____________________________________

 : UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

ANTHONY STOKES, et al., : DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY

:

Plaintiff(s), :

: Hon. Susan D. Wigenton

-vs- : Civil Action No. 11-3849 (SDW)

:

JOHN STEPHENS, et al. : PRETRIAL SCHEDULING ORDER

:

Defendant(s), :

____________________________________:

THIS MATTER having come before the Court for a status conference pursuant to Rule 16

of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure on October 27, 2011; Justin M. Klein, Esq., appearing on

behalf of Plaintiff; Dolores F. DiBella, Esq., appearing on behalf of Defendants; and for good cause

shown:

IT IS on this 28 day of October, 2011, th

ORDERED THAT:

I. DISCOVERY AND MOTION PRACTICE

1. Fact discovery is to remain open through April 15, 2012. No discovery is to be

issued or engaged in beyond that date, except upon application and for good cause shown.

2. Any motion to amend pleadings must be filed not later than January 15, 2012.

3. No objections to questions posed at depositions shall be made other than as to lack

of foundation, form or privilege. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 32(d) (3) (A). No instruction not to answer

shall be given unless a privilege is implicated.

4. Any discovery dispute shall be brought to the Court's attention in the first instance

by letter e-filed, a copy to Chambers, immediately after the parties' good faith attempt to resolve the

dispute has failed. See L. Civ. R. 16.1(f)(1).

5. Other than as set forth in paragraph 6, no motions shall be filed without leave of

Court. If a party wishes to file a motion, he or she should write a letter to the Magistrate Judge

explaining the basis of the motion and the Court will advise as to how to proceed. Discovery

disputes shall be raised in the first instance by letter to the Court, efiled with a copy to chambers.

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6. Dispositive motions shall not be filed until thirty (30) days after the close of 

Discovery. Failure to file dispositive motions within that time frame shall result in their dismissal

as untimely.

II. EXPERTS

7. All affirmative expert reports as to damages shall be delivered by to be set, with

depositions of those experts to be taken and completed within twenty (20) days of receipt of

report. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b) (4) (A). Any such report is to be in the form and content as

required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a) (2) (B).

8. All responding expert reports as to damages shall be delivered by to be set, with

depositions of those experts to be taken and completed within twenty (20) days of receipt of

report. Any such report shall be in the form and content as described above.

9. All affirmative expert reports as to liability shall be delivered byFebruary 15, 2012,

with depositions of those experts to be taken and completed within twenty (20) days of receipt of

report. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b) (4) (A). Any such report is to be in the form and content as

required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a) (2) (B).

10. All responding expert reports as to liability shall be delivered byApril 15, 2012, with

depositions of those experts to be taken and completed within twenty (20) days of receipt of

report. Any such report shall be in the form and content as described above.

11. No expert shall testify at trial as to any opinions or base those opinions on facts not

substantially disclosed in his report.

III. FINAL PRETRIAL CONFERENCE

12. A final pretrial conference shall be conducted pursuant to Civil Rule 16(d) at a time

and date to be assigned.

13. Pursuant Judge Wigenton’s form ofFinal Pretrial Order, all pretrial submissions must

be served upon the Court forty-eight (48) hours prior to the final pretrial conference.

14. All counsel are directed to assemble at the office of Plaintiff's counsel not later than

ten (10) days before the pretrial conference to prepare the proposed Final Pretrial Order in the form

and content required by the Court, as well as the required pretrial submissions consisting of agreedupon jury instructions, voir dire questions, verdict sheet, trial briefs and a neutral statement of the

case to be read to the jury panel, all of which must be submitted forty-eight (48) hours before the

final pretrial conference. Plaintiff's counsel shall prepare the Pretrial Order and shall submit it to all

other counsel for approval.

2

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15. With respect to non-jury trials, each party shall submit to the District Judge and to

opposing counsel proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, trial briefs and any

hypothetical questions to be put to an expert witness on direct examination.

16. The original of the Final Pretrial Order shall be delivered to Chambers not later than

forty-eight (48) hours before the pretrial conference, along with all pretrial submissions and trial

briefs. All counsel are responsible for the timely submission of the Pretrial Order and submissions.

IV. MISCELLANEOUS

17. Fed. R. Civ. P. 26 disclosures are to be exchanged on or before November 11, 2011.

18. The parties may serve interrogatories limited to twenty five (25) single questions and

requests for production of documents on or before November 11, 2011, to be responded to within

thirty (30) days of receipt.

19. The Court may from time to time schedule conferences as maybe required, either sua

sponte or at the request of a party.

20. Since all dates set forth herein are established with the assistance and knowledge of

counsel, there will be no extensions except for good cause shown and by leave of Court, even with

consent of all counsel.

21. A copy of every pleading, document or written communication with the Court shall

be served on all other parties to the action.

22. There shall be a telephone status conference before the undersigned on Friday,

January 20, 2012 at 11:30 a.m. Plaintiff’s counsel will initiate the telephone conference. The

Court will decide bifurcation.

23. FAILURE TO FOLLOW THIS DISCOVERY SCHEDULE WILL RESULT

IN SANCTIONS PURSUANT TO Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(f) and 37.

s/Madeline Cox Arleo 

MADELINE COX ARLEO

United States Magistrate Judge

Original: Clerk of the Court

cc: All Parties

Deputy Clerk

File

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RIDER ON LENGTH OF BRIEFS

The attention of the parties is directed to L. Civ. R. 7.2(b), as amended by Order filed

September 3, 1991. Briefs "shall not exceed 40 ordinary typed pages***" (emphasis added). This

page limitation shall be strictly enforced.

When submitting a brief in accordance with General Rule 27B, a party may request special

permission to submit an additional brief on any point or points deemed to need additional pages of

argument. This request must be made by letter not to exceed two ordinary typed or printed pages

and must be submitted with the brief.

The Court shall, in its sole discretion, decide whether to allow additional briefing on review

of the party's General Rule 27B brief and letter.

The Court also reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to require additional briefing on any

point or points after review of the written submissions of the parties or oral argument.

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