UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS WESTERN DIVISION _______________________________, Plaintiff(s), vs. _______________________________, Defendant(s). ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Case No. ___________________ Magistrate Judge Iain D. Johnston PARTIES' PROPOSED CASE MANAGEMENT ORDER I. Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(f), a meeting was held in _____________________ on ________________________, and was attended by: _________________________________ for Plaintiff(s) ____________________________, and _________________________________ for Defendant(s) __________________________. II. Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(1) Disclosures will be exchanged by ___________________. The Court requires full and proper Rule 26(a)(1) disclosures by all parties. III. Alternative Dispute Resolution Mediation. Counsel hereby certify that their clients have read the Pamphlet governing the court's mediation program, that counsel have discussed with their respective clients the available dispute resolution options provided by the Court and private entities, and that counsel have given an estimation of the fees and costs that would be associated with the litigation of this matter, through trial, to their clients. Further, counsel have provided to their clients an estimate of the fees and expenses reasonably expected to be incurred through an early successful mediation. Counsel certify that they have discussed the available ADR options with their clients and have considered how this case might benefit from those options. Lastly, if this is a fee shifting case, defense counsel certify they have discussed the advantages and disadvantages of making a Rule 68 offer of judgment. The failure to comply with these requirements will result in sanctions. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(c),(f). Parties have agreed on mediation. ______________________ has been chosen as the mediator. The parties believe the best time to mediate would be _______________ and request the matter be referred to mediation at that time. Parties request an immediate settlement conference with the Magistrate Judge. Parties plan to utilize private ADR. Parties request this case be excused from ADR. American LegalNet, Inc. www.FormsWorkFlow.com IV. Discovery Plan. The parties jointly propose to the Court the following discovery plan: A) Discovery will be needed on the following subjects: B) Maximum of ___________ interrogatories by each party to any other party. C) Maximum of ___________ requests for admission by each party to any other party. D) Maximum of ___________ depositions by Plaintiff(s) and ___________ by Defendant(s). E) Each deposition [other than of _____________________________________] shall be limited to a maximum of ___________ hours unless extended by agreement of the parties. F) The deadline for the parties to amend pleadings, add counts or parties, and file third-party complaints is ____________________________ (should be no later than 30 days before the close of fact discovery). G) Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2)(C) disclosures are due by ____________________________ (should be no later than 30 days before the close of fact discovery). Absent unusual circumstances, the Court considers treating physicians to be Rule 26(a)(2)(C) witnesses if opinion testimony will be elicited from the physicians. H) Supplementations under Rule 26(e) will be made in a timely manner, but no later than ____________________________ (should be no later than 30 days before the close of fact discovery). I) J) Fact discovery cut-off is set for ____________________________. The parties anticipate retained experts on the following subjects: Report from retained expert for the Plaintiff under Rule 26(a)(2)(B) due ______________. Deposition of the Plaintiff's expert shall be taken by ______________. Report from retained expert for the Defendant under Rule 26(a)(2)(B) due ______________. Deposition of the Defendant's expert shall be taken by ______________. The parties must give serious thought whether retained experts are necessary for this case. The parties must likewise give serious thought as to the need to depose any retained experts. See Gregory P. Joseph, The Temptation to Depose Every Expert, 40 A.B.A. SEC. LITIG. 1 (2014); William Cirignani, The Case for Not Taking Defense Expert Depositions, 18 TRIAL JOURNAL 20 (Winter 2016). K) All discovery shall be cut off by ____________________________ (should be no later than date for the Defendant's expert deposition). 2 American LegalNet, Inc. www.FormsWorkFlow.com L) All dispositive motions are due by ____________________________ (should be no later than 30 days after the close of fact discovery, unless otherwise ordered by the Court). M) Counsel may not stipulate to extend discovery matters, including depositions, beyond dates already set in this case management order. N) These dates will not be amended absent a showing of good cause. The parties understand that motions for extensions of time should be brought as soon as possible, but at a minimum before the cut-off date, and a party's failure to do so runs the serious risk that the motion will be denied. O) The parties suggest the next discovery conference with the Court be _________________ (must be on the Court's regular status call held Tuesdays and Thursdays). V. Electronically Stored Information. Electronically stored information that can reasonably be anticipated to be relevant to the litigation will be preserved. The primary source of electronically stored information for production should be active data and information used in the ordinary course of business. For the Court to order a search, the requesting party will need to demonstrate that the need and relevancy of the material outweigh the cost and burden of retrieving and processing the electronically stored information from such sources, including the disruption of business and the information management activities. When balancing the cost, burden, and need for electronically stored information, the Court and the parties will apply the proportionality standards embodied in Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 26(b)(1) and (b)(2)(C), as well as consider the technological feasibility and realistic costs of preserving, retrieving, reviewing, and producing electronically stored information. Counsel should review the helpful information found at www.discoverypilot.com including the proposed Discovery Plan for Electronically Stored Information for guidance. VI. Claims of Privilege or of Protection The parties sha