LR 16.6 Final Pretrial Conference

(a) In every case not specified by LR 26.1(b)(1), the Court shall hold a final pretrial conference. The final pretrial conference required by this Rule may be combined with the settlement conference required by LR 16.5(a). In any event the conference must be held no earlier than 45 days before trial.

(b) At the final pretrial conference, the parties and the Court shall discuss:

(1) Stipulated and uncontroverted facts;

(2) List of issues to be tried;

(3) Disclosure of all witnesses;

(4) Listing and exchange of copies of all exhibits;

(5) Motions in limine, pretrial rulings, and, where possible, objections to evidence;

(6) Disposition of all outstanding motions;

(7) Elimination of unnecessary or redundant proof, including limitations on expert witnesses;

(8) Itemized statement of all damages by all parties;

(9) Bifurcation of the trial;

(10) Limits on the length of trial;

(11) Jury selection issues; and

(12) Any issue that in the Judge's opinion may facilitate and expedite the trial; for example, the feasibility of presenting trial testimony by way of deposition or by a summary written statement;

(c) If the case involves one or more claims relating to patents, and is to be tried to a jury, the parties shall confer with the objective of agreeing to a particular set of model jury instructions to be used as a template for each party's proposed jury instructions; and

(d) Following the final pretrial conference, the Court shall issue a final pretrial order, which shall set forth dates by which motions in limine shall be filed, date by which the disclosures of Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(3) shall be made and dates by which the documents identified in LR 39.1 shall be filed and exchanged between counsel.

[Adopted effective November 1, 1996, Amended February 9, 2006]

1996 Advisory Committee's Note to LR 16.6

LR 16.6's requirement of a final pretrial conference is intended to facilitate the efficient trial of the case while minimizing the element of surprise. The Rule is also designed to provide some uniformity among the members of the Court with respect to the content of the final pretrial order.

2005 Advisory Committee's Note to LR 16.6(c)

The Committee recognizes that there are several model jury instructions that could be used as a template for proposed jury instructions. Specifically, model jury instructions issued by the United States Courts of Appeals for Fifth, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits, the United States District Courts for the District of Delaware and the Northern District of California, the American Intellectual Property Law Association, and the Federal Circuit Bar Association might be appropriate.

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