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Pretrial Order (Judge Dubose) Form. This is a Alabama form and can be use in District Court Federal.
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STANDING ORDER GOVERNING FINAL
PRETRIAL CONFERENCE
It is ORDERED that the following requirements shall prevail for Fed.R.Civ.P. 16(d)
Final Pretrial Conferences set before Judge Kristi K. DuBose.
1. Counsel shall confer and shall prepare a single proposed Pretrial Order in the form
attached, which must be filed with the Clerk of Court at least five (5) days before the pretrial
conference.
2. Counsel shall make a good faith effort to stipulate as to the following:
A. Jurisdiction; and
B. Propriety of parties, correctness of identity of legal entities, necessity for
appointment of guardian ad litem, guardian, administrator, etc., and validity of
appointment if already made, and correctness of designation of party as
partnership, corporation or individual d/b/a trade name.
C. If there is a dispute regarding A. or B. above, counsel shall certify the question
to the Court for resolution at the conference.
3. At the conference, counsel shall discuss settlement potential with the Court. Counsel
shall confer and engage in meaningful settlement discussion prior to the pretrial conference, and
then be prepared to discuss the status of any settlement negotiations, and whether any method of
Alternative Dispute Resolution would be beneficial to resolving the action prior to trial.
4. The proposed Pretrial Order shall contain:
A. A brief but comprehensive written statement of the action, in sufficient form
that if the Court elects to do so, it can be read to the jury (e.g., “This is a Title VII
action (a Jones Act action; a negligence action; etc.). The plaintiff claims that
_____. The defendant claims that _____.”)
B. For each claim asserted, a listing of the legal elements of each claim derived
from the pattern jury instructions or applicable and controlling case law
interpreting the claim.
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C. A statement of the agreed facts specifically related to the claim.
D. A statement of the disputed facts specifically related to the claim.1
E. An estimate of the number of trial days required, and a statement of the
number of witnesses reasonably expected to testify on behalf of each party.
F. A statement indicating whether the action is a jury or non-jury action. If a jury
action, whether the jury trial is applicable to all aspects of the dispute or only to
certain issues, which shall be specified.
(1) Jury Size. In view of Fed.R.Civ.P. 48, which allows not fewer than six
(6) and not more than twelve (12) jurors, the parties shall include a
statement of their respective (or collective, if they can agree) positions
with regard to the number of jurors they request be selected. If the parties
are unable to agree, the Court will cause a jury of eight (8) to be selected.
(1) Voir Dire Questions. Proposed voir dire questions and objections
thereto shall be included in the Joint Pretrial Order. Each party shall be
limited to twenty-five (25) questions. Lawyer voir dire will be permitted
using court-approved questions from the lists submitted.
(2) Jury Instructions. No later than seven (7) days prior to trial, the parties
shall file a jointly prepared set of jury instructions. For any disputed
instructions, the parties may file separate instructions designated
accordingly (“Plaintiff’s proposed jury instruction number _____;” etc.)
G. A list and description of any legal issues or motions (including motions in
limine) pending or contemplated.
H. A list designating those relevant portions of depositions which any party
wishes read at trial. All objections to any such testimony shall be made in writing
and submitted with the Joint Pretrial Order. Failure to comply shall constitute a
waiver of any such objection. The parties should bring to the Court's attention at
the pretrial conference whether any specific rulings by the Court will facilitate the
conduct of the trial or ongoing settlement negotiations.
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It is not necessary for the parties to set forth every possible variation of every factual
dispute involved in the case for fear that they may waive the presentation of some evidence at trial.
The Court is interested in a concise statement of the facts that are disputed and undisputed,
specifically related to the legal claims that are to be litigated.
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I. A list of the names and addresses of all witnesses who are expected to testify at
the trial. Witness lists shall be kept to a reasonable minimum; additional
witnesses may be added only for good cause shown and on written motion.
(1) Expert Witnesses. With respect to expert witnesses, counsel shall
furnish the Court and opposing counsel with a curriculum vitae of such experts.
When an expert witness is called to the stand, counsel will read into the record the
expert’s qualifications and inquire of the expert whether the qualifications are
correct. If correct, the next question will be relative to the merits of the case. In
addition, counsel shall furnish the Court and opposing counsel with a brief
statement of the opinion or opinions which counsel expects to elicit from such
expert.
(2) Objections. Any objections to the designation of a witness or to an
expert's qualifications shall be submitted with the Joint Pretrial Order. Failure to
comply shall constitute a waiver of any such objection.
J. A list describing the amount and type of damages. Whenever possible, the
parties shall stipulate to the amount and type of damages. If the parties are unable
to agree, then the plaintiff shall state with specificity the amount and category of
damages (e.g., doctor and hospital bills $____; lost wages $____; pain and
suffering $____; etc.). The listing of such damages shall not constitute an
agreement as to the recoverability of same unless so stated.
