1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 5 AT TACOMA 6 JAMES ANTHONY WILLIAMS, Case No. 3:19-cv-05045-DGE-TLF 7 Plaintiff, v. ORDER SETTING TRIAL DATE 8 AND PRETRIAL SCHEDULE STEPHEN SINCLAIR, et al., 9 Defendants. 10
11 This is a civil rights action brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The Court 12 previously suspended the existing case schedule in this case in connection with the 13 withdrawal of plaintiff’s previously appointed pro bono counsel. Dkt. 56. Since that time, 14 plaintiff has been proceeding pro se and the Court has accepted his Third Amended 15 Complaint (Dkt. 123) as the operative complaint in this matter. Dkt. 122. Defendants 16 have filed an Answer to the Third Amended Complaint. Dkt. 125. Accordingly, the Court 17 orders a new case schedule. 18 In light of the lengthy pendency of this matter, the Court is setting a trial date and 19 the additional deadlines are scheduled in reference to that date. 20 Event Date 21 Expert Witness Disclosure/Report Deadline March 20, 2023 22 Rebuttal Expert Disclosure/Reports Deadline April 18, 2023 23 Completion of Discovery May 30, 2023
24 1 Motions to Compel Discovery June 13, 2023
2 Dispositive Motion Deadline June 27, 2023
3 Motions in Limine Deadline August 21, 2023
4 Deadline for the Parties to Schedule a Settlement Conference 5 Pretrial Order Deadline September 5, 2023 6 Voir Dire/Jury Instructions/Trial Brief Deadline September 5, 2023 7 Deposition Designations Deadline September 5, 2023 8 Pretrial Conference September 15, 2023 9 1:30 pm Jury Trial September 25, 2023 10 9:00 am
11 Discovery 12 Service of responses to interrogatories and to requests to produce, and the 13 taking of depositions, shall be completed by the discovery deadline set forth above. 14 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 33(a) requires answers or objections to be served within 15 thirty (30) days after service of the interrogatories. The serving party, therefore, must 16 serve his/her discovery requests at least thirty (30) days before the deadline in order to 17 allow the other party time to answer. Discovery requests must be served directly on the 18 opposing party’s counsel by mail. 19 Motion to Compel to Discovery 20 Before filing a discovery motion, the parties must confer and attempt to resolve 21 their differences. A good faith effort to confer with a party or person not making a 22 disclosure or discovery requires a face-to-face meeting or a telephone conference. If 23 unable to resolve their differences, the party filing the discovery motion must, either within 24 1 the motion to compel or in a separate affidavit attached to the motion to compel, list the 2 date, manner, and participants to the conference. If the moving party fails to include such 3 a certification, the court may deny the motion without addressing the merits of the dispute. 4 See Fed. R. Civ. P. 37 and LCR 37(a)(1).
5 The motion to compel must: (1) list the matters on which the parties were unable to 6 agree; (2) identify the nature and relevance of the documents and materials sought; and, 7 (3) explain why the discovery sought is proportional to the needs of the case, considering 8 the importance of the issues at stake in the action, the amount in controversy, the parties’ 9 relative access to relevant information, the parties’ resources, the importance of the 10 discovery in resolving the issues, and whether the burden or expense of the proposed 11 discovery outweighs its likely benefit. 12 Dispositive Motions 13 Pursuant to LCR 7(b), any argument being offered in support of a motion shall be 14 submitted as a part of the motion itself and not in a separate document. The motion shall
15 include in its caption (immediately below the title of the motion) a designation of the date 16 the motion is to be noted for consideration upon the Court’s motion calendar. Dispositive 17 motions shall be noted for consideration on a date no earlier than the fourth Friday 18 following filing and service of the motion. 19 All briefs and affidavits in opposition to any motion shall be filed and served 20 pursuant to the requirements of Rule 7 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and LCR 21 7. The party making a motion may file and serve a reply to the opposing party’s briefs and 22 affidavits. Any reply brief shall also be filed and served pursuant to the requirements of 23 Rule 7 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and LCR 7.
24 1 Defendants are reminded that they MUST serve a Rand notice, in a separate 2 document, concurrently with motions to dismiss and motions for summary judgment so 3 that pro se plaintiffs will have fair, timely and adequate notice of what is required of them 4 in order to oppose those motions. Woods v. Carey, 684 F.3d 934, 941 (9th Cir. 2012).
