Cestero v. Rosa

204 F.R.D. 31, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19131, 2001 WL 1485792
District Court, D. Puerto Rico·Decided November 14, 2001·No. Civ. No. 97-2251(JP)·Published

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

PIERAS, Senior District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

The Court currently has before it a “Motion Requesting Reconsideration of Initial Scheduling Conference Order”, filed by co-Defendant Ferdin Carrasquillo, in his personal capacity1 (docket No. 164), as well as a “Motion Requesting Reconsideration”, filed by the remaining co-Defendants, including co-defendant Carrasquillo, in their personal capacity (docket No. 165)2. Co-Defendant Carrasquillo requests the Court accept new undisputed facts, despite their tardiness. The remaining Defendants allege that the fine imposed on them at the Initial Scheduling Conference for non-compliance with the Initial Scheduling Conference Call was excessive as well as unwarranted because counsel had no notice of the requirements of the Call, and also submit new uncontested facts for consideration. For the reasons stated herein, both Defendants’ Motions are hereby GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART, and Defendants represented by the Department of Justice are hereby ORDERED to submit a cheek payable to the Clerk of Court in the amount of $500.00.

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

In the spirit of searching for the truth, all attorneys practicing before this Court are expected to be well versed in pretrial practice. They are encouraged to read Judicial Economy and Efficiency Through the Initial Scheduling Conference: The Method, 35 Cath. U.L.Rev. 943 (1986) authored by the undersigned Judge, and peruse the Civil Justice Reform Act, codified at 28 U.S.C.A. §§ 471-482 (West 2001), in order to understand the necessity of adhering to orders concerning pretrial discovery. The federal docket is replete with costly time consuming litigation. The importance of this Court’s Initial Scheduling Conference (hereinafter “ISC”) and its resulting Order is to streamline this litigation and reduce the cost and delay that so frequently characterizes it. See Comments of Senator Joseph Biden to the Civil Justice Reform Act, S. 2027, 136 Cong. Rec. § 407-04 *S414, and Report of the Advisory G)-oup of the Civil Justice Reform Act of 1990, which was co-authored by the undersigned Judge, and to which the undersigned Judge also served as Judicial Chairman. The Civil Justice Reform Act is the basis of this Court’s Initial Scheduling Conference. See generally Civil Justice Reform Act, 28 U.S.C.A. §§ 471-482 (West 2001); Comments of Senator Joseph Biden, supra, and the Report of the Advisoyy Group of the Civil Justice Reform Act of 1990, supra, Sec. VI.2.

The Initial Scheduling Conference method revolves around holding a conference where the parties and the undersigned meet in chambers promptly after the pleadings are filed and the parties answer the Complaint. Id. The undersigned has been utilizing this method for over 15 years, with exceptional results.

Prior to the meeting, an Initial Scheduling Conference Call is issued to all parties. By this Call, all parties and the Court are brought together for the first time to have the attorneys appraise each other and their clients of the merits of their case, and at this [33]*33conference, the Judge sets the tone of the relationship between him and the attorneys in the case. See Comments of Senator Joseph Biden, supra. The parties must then set forth their facts, theory of the case, and supporting case law in an ISC Memorandum to be submitted to the Court and to the other parties 5 working days (or seven natural days) prior to the conference, and by so doing, are forced to confront gaps in then-respective cases.

In order for the ISC to succeed, the parties must come to the conference with knowledge of the facts surrounding the pleadings and their consequences, including an assessment of damages. As a consequence, the Call requires the parties to come prepared to be able to enter into agreements as to uncon-troverted facts and principles of law that are applicable to their case, as well as to discuss the possibility of settlement. Report of the Advisory Group supra, See. VI.2. During the conference all parties become familiar with the allegations of the other parties, stipulate as many facts as possible, and identify which facts and legal issues remain in controversy, so as to streamline the case. After the conference, the Court prepares the ISC Order, which sets forth the agreements the parties came to during the conference and provides a time-line of the case from the conference until trial. Id.

On April 19, 2001, the ISC Call was sent to all parties in this case. The same ordered the parties to make the initial disclosures to each other pursuant to the amendments made to Fed.R.Civ.P. 26. In addition, it asked them to submit an ISC memorandum to the Court five (5) working days (or seven natural days) before the conference and asked them to include: their fact and expert witnesses and a summary of their proposed testimony; a list of uncontroverted facts; a list of their documentary evidence, and an itemization of discovery. The Call also advised all parties that dates for depositions, for announcing new witnesses, for announcing new evidence, for filing dispositive motions, for the pretrial and for the trial would be scheduled at the conference.

Since the purpose of the ISC is to streamline the case, the parties are warned, in the very first page of the Call, that noncompliance with the Call will result in sanctions. See Initial Scheduling Conference Call, at 1. Likewise, since the Court must analyze their memoranda, it requires the parties to file their memos at least five working days (seven natural days) before the conference, and states that failure to file the ISC memorandum by the due date will result in a sanction of $200.00 for each day the memorandum is late. Id. at 8-9.

Pursuant to this, an Initial Scheduling Conference was held in the ease at bar on September 6, 2001. The parties were represented by counsel: José García Pérez, Esq., representing all Plaintiffs; Laura González Lugo, Esq., representing Plaintiff Surima Suárez Cestero; Salvador Antonetti Stutts, Esq., representing all Defendants in their personal capacity and Francisco San Miguel Fuxench, Esq., representing co-Defendant Ferdin Carrasquillo, in his official capacity. The lead attorneys for defendants, attorney Carlos del Valle Cruz, and attorney Miguel Pagán, did not personally attend the conference due to other commitments; instead, they sent other attorneys as representatives for Defendants to the conference.

The ISC began, and after the parties had each set forth their version of the facts, the Court went on to determine uncontroverted facts. However, neither of Defendants’ attorneys had included a section containing uncontroverted facts into their memos, making it very difficult for the parties to come to an agreement, and thereby incurring in their first violation of the ISC Call. Pursuant to its explicit indications in its ISC Call, the Court went on to fine defendants attorneys $500.00 each, $100.00 for each day that the ISC memorandum should have been filed (actually, an amount less than the stipulated $200.00 per day). See Veranda Beach Club Ltd. Partnership v. Western Sur. Co.,

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Cestero v. Rosa, 204 F.R.D. 31, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19131, 2001 WL 1485792 (prd 2001).

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