UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF SOUTH CAROLINA CONFERENCE AND SCHEDULING ORDER AND RULE 26(F) REPORT FORM JUDGE DAVID C. NORTON NOTICE TO COUNSEL Attached please find a proposed scheduling order for your review and comment. The 2000 Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedures, and subsequent amendments to the local rules for this district, now require that, early in the litigation, counsel meet, confer, and submit certain information to the court . Some of the requested information is needed to formulate a scheduling order. The judges of this district have determined that the most feasible way of accomplishing this is for the court to enter a tentative scheduling order with a request that the parties meet and determine if the dates proposed by the court are acceptable. The deadline for meeting and conferring in this case is set out in Paragraph 1 of the attached scheduling order. A form (RULE 26(F) REPORT) is attached and must be completed and returned indicating your acceptance of, or suggested changes to, the scheduling order. A scheduling order "is not a frivolous piece of paper, idly entered, which can be cavalierly disregarded by counsel without peril." Forstmann v. Culp, 114 F.R.D. 83, 85 (M.D.N.C. 1987) (quoting Gestetner Corp. v. Case Equipment Co., 108 F.R.D. 138, 141 (D. Me. 1985). "The use of discovery closure dates and deadlines for disclosure of experts are important tools for case management." Serrano-Perey v. F.M.C. Corp., 985 F.2d 625, 628 (1st Cir. 1993). The Local Civil Rules for the District of South Carolina, as well as the forms referenced in this order, are available on this District's website at: www.scd.uscourts.gov Rev. 10/03 American LegalNet, Inc. www.FormsWorkflow.com IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF SOUTH CAROLINA CHARLESTON DIVISION CONFERENCE AND SCHEDULING ORDER of HONORABLE DAVID C. NORTON Pursuant to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Local Civil Rules of this Court, the following schedule is established for this case. This order is entered to administer the trial of cases in a manner consistent with the ends of justice, in the shortest possible time, and at the least possible cost to litigants. Discovery may begin upon receipt of this order. 1. Rule 26(f) Conference: A conference of the parties pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(f) shall be held no later than _________________.1 Rule 26(a)(1) Initial Disclosures: No later than _______________, the required initial disclosures under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(1) shall be made. Rule 26(f) Report: No later than ___________________, the parties shall file a Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(f) Report in the form attached to this order.2 Amendment of Pleadings: Motions to join other parties and amend the pleadings shall be filed no later than ___________________. Expert Witnesses: Parties shall file and serve a document identifying by full name, address, and telephone number each person whom they expect to call as an expert at trial by the following dates:3 Plaintiff: Defendant: 6. ____________________ ____________________ 2. 3. 4. 5. Discovery: Discovery shall be completed no later than ________________. All discovery requests shall be served in time for the responses thereto to be served by this deadline. All depositions must be taken before this deadline. Dispositive Motions: All dispositive motions and all Daubert motions shall be filed on or before ___________________. Mediation: Pursuant to Local Civil Rule 16.04-16.12, mediation shall be completed in this case on or before __________________.4 Thirty (30) days prior to this, counsel for each party shall file and serve an ADR Statement and Certification under Local Civil Rule 16.03. Trial: This case will go to trial during the term of court beginning _____________. 7. 8. 9. American LegalNet, Inc. www.FormsWorkflow.com The parties' attention is directed to the attached SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR CASES BEFORE JUDGE DAVID C. NORTON. _________________________(date) Charleston, South Carolina Attachments: Special Instructions of Judge David C. Norton Rule 26(f) Report 1. Plaintiff's counsel shall initiate the scheduling of the Rule 26(f) conference with all counsel known to plaintiff regardless of whether they have filed appearances. At conference, the parties shall confer concerning all matters set forth in Rule 26(f) and whether the schedule set forth in this order is appropriate and, if not, what modifications are necessary. See attached form ­ RULE 26(F) REPORT. Parties are hereby notified that Local Civil Rule 26.03 lists additional queries to be answered in the Rule 26(f) Report. See also Local Civil Rule 26.02 (rules for answering court interrogatories). See Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2) and (a)(2)(B). Note that while Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2) does not require filing any portion of the written report or disclosure, Judge Norton requires filing of a document which identifies the expert and certifies compliance with this rule. Standing Order to Conduct Medication of Judge Norton, which sets forth additional mediation requirements applicable to this case available at www.scd.uscourts.gov 2. 3. 4. American LegalNet, Inc. www.FormsWorkflow.com SPECIAL NOTICE TO COUNSEL WITH CASES BEFORE JUDGE DAVID C. NORTON, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE Please carefully review the following instructions which relate to problems which frequently arise regarding scheduling orders and related litigation management issues. COURTESY COPIES Unless specifically requested, you should not send a "courtesy copy" of any filed document to Judge Norton's chambers. The court is automatically provided with the copy when the original document is filed with the Clerk's Office. If it is necessary to file a document in another courthouse and if time is critical, you should first call chambers to determine if Judge Norton would like a copy sent directly to chambers. CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN COUNSEL Attorneys frequently copy the court on correspondence between counsel. This is seldom appropriate. Unless correspondence is directly related to a pending motion, there is no reason to copy the court. If it relates to a pending motion and is relevant to issues before the court, the correspondence should be filed as an exhibit. If it merely relates to an anticipated motion (usually a discovery dispute), it would be more appropriate simply to hold such correspondence and to attach it as an exhibit if a motion becomes necessary. EXTENSION OF DEADLINES The deadlines in scheduling