

modified to limit each party to 25 requests for production of documents, including 

subparts, and 25 requests for admissions, including subparts. 

 4. Deadline for Completion of Fact Discovery. The deadline for completing 

fact discovery, including discovery by subpoena, shall be June 30, 2016. To ensure 

compliance with this deadline, the following rules shall apply: 

 a. Depositions: All depositions shall be scheduled to commence at 

least five working days prior to the discovery deadline. A deposition commenced five 

days prior to the deadline may continue up until the deadline, as necessary. 

 b. Written Discovery: All interrogatories, requests for production of 

documents, and requests for admissions shall be served at least 45 days before the 

discovery deadline. 

 c. The parties may mutually agree in writing, without Court approval, 

to extend the time provided for discovery responses in Rules 33, 34, and 36 of the Federal 

Rules of Civil Procedure. Such agreed-upon extensions, however, will not alter or extend 

the discovery deadlines set forth in this Order. 

 d. Special Provisions Regarding Rule 34 Responses. Objections to 

Rule 34 document production requests shall be stated with specificity; general or 

boilerplate objections are not permitted. Document production in response to a Rule 34 

request must be completed no later than the time specified in the request or another 

reasonable time specified in the response. An objection to a Rule 34 request must state 

whether any responsive materials have been withheld on the basis of that objection. 

 5. Deadlines for Disclosure of Experts and Completion of Expert Discovery. 

 a. Any party with the burden of proof on a claim or defense shall 

provide full and complete expert disclosures as required by Rule 26(a)(2) of the Federal 

Rules of Civil Procedure no later than April 30, 2016. 

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 b. Simultaneous rebuttal expert disclosures, if any, shall be made no 

later than May 31, 2016. Rebuttal experts shall be limited to responding to opinions 

stated by initial experts. 

 c. Expert depositions shall be completed no later than August 1, 2016. 

As with fact witness depositions, expert depositions shall be scheduled to commence at 

least five working days before the deadline. 

 d. Disclosures under Rule 26(a)(2)(A) must include the identities of 

treating physicians and other witnesses who have not been specially employed to provide 

expert testimony in this case, but who will provide testimony under Federal Rules of 

Evidence 702, 703, or 705. A Rule 26(a)(2)(B) report is required for any opinion of such 

witnesses that was not developed in the course of their treatment or other factual 

involvement in this case. 

 e. As the Advisory Committee Notes to Rule 26 (1993 Amendments) 

state, expert reports disclosed under Rule 26(a)(2)(B) must set forth “the testimony the 

witness is expected to present during direct examination, together with the reasons 

therefor.” Full and complete disclosures of such testimony are required on the dates set 

forth above; absent truly extraordinary circumstances, parties will not be permitted to 

supplement their expert reports after these dates. 

 f. Each side is limited to one retained or specially employed expert 

witness per issue. 

 g. Pursuant to Rule 26(e)(1), any additions or other changes to 

information previously disclosed must be made prior to the time that Rule 26(a)(3) 

Pretrial Disclosures are due. Since this Court effectively requires all Rule 26(a)(3) 

Pretrial Disclosures to be contained in the joint Proposed Final Pretrial Order, this Order 

contemplates that all exhibits and witnesses that may be offered at trial will have been 

disclosed before the close of discovery as established by this Order. This Order therefore 

supersedes the “thirty-day before trial” disclosure deadline contained in that Rule. 

Therefore (1) failure to have timely supplemented a Rule 26(a) disclosure, (2) failure to 

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have timely supplemented responses to discovery requests, or (3) attempting to include 

any witnesses or exhibits in the joint Proposed Final Pretrial Order that were not 

previously disclosed prior to the discovery deadline set forth in this Order, may result in 

the exclusion of such evidence at trial or the imposition of other sanctions. 

