Judge Charles R. Breyer

Except as otherwise ordered, any motions in limine must be filed at least 21 calendar days prior to the pre-trial conference. Any oppositions must be filed at least 14 calendar days prior to the pre-trial conference. Any replies must be filed at least 7 calendar prior to the pre-trial conference. Motions and oppositions may be no more than 7 pages, and replies may be no more than 3 pages. Please limit motions in limine to circumstances that really need a ruling in advance. Usually five or fewer motions per side is sufficient. Each motion should address a single topic. Advance permission is required for more or longer motions.

All of your examination time (whether direct, cross, re-direct or re-cross) for all witnesses must fit within your time limit and you may allocate it as you wish.

Summary judgment memoranda may not exceed 25 pages. Each party is limited to filing one summary judgment motion. Any party wishing to exceed this limit must request leave of the Court and must show good cause.

Briefs or Memoranda of Points and Authorities in support of, or in opposition to, any motions filed in an action must be typed on 28-line, double-spaced pleading paper and, except for summary judgment motions, may not exceed 15 pages in length, exclusive of title pages, indexes of cases, table of contents, exhibits, affidavits and summaries of argument, if required. Briefs exceeding10 pages in length must contain an additional summary of argument, including reference to any important cases cited.

Ordinarily, the Court shall set fixed time limits at the final pretrial conference. All of your examination time (whether direct, cross, re-direct or re-cross) for all witnesses must fit within your time limit and you may allocate it as you wish. Opening and closing time limits shall be separately considered. Counsel must keep track of everyone’s usage. At the end of each day, counsel must confer over the time used and the time remaining for all parties and advise the Court daily. The Court will also try to keep track.

A bench binder containing a copy of each side’s exhibits must be provided to the Court on the first day of trial. Each exhibit must be separated with a label divider. Please use 1-1/2-inch binders with locking rings. (Heavier binders are too hard to handle.)

Exhibits must be labeled in the lower right-hand corner with the exhibit number in a prominent, bold typeface.

All chambers copies should be three-hole punched along the left side of the page, and should bear the ECF filing “stamp” (case number, docket number, date, and ECF page number) along the top of the page. All exhibits shall be clearly delineated with tabs along the right side (e.g., “1”, “2”, “3”). If the filing includes exhibits over three inches thick, the parties shall place the chambers copy in a binder. The Court prefers double-sided printing for voluminous chambers copies of exhibits, if possible.

The joint proposed final pretrial order and the proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law shall be submitted by email at crbpo@cand.uscourts.gov, on a thumb drive in Word format, as well as in hard copies. All hard-copy submissions should be three-hole punched on the left, so the chambers’ copy can be put in binders.

To designate deposition testimony, photocopy the cover page, the page on which the witness is sworn, and each page from which any testimony is proffered, crossing out any portions of such pages not proffered, as well as objections or colloquy (unless needed to understand the question). Please make sure any corrections are interlineated and that references to exhibit numbers conform to the trial numbers.

At least 35 calendar days prior to the pre-trial conference, unless otherwise ordered, the parties shall lodge and serve separate lists of all documents and other items to be offered as exhibits at the trial, other than solely for impeachment or rebuttal, with a brief statement following each, describing its substance or purpose and the identity of the sponsoring witness;

At least 35 calendar days prior to the pre-trial conference, unless otherwise ordered, the parties shall lodge and serve a list of all witnesses likely to be called at trial (including those appearing by deposition), other than solely for impeachment or rebuttal, together with a brief statement following each name describing the substance of the testimony to be given (such a statement is not necessary for witnesses that are plaintiffs/defendants). Parties are to limit their descriptions to non-cumulative testimony. No party shall be permitted to call any witness in its case in chief who is not disclosed in its pretrial statement without leave of court for good cause;

At least 28 calendar days prior to the date for jury selection, unless otherwise ordered, the parties shall file (1) a joint juror questionnaire, (2) a set of proposed voir dire questions, and (3) a joint simplified statement of the case to be included in the questionnaire and read to the jury during voir dire. These submissions should be supplemented as necessary with separate requests. The Court will only ask jurors questions that are reasonably necessary to ensuring an impartial jury, and will seek to avoid asking questions that may unduly infringe on jurors' privacy.

At least 21 calendar days prior to the pre-trial conference, unless otherwise ordered, the parties shall lodge and serve a joint proposed pre-trial order, signed and vetted by all counsel, containing the following information:

At least 7 calendar days prior to the pre-trial conference in a jury trial, unless otherwise ordered, the parties shall file a joint proposed special verdict form.

