APPENDIX A CASE MANAGEMENT PROCEDURE

APPENDIX A
CASE MANAGEMENT PROCEDURE
Rules Committee Notes
2002 Revision
Appendix A represents the court’s standard
pretrial order. The case management procedures
contained in Appendix A reflect those procedures
that are considered, in the collective experience of
the court and the members of its bar, to be most
beneficial in securing the prompt and expeditious
resolution of claims and disputes. Some important
changes have been introduced. Chief among these
are procedures calling for a preliminary scheduling
conference to be set following the filing of the
Joint Preliminary Status Report, and a postdiscovery
conference following the completion of
discovery. The expectation reflected in these
conference procedures is that early and ongoing
involvement of the court during the pretrial
development of a case can contribute both to a
prompt identification of the issues and to a
narrowing of the scope of the dispute.
The promulgation of Appendix A as a
synthesis of the views of the bench and the bar is
intended to encourage standardization in pretrial
practice procedures. Appendix A recognizes,
however, that the pretrial procedures to be
followed in any particular case ultimately depend
upon the needs of that case. Hence, Appendix A
permits modification of its procedures, either at a
judge’s initiative or at the parties’ suggestion,
when such modification will promote the efficient
administration of justice.
2005 Amendment
Subparagraph (d) has been added to
paragraph 13 (Meeting of Counsel) to provide the
court with timely confirmation that counsel have
exchanged exhibit and witness lists and have
conferred regarding: (i) intentions to seek
introduction of deposition transcripts; (ii)
resolution of objections to the admission of
testimony or exhibits; (iii) disclosure of applicable
fact and law contentions; (iv) good-faith efforts to
stipulate facts and to simplify trial; (v) agreement
for submission on the basis of a documentary
record; and (vi) exhaustion of settlement efforts.
In addition, paragraph 17 (Stipulations) has been
amended to emphasize the importance of
stipulations in the pretrial process.
2007 Amendment
Paragraph 3, describing requirements relating
to the early meeting of counsel, has been amended
to include the requirements added by the
December 1, 2006, amendment to the essentially
comparable provision set forth in FRCP 26(f)
(“Conference of Parties; Planning for Discovery”).