5 The Ninth Circuit has set forth model language for such notices: 6 A motion for summary judgment under Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure will, if granted, end your case. 7 Rule 56 tells you what you must do in order to oppose a motion for summary 8 judgment. Generally, summary judgment must be granted when there is no genuine issue of material fact – that is, if there is no real dispute about any 9 fact that would affect the result of your case, the party who asked for summary judgment is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, which will end 10 your case. When a party you are suing makes a motion for summary judgment that is properly supported by declarations (or other sworn 11 testimony), you cannot simply rely on what your complaint says. Instead, you must set out specific facts in declarations, depositions, answers to 12 interrogatories, or authenticated documents, as provided in Rule 56(e), that contradict the facts shown in the defendant’s declarations and 13 documents and show that there is a genuine issue of material fact for trial. If you do not submit your own evidence in opposition, summary 14 judgment, if appropriate, may be entered against you. If summary judgment is granted, your case will be dismissed and there will be no 15 trial.
16 Rand v. Rowland, 154 F.3d 952, 963 (9th Cir. 1998) (emphasis added). Defendants who 17 fail to file and serve the required Rand notice on the plaintiff(s) may have their motion 18 stricken from the Court’s calendar with leave to re-file. 19 Proof of Service and Sanctions 20 All motions, pretrial statements, and other filings shall be accompanied by proof 21 that such documents have been served upon counsel for the opposing party or upon any 22 party acting pro se. The proof of service shall show the day and manner of service and 23 may be by written acknowledgment of service, by certificate of a member of the bar of this 24 Court, by affidavit of the person who served the papers, or by any other proof satisfactory 1 to the Court.
Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI
1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 5 AT TACOMA 6 JAMES ANTHONY WILLIAMS, Case No. 3:19-cv-05045-DGE-TLF 7 Plaintiff, v. ORDER SETTING TRIAL DATE 8 AND PRETRIAL SCHEDULE STEPHEN SINCLAIR, et al., 9 Defendants. 10
11 This is a civil rights action brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The Court 12 previously suspended the existing case schedule in this case in connection with the 13 withdrawal of plaintiff’s previously appointed pro bono counsel. Dkt. 56. Since that time, 14 plaintiff has been proceeding pro se and the Court has accepted his Third Amended 15 Complaint (Dkt. 123) as the operative complaint in this matter. Dkt. 122. Defendants 16 have filed an Answer to the Third Amended Complaint. Dkt. 125. Accordingly, the Court 17 orders a new case schedule. 18 In light of the lengthy pendency of this matter, the Court is setting a trial date and 19 the additional deadlines are scheduled in reference to that date. 20 Event Date 21 Expert Witness Disclosure/Report Deadline March 20, 2023 22 Rebuttal Expert Disclosure/Reports Deadline April 18, 2023 23 Completion of Discovery May 30, 2023
24 1 Motions to Compel Discovery June 13, 2023
2 Dispositive Motion Deadline June 27, 2023
3 Motions in Limine Deadline August 21, 2023
4 Deadline for the Parties to Schedule a Settlement Conference 5 Pretrial Order Deadline September 5, 2023 6 Voir Dire/Jury Instructions/Trial Brief Deadline September 5, 2023 7 Deposition Designations Deadline September 5, 2023 8 Pretrial Conference September 15, 2023 9 1:30 pm Jury Trial September 25, 2023 10 9:00 am
11 Discovery 12 Service of responses to interrogatories and to requests to produce, and the 13 taking of depositions, shall be completed by the discovery deadline set forth above. 14 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 33(a) requires answers or objections to be served within 15 thirty (30) days after service of the interrogatories. The serving party, therefore, must 16 serve his/her discovery requests at least thirty (30) days before the deadline in order to 17 allow the other party time to answer. Discovery requests must be served directly on the 18 opposing party’s counsel by mail. 19 Motion to Compel to Discovery 20 Before filing a discovery motion, the parties must confer and attempt to resolve 21 their differences. A good faith effort to confer with a party or person not making a 22 disclosure or discovery requires a face-to-face meeting or a telephone conference. If 23 unable to resolve their differences, the party filing the discovery motion must, either within 24 1 the motion to compel or in a separate affidavit attached to the motion to compel, list the 2 date, manner, and participants to the conference. If the moving party fails to include such 3 a certification, the court may deny the motion without addressing the merits of the dispute. 4 See Fed. R. Civ. P. 37 and LCR 37(a)(1).