K. A list of all exhibits which are to be offered in evidence. Each party shall list
on this Court's exhibit form (or on a form substantially similar) and furnish
opposing counsel, for copying and inspection, all exhibits which are to be offered
in evidence.
(1) Objections. Objections to exhibits shall be noted in the Joint Pretrial
Order, setting forth the nature of the objection and the authority
supporting same. Failure to comply shall constitute a waiver of any such
objection. All exhibits to which there is no objection shall be deemed
admitted. Except for good cause shown, the Court will not permit the
introduction of an exhibit unless it has been listed in the Pretrial Order.
(2) Marking Exhibits. Markers obtained from the Clerk shall be attached
to all exhibits, and such exhibits delivered to the Clerk immediately prior
to the commencement of trial.
5. Counsel are reminded that the action is to be ready for trial at the time of the
Pretrial Conference. The Pretrial Order shall constitute the final statement of the claims to be
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litigated, shall govern the conduct of the trial, and shall constitute the basis for any relief
afforded by the Court. However, the Pretrial Order may be amended at any time by the Court or
on motion of a party for good cause to avoid manifest injustice.
6. Failure to comply with the provisions of this Order or to attend the Pretrial
Conference may result in the following sanctions: (a) dismissal of the action for failure to
prosecute, if such failure occurs on the part of the plaintiff; (b) entry of default judgment if such
failure occurs on the part of the defendant, or (c) any other action as deemed appropriate by the
Court.
/s/ Kristi K. DuBose
KRISTI K. DuBOSE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
FOR THE PURPOSE OF PREPARING THE JOINT
PRETRIAL ORDER, IT IS RECOMMENDED
THAT THE FOLLOWING FORMAT BE USED
________________________________________________
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA
STYLE OF ACTION
(Do not use "et al" -- list all remaining Plaintiffs and Defendants)
PRETRIAL ORDER
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There is no contest as to the jurisdiction of this Court or as to the correctness of the
named defendant(s) or the named plaintiff(s).
I.
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
(See Paragraph 4.A. of Pretrial Order)
II.
TRIABLE CLAIMS
A. (State the legal claim and defense to be tried, e.g., Title VII, Jones Act,
negligence, breach of contract, contributory negligence, etc.)
1. LEGAL ELEMENTS OF CLAIM (See paragraph 4.B. of Pretrial
Order).
2. AGREED FACTS (as to this legal claim) (See
Paragraph 4.C. of Pretrial Order).
3. DISPUTED FACTS (as to this legal claim) (See
Paragraph 4.D. of Pretrial Order).
B. (Statement of second legal claim to be tried)
1. LEGAL ELEMENTS.
2. AGREED FACTS.
3. DISPUTED FACTS.
C. (Third claim)
1. LEGAL ELEMENTS.
2. AGREED FACTS.
3. DISPUTED FACTS.
III.
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TRIAL TIME
It is estimated that this action will take ______ days to try, exclusive of jury selection
time. The plaintiff expects to call ____ witnesses, and the defendant expects to call
_____witnesses.
IV.
TYPE OF TRIAL
JURY
NON-JURY
The parties request a jury of __________.
The parties’ proposed voir dire questions are attached.
V.
MOTIONS
(Identify any pending motions, etc., as per Paragraph 4.G. of the Pretrial Order.)
VI.
DEPOSITIONS
(List those portions of depositions to be used at trial. State any objections. See
Paragraph 4.H. of the Pretrial Order.)
VII.
WITNESSES
A. The Plaintiff will or may call the following witnesses:
1.
2.
3.
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Of the named witnesses, the following will be called as experts:
(a) (listing qualifications)
(b) (listing qualifications)
Defendant contests the qualifications of _______________
____________________________. (State reasons)
B. The defendant will or may call the following witnesses:
1.
2.
3.
Of the above named witnesses, the following will be called as experts:
(a) (listing qualifications)
(b) (listing qualifications)
The plaintiff contests the qualifications of ____________
_____________________________. (State reasons)
VIII.
DAMAGES
(See Paragraph 4.J. of Pretrial Order)
IX.
EXHIBITS
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(List exhibits numerically on the Court's form with a brief description of each exhibit.
All exhibits shall be marked to correspond with the exhibit list. See Paragraph 4.K. of Pretrial
Order.)
X.
List names of attorneys in any represented law firm or attach copy of the firm's
letterhead.
TRIAL DATE
This action is set for trial on ______________________________.
___________________________________________
Attorney for Plaintiff
___________________________________________
Attorney for Defendant
APPROVED and SO ORDERED this _______ day of ____________________, 20_____.
_________________________________________
KRISTI K. DuBOSE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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