 6. Discovery Disputes. The parties shall not file written discovery motions 

without leave of Court. If a discovery dispute arises and cannot be resolved despite 

sincere efforts to resolve the matter through personal consultation (in person or by 

telephone), the parties shall jointly file (1) a brief written summary of the dispute, not to 

exceed two pages, with explanation of the position taken by each party and (2) a joint 

written certification that the counsel or the parties have attempted to resolve the matter 

through personal consultation and sincere effort as required by LRCiv 7.2(j) and have 

reached an impasse. If the opposing party has refused to personally consult, the party 

seeking relief shall describe the efforts made to obtain personal consultation. Upon 

review of the filed written summary of the dispute, the Court may set a telephonic 

conference, order written briefing, or decide the dispute without conference or briefing. 

Any briefing ordered by the Court shall also comply with LRCiv 7.2(j). 

 Absent extraordinary circumstances, the Court will not entertain fact discovery 

disputes after the deadline for completion of fact discovery, and will not entertain expert 

discovery disputes after the deadline for completion of expert discovery. 

 7. Deadline for Filing Dispositive Motions. 

 a. Dispositive motions shall be filed no later than August 15, 2016. 

Such motions must comply in all respects with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and 

the Local Rules. 

 b. No party shall file more than one motion for summary judgment 

under Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure unless permission is first obtained, 

by joint telephone call, from the Court. 

 c. Failure to respond to a motion within the time periods provided in 

Local Rule of Civil Procedure 7.2 may be deemed a consent to the denial or granting of 

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the motion and the Court may dispose of the motion summarily pursuant to Local Rule of 

Civil Procedure 7.2(i). 

 d. A party desiring oral argument shall place the words “Oral 

Argument Requested” immediately below the title of the motion pursuant to Local Rule 

of Civil Procedure 7.2(f). The Court will issue an order scheduling oral argument as it 

deems appropriate. 

 e. The parties are directed to the Electronic Case Filing Administrative 

Policies and Procedures Manual for the District of Arizona with respect to providing 

paper courtesy copies of certain filings to Chambers. 

 f. Statements of fact required by Local Rule of Civil Procedure 56.1 

shall not exceed ten (10) pages in length, exclusive of exhibits. 

 8. Deadline for Engaging in Good Faith Settlement Talks. All parties and 

their counsel shall meet in person and engage in good faith settlement talks no later than 

August 1, 2016. No later than five working days after the deadline set forth in the 

preceding sentence, the parties shall file with the Court a joint report on settlement talks 

executed by or on behalf of all counsel. 

 9. Settlement Conference Before a Magistrate Judge. The parties shall 

indicate whether assistance from the Court is needed in seeking settlement of the case. 

Upon a joint request by the parties, the Court will refer the matter for a settlement 

conference before a Magistrate Judge. 

 10. Deadline for Notice of Readiness for Pretrial Conference. The Plaintiff(s) 

shall notify the Court that the parties are ready for scheduling of a Final Pretrial 

Conference pursuant to Rule 16(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The 

Plaintiff(s) shall file and serve this notice within ten days after the dispositive motion 

deadline if no dispositive motions are pending on that date. If dispositive motions are 

pending, Plaintiff(s) shall file and serve such notice within ten days after the resolution 

of dispositive motions. The Court will then issue an Order Setting Final Pretrial 

Conference that (a) sets deadlines for briefing motions in limine, (b) includes a form for 

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the completion of the parties' Joint Proposed Final Pretrial Order, and (c) otherwise 

instructs the parties concerning their duties in preparing for the Final Pretrial Conference. 

A firm trial date will be set at the Final Pretrial Conference. 

 11. Sanctions for Failure to Meet Deadlines of This Order or of the Rules. The 

parties are warned that failure to meet any of the deadlines in this order or in the Federal 

Rules of Civil Procedure without substantial justification may result in sanctions. 

 12. Briefing Requirements. 

 a. All memoranda filed with the Court shall comply with Local Rule of 

Civil Procedure 7.1(b) requiring 13 point font in text and footnotes. 

 b. Citations in support of any assertion in the text shall be included in 

the text, not in footnotes. 

IT IS FINALLY ORDERED vacating the Rule 16 Scheduling Conference set 

for December 16, 2015 at the Sandra Day O’Connor United States Courthouse in 

Phoenix, Arizona. 

 Dated this 10th day of December, 2015. 

Honorable Diane J. Humetewa

United States District Judge 

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