At least 7 calendar days prior to the pre-trial conference in a jury trial, unless otherwise ordered, the parties shall file a a joint set of proposed instructions on substantive issues of law. These should be filed in Microsoft Word format on a CD and via e-mail to crbpo@cand.uscourts.gov, and in hard copies (three-hole punched on the left). Even if stipulated, an instruction must be supported by citation. If disputed, each version of the instruction shall be inserted, along with a brief explanation (no more than one page) of why the party believes the instruction is (or is not) appropriate. The Court generally prefers to use the instruction in the current edition of the Ninth Circuit Manual of Model Jury Instructions. Any deviance from the form instruction must be plainly identified.

Unless otherwise ordered, trial will be held on every business day from 9 a.m. to 4 with two 15-minute breaks and lunch. Counsel must arrive by 8:45 a.m. or earlier, as needed, for any matters to be heard out of the presence of the jury. Please be prepared to start with the jury at 9 a.m.

Should a daily transcript and/or real-time reporting be desired, the parties shall make arrangements with the Supervisor of Court Reporting Services at Transcripts@cand.uscourts.gov at least ten calendar days prior to the trial date.

A witness not included in the pre-trial list may not be used without good cause. This rule does not apply to true rebuttal witnesses (other than experts). Defense witnesses are normally case-in-chief witnesses, not “rebuttal” witnesses.

Counsel must always have their next witness ready and in the courthouse. Failure to have the next witness ready or to be prepared to proceed with the evidence will usually constitute resting.

Throughout the trial, all counsel are entitled to know a firm order of witnesses for the next full court day and the exhibits that will be used on direct examination (other than for impeachment of an adverse witness). All other counsel shall provide any objections to such exhibits and shall provide a list of all exhibits to be used with the same that the first such notice be provided before trial actually begins.

A recurring problem in trials is the problem of expert witnesses trying to go beyond the scope of their expert reports on direct examination. FRCP 26(a)(2) and FRCP 37(c) limit experts to the opinions and bases contained in their timely reports (absent substantial justification or harmlessness). The Court regularly enforces these rules. FRCP 26(a) even requires that any “exhibits to be used as summary of or support for the opinions” be included in the report. Accordingly, at trial, the direct testimony of experts will be limited to the matters disclosed in their reports. Omitted material may not ordinarily be added on direct examination. This means the reports must be complete and sufficiently detailed. Illustrative animations, diagrams, charts and models may be used on direct examination only if they were part to the expert’s report, with the exception of simple drawings and tabulations that plainly illustrate what is already in the report, which can be drawn by the witness at trial or otherwise shown to the jury. If cross-examination fairly “opens the door,” however, an expert may go beyond the written report on cross-examination and/or re-direct examination. By written stipulation, of course, all sides may relax these requirements.

On the first day of trial, bring the original and clean copies of any deposition(s) for which you are responsible. Any corrections must be readily available. If you are likely to need to use the deposition during a witness examination, then give the Court a copy with any corrections at the outset of your examination. This will minimize delay between the original question and the read-ins of the impeaching material. Opposing counsel should have their copy immediately available.

To designate deposition testimony, photocopy the cover page, the page on which the witness is sworn, and each page from which any testimony is proffered, crossing out any portions of such pages not proffered, as well as objections or colloquy (unless needed to understand the question). Please make sure any corrections are interlineated and that references to exhibit numbers conform to the trial numbers.

Deposition testimony should be provided to all other parties at least five calendar days before it will be used in court. For the rare case of voluminous designations, more lead time will be required. Please be reasonable.

All other parties must then promptly review and return the packet, highlighting in yellow any passages objected to, and in blue additional

At the end of each day, counsel must confer over the time used and the time remaining for all parties and advise the Court.

Unless and until a stipulated dismissal or judgment is filed or placed on the record, all parties must be prepared to proceed with the final pretrial conference as scheduled and to proceed to trial on the trial date, on pain of dismissal of the case for lack of prosecution or entry of default judgment.

Use numbers only, not letters, for exhibits, preferably the same numbers as were used in depositions. Blocks of numbers should be assigned to fit the need of the case (e.g., Plaintiff has 1 to 100, Defendant A has 101 to 200, etc.).

To avoid any party claiming “ownership” of an exhibit, all exