1 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF SOUTH CAROLINA INSTRUCTIONS FOR CASES BEFORE JUDGE QUATTLEBAUM INSTRUCTIONS FOR PROPOSED JURY CHARGES WITH SAMPLES Proposed jury charges are one of the most important aspects of proper trial preparation. Jury charges are intended to give the jurors, in concise and understandable language, the legal information and context they will need to fulfill their duty of applying the law to the facts as they find them. I am providing this memorandum as a tool for counsel in order to facilitate more useful and effective submissions for the benefit of the Jury. Counsel are requested to read the entirety of these instructions and to provide it to anyone who will be involved in the preparation of proposed jury charges. I encourage counsel to put forth appropriate attention to this critical aspect of the case. All proposed jury instructions are required to be submitted in the following format: (a) The parties are required to jointly submit one set of instructions. The parties shall serve their proposed instructions upon each other in time to confer and submit to the Court one complete set of agreed-upon joint instructions, as well as any disputed supplemental instructions, by the date set forth in the notice of trial. The proposed charges should be emailed to the Court at quattlebaumecf@scd.uscourts.gov. Do not electronically file in ECF. Please include the case number in the subject line of the email message. (b) The Court222s preliminary jury instructions will be made available to you. It is not necessary for attorneys to submit proposed instructions as to the matters contained in those instructions. American LegalNet, Inc. www.FormsWorkFlow.com 2 If the parties in good faith believe that the standard instructions need to be tailored for the trial of the case, they may submit such modified instructions for the Court222s review. (c) If the parties cannot agree upon one entire set of joint instructions, they are required to submit joint instructions that have been agreed upon (labeled as Joint Request to Charge No. ), and to submit supplemental instructions that have not been agreed upon (labeled as Plaintiff222s/Defendant222s Request to Charge No. ). Legal authority should be cited in all instructions. Each supplemental instruction should list any party requesting the instruction as well as any party222s objection to the instruction. Along with the notation of the party objecting to or requesting the instruction, the supplemental instruction should cite the legal authority in support of the requested instruction and the specific basis for each objection to the instruction. The objecting party should author the objections. Objections should specifically and concisely set forth the objectionable material in the proposed instruction. The numbering of supplemental instruction should begin where the agreed-upon joint instructions end. A sample of each type of instruction (agreed-upon and objected-to) is attached for your reference. (d) Each proposed instruction must be numbered and double spaced, and only one idea or concept should be expressed on each numbered page. (e) All instructions should be concise, understandable, and neutral statements of law. Argumentative or formulaic instructions should not be submitted. (f) Do not submit repetitive requests for the same legal concept or requests that have no direct relationship to the case. (g) Quoting directly from reported decisions is not the only way to charge a jury. Often quotes from reported opinions need to be re-worded to make them more understandable to the average American LegalNet, Inc. www.FormsWorkFlow.com 3 juror. You may quote and cite authorities such as Restatements, hornbooks, treatises, etc. in your jury charge requests, as appropriate. (h) Generally, I will prepare a written charge for submission to the jury. I will take your requested charges and incorporate them into my charge if appropriate. Toward the end of the trial, I will give you or go over my proposed charge to review. I may hold a charge conference to finalize the written charge with counsel. You will be given the opportunity to object to my proposed charge and to request additions or changes to it. Once the charge is finalized and if I decide to give a written copy to the jury, I will provide a copy to counsel and one copy to the jury as I give the charge in open court. The jurors are permitted to take their copy of the charge into the jury room for deliberations. (i) You should also prepare and submit a proposed verdict form with your proposed charges. I will be working on the verdict form during the trial and will incorporate your proposals if appropriate. Please include your proposed verdict form along with your jury instructions. Please confer with opposing counsel to attempt to agree on the verdict form, and indicate if there is agreement or disagreement. If there is disagreement, each side should submit their proposed verdict form, and the other side should state the specific basis for the disagreement. The proposed verdict form should be emailed to the Court at quattlebaumecf@scd.uscourts.gov. Do not electronically file in ECF. Please include the case number in the subject line of the email message. The proposed charges and verdict form should be submitted at the time your Trial Brief is due. American LegalNet, Inc. www.FormsWorkFlow.com 4 (Sample Joint Request to Charge) IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF SOUTH CAROLINA Name, Plaintiff, v. Name, Defendant. ))))))))))) Civil Action No.: -AMQ JOINT REQUEST TO CHARGE NO. The plaintiff222s claim in this case is based upon three alternative theories: (1) negligence, (2) strict liability, and (3) breach of warranty. The plaintiff is not required to prove all three of these theories in order for him to recover. Proof of his claim under any one of these theories would enable you to find that he is entitled to a verdict in his favor. Bragg v. Hi-Ranger, Inc., 462 S.E.2d 321 (S.C. Ct. App. 1995). Plaintiff agrees: Defendant agrees: American LegalNet, Inc. www.FormsWorkFlow.com 5 (Sample Supplemental Request to Charge) IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF SOUTH CAROLINA Name, Plaintiff, v. Name, Defendant. ))))))))))) Civil Action No.: -AMQ PLAINTIFF222S SUPPLEMENTAL REQUEST TO CHARGE NO. 223An employment contract for a definite term . . . generally continues until the expiration of the stated term, unless a right to terminate the contract sooner is reserved in the contract.224 27 Am. Jur. 2d Employment Relationship 247 30 (1996). In this case, the term is one year, with automatic renewal terms of one year provided. Authority: Contract, Par. 10(a). 223This Agreement shall be in effect for an initial term of one (1) year from December 9, 1995 through December 8, 1996, and shall be automatically renewed for successive one (1) year terms thereafter, unless either party gives written notice to the other party of its intention to terminate this agreement, such notice to be given no later than ninety (90) days prior to the last day of the then-existing term.224 DEFENDANT222S OBJECTIONS: The last sentence of this instruction should be excised because it seeks to charge the facts of the case, Walker v. New Mexico & S.P.R. Co., 165 U.S. 593 (1897), and is not a complete statement of the contract provision. The contract automatically renews only if neither party gives notice of termination at least 90 days prior to the last day of the contract term. Plaintiff: Defendant: American LegalNet, Inc. www.FormsWorkFlow.com