5 The motion to compel must: (1) list the matters on which the parties were unable to 6 agree; (2) identify the nature and relevance of the documents and materials sought; and, 7 (3) explain why the discovery sought is proportional to the needs of the case, considering 8 the importance of the issues at stake in the action, the amount in controversy, the parties’ 9 relative access to relevant information, the parties’ resources, the importance of the 10 discovery in resolving the issues, and whether the burden or expense of the proposed 11 discovery outweighs its likely benefit. 12 Dispositive Motions 13 Pursuant to LCR 7(b), any argument being offered in support of a motion shall be 14 submitted as a part of the motion itself and not in a separate document. The motion shall
15 include in its caption (immediately below the title of the motion) a designation of the date 16 the motion is to be noted for consideration upon the Court’s motion calendar. Dispositive 17 motions shall be noted for consideration on a date no earlier than the fourth Friday 18 following filing and service of the motion. 19 All briefs and affidavits in opposition to any motion shall be filed and served 20 pursuant to the requirements of Rule 7 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and LCR 21 7. The party making a motion may file and serve a reply to the opposing party’s briefs and 22 affidavits. Any reply brief shall also be filed and served pursuant to the requirements of 23 Rule 7 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and LCR 7.
24 1 Defendants are reminded that they MUST serve a Rand notice, in a separate 2 document, concurrently with motions to dismiss and motions for summary judgment so 3 that pro se plaintiffs will have fair, timely and adequate notice of what is required of them 4 in order to oppose those motions. Woods v. Carey, 684 F.3d 934, 941 (9th Cir. 2012).
5 The Ninth Circuit has set forth model language for such notices: 6 A motion for summary judgment under Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure will, if granted, end your case. 7 Rule 56 tells you what you must do in order to oppose a motion for summary 8 judgment. Generally, summary judgment must be granted when there is no genuine issue of material fact – that is, if there is no real dispute about any 9 fact that would affect the result of your case, the party who asked for summary judgment is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, which will end 10 your case. When a party you are suing makes a motion for summary judgment that is properly supported by declarations (or other sworn 11 testimony), you cannot simply rely on what your complaint says. Instead, you must set out specific facts in declarations, depositions, answers to 12 interrogatories, or authenticated documents, as provided in Rule 56(e), that contradict the facts shown in the defendant’s declarations and 13 documents and show that there is a genuine issue of material fact for trial. If you do not submit your own evidence in opposition, summary 14 judgment, if appropriate, may be entered against you. If summary judgment is granted, your case will be dismissed and there will be no 15 trial.
16 Rand v. Rowland, 154 F.3d 952, 963 (9th Cir. 1998) (emphasis added). Defendants who 17 fail to file and serve the required Rand notice on the plaintiff(s) may have their motion 18 stricken from the Court’s calendar with leave to re-file. 19 Proof of Service and Sanctions 20 All motions, pretrial statements, and other filings shall be accompanied by proof 21 that such documents have been served upon counsel for the opposing party or upon any 22 party acting pro se. The proof of service shall show the day and manner of service and 23 may be by written acknowledgment of service, by certificate of a member of the bar of this 24 Court, by affidavit of the person who served the papers, or by any other proof satisfactory 1 to the Court. Prisoners subject to the Court’s Mandatory E-Filing Project may comply with 2 this requirement by certifying as to the date the document(s) is handed to the law librarian 3 for scanning. Failure to comply with the provisions of the Order can result in 4 dismissal/default judgment or other appropriate sanctions.
5 Extensions 6 The deadlines contained in this Order are firm and will not be extended by the 7 Court except upon application to the Court with a showing of good cause. 8 Address 9 The parties are to promptly update the Court with any change of address or other 10 contact information. 11 Instructions to Clerk The Clerk of Court is directed to send a copy of this Order to plaintiff and to 12 counsel for defendants. 13 Dated this 7th day of October, 2022. 14 15 16 A
17 Theresa L. Fricke United States Magistrate Judge 18 19 20 21 22 23 24