United States District Court, D. New Mexico
ORDER SETTING PRETRIAL DEADLINES AND BRIEFING
SCHEDULE
THE
HONORABLE GREGORY J. FOURATT, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE.
The
Court held a Rule 16 initial scheduling conference on
March 8, 2018. The Joint Status Report filed
by Plaintiff, after consultation with the parties, is adopted
as an order of the Court, except as provided below.
The
deadline for Plaintiff to amend pleadings and/or join
additional parties is May 30, 2018. The
deadline for Defendant to amend pleadings and/or join
additional parties is June 29, 2018.
Each
side shall be limited to serving twenty-five (25)
interrogatories to another side, each side shall be
limited to serving twenty-five (25) requests for admission to
another side, and each side shall be limited to
serving twenty-five (25) requests for production to the other
side. Responses shall be served within thirty (30) days.
Depositions shall be limited to five (5) per side.
There shall be a four-hour limit on all depositions, except
for expert witnesses and parties, unless extended by
agreement of all parties. There shall be a seven-hour limit
on depositions of expert witnesses and parties, unless
extended by agreement of all parties.
All
expert witnesses must be disclosed by the parties, even if
the expert is not required to submit an expert report. See
Musser v. Gentiva Health Servs., 356 F.3d 751,
756-57 (7th Cir. 2004); Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(a)(2)(B) & (C);
D.N.M.LR-Civ. 26.3(b). Plaintiff shall identify to Defendant
in writing any expert witness to be used by Plaintiff at
trial and provide expert reports or other disclosures
pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(2)(B) &
(C) no later than April 30, 2018. Defendant
shall identify in writing any expert witness to be used at
trial and provide expert reports or other disclosures
pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(2)(B) &
(C) no later than May 30, 2018.
The
termination date for discovery is July 30,
2018, and discovery shall not be reopened, except by
an order of the Court upon a showing of good cause. This
deadline shall be construed to require that discovery be
completed on or before the above date. Service of
interrogatories or requests for production shall be
considered timely only if the responses are due prior to the
deadline. A notice to take deposition shall be considered
timely only if the deposition takes place prior to the
deadline. The pendency of dispositive motions shall not stay
discovery.
Motions
relating to discovery (including, but not limited to, motions
to compel and motions for protective order) shall be filed
with the Court and served on opposing parties by
August 13, 2018. Local Rule of Civil
Procedure 7 provides motion practice requirements and timing
of responses and replies. This deadline shall not be
construed to extend the twenty-day time limit in Local Rule
of Civil Procedure 26.6.[1]
Pretrial
motions, other than discovery motions, shall be filed with
the Court and served on opposing parties by August
27, 2018. Local Rule of Civil Procedure 7 shall also
control their form and timing. Any pretrial motions, other
than discovery motions, filed after the above dates may be
considered untimely in the discretion of the Court.
If
documents are attached as exhibits to motions, affidavits, or
briefs, those parts of the exhibits that counsel want to
bring to the attention of the Court must be highlighted in
accordance with Local Rule of Civil Procedure 10.6.
Motion
practice must be conducted in accordance with the local
rules. In particular, the Court would highlight Local Rule of
Civil Procedure 7.4, which provides that response and reply
deadlines “may be extended by agreement of all parties.
For each agreed extension, the party requesting the extension
must file a notice identifying the new deadline and the
document (response or reply) to be filed. If an extension of
time is opposed, the party seeking the extension must file a
separate motion within the applicable fourteen (14) day
period.” D.N.M.LR-Civ. 7.4(a). Of course, any extension
of briefing time must not interfere with the case management
deadlines established herein. Id.
Counsel
are directed to submit a consolidated final pretrial order as
follows: Plaintiff to Defendant on or before October
15, 2018; Defendant to Court on or before
October 29, 2018. Counsel are directed that
the pretrial order will provide that no witnesses except
rebuttal witnesses, whose testimony cannot be anticipated,
will be permitted to testify unless the name of the witness
is furnished to the Court and opposing counsel no later than
thirty (30) days prior to the time set for trial. Any
exceptions thereto must be upon order of the Court for good
cause shown.
IT
IS SO ORDERED.
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