WILLIAMS v. CITY OF GREENVILLE

ORDER GOVERNING PRETRIAL CONFERENCE AND PREPARATION OF FINAL PRETRIAL ORDER

JANE M. VIRDEN, Magistrate Judge.

The purpose of the final pretrial conference is to secure a just and speedy determination of the issues and prepare the formal pretrial order. Counsel for all parties shall confer in person (face to face) at their earliest convenience for the purpose of arriving at all possible stipulations and for the exchange of copies of documents that will be offered in evidence at the trial. It shall be the duty of counsel for plaintiff to initiate this conference, and the duty of other counsel to respond. If, after reasonable effort, any party cannot obtain the cooperation of other counsel, it shall be his duty to communicate immediately with the Court, sufficiently in advance of the Final Pretrial Conference to allow resolution of the issue before counsel appears at the Final Pretrial Conference.

At the conference between counsel, counsel for all parties shall agree upon the real issues each party will offer evidence to support, eliminating any issues that might appear in the pleadings about which there is no real controversy. The parties shall agree upon issues of law as well as ultimate issues of fact to be resolved at trial. The parties shall avoid duplication of issues and stipulations. Any disputes will be resolved at the final pretrial conference.

Counsel is forewarned that no party will be allowed to list in the final pretrial order any exhibit or witness not disclosed or produced as required by the federal rules of civil procedure and the local rules of this court.

Counsel for the parties shall jointly prepare a single proposed Final Pretrial Order, with all parties' proposed inclusions, and submit the proposed order to the magistrate judge via email no later than SEVEN BUSINESS DAYS before the final pretrial conference is to take place. The final edited version of the Final Pretrial Order shall be submitted to the United States Magistrate Judge as directed by the magistrate judge at the Final Pretrial Conference. Strict deadlines in preparing the Final Pretrial Order must be observed because this case has been set for trial.

Unless prior approval from the court is obtained, ALL parties and counsel must attend and be prepared to conduct a Settlement Conference at conclusion of Final Pretrial Conference.