Judge: Christopher K. Lui, Case: 21STCV25482, Date: 2023-05-08 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 21STCV25482    Hearing Date: May 8, 2023    Dept: 76

ORDER RE: FINAL STATUS CONFERENCE AND TRIAL READINESS DOCUMENTS

The Court has reviewed the file in this case, and makes the following findings and orders governing the trial.

Local Rule 3.25(f)(1) provides that “[a]t least five days prior to the final status conference, counsel must serve and file lists of pre-marked exhibits to be used at trial (Local Rules 3.151, 3.53, and 3.149), jury instruction requests, trial witness lists, and a proposed short statement of the case to be read to the jury panel explaining the case. Failure to exchange and file these items may result in not being able to call witnesses, present exhibits at trial, or have a jury trial.  If trial does not commence within 30 days of the set trial date, a party has the right to request a modification of any final status conference order or any previously submitted required exchange list.” (emphasis added.)

The Court’s Final Status Conference order (“FSC order”), which was issued on November 9, 2021 and served on the parties, requires that the parties file a joint witness list that includes time estimates for direct, cross, and redirect examination for each witness.  This implements the mandate of Local Rule 3.25(h) that counsel “provide reasonable and accurate time estimates for trial.”  Without an accurate time estimate, the Court cannot give prospective jurors an accurate time estimate to assess their availability to serve as jurors.  The parties did not file a witness list.

The FSC order also requires the parties to meet and confer about potential objections to exhibits, and to state those objections on the exhibit list, in order to minimize the waste of time during trial to address objections.  The parties did not file an exhibit list.

The FSC order requires the filing of trial briefs identifying legal and factual issues regarding the trial, so that the Court is able to prepare for trial and assess the time reasonably necessary to complete the trial.  The parties did not file trial briefs.

The FSC order also directs counsel to prepare jury instructions, a proposed verdict form, and a proposed short statement of the case to be read to the jury panel.  The preparation of proposed jury instructions and verdict forms in advance of trial reduces the amount of time necessary to finalize jury documents during trial, allowing the Court to maximize the efficient use of jurors’ time.  The parties did not file any of these jury documents.

Notably, the parties did not even file a joint statement of the case to be read to the jury.  The statement of the case to be read to the jury is a minor part of the trial readiness documents, but it serves an important secondary purpose:  if the parties cannot cooperate in the preparation of a joint statement, the Court has reason to worry about counsel’s ability to meet and confer productively on other aspect of the case.

The timely preparation of trial documents as called for in the FSC order and Local Rule 3.25 allows the Court to ensure that trial will proceed expeditiously without unnecessary mid-trial delays caused by the need to address issues concerning jury instructions, admissibility of exhibits, or witness issues.  Timely preparation of trial documents also allows the Court to assess the comparative readiness of multiple cases set for trial on the same day, which is especially important at this time because the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a substantial backlog of trials in this Department.

The parties have failed to assist the Court in fulfilling the efficiency goals of Local Rule 3.25 and the Court’s Final Status Conference Order, because the parties failed to file a joint witness list, joint exhibit list, and trial briefs, and jury documents in advance of the final status conference as required by Local Rule 3.25(f) and the Court’s Final Status Conference Order. 

Based on the parties’ noncompliance with the FSC order, the Court orders that:

1.      The parties may not present any exhibits at trial other than items subject to judicial notice.

2.      Due to the absence of any time estimate provided by the parties, each side will be limited to four hours for opening statements, direct and cross-examination of witnesses, and closing arguments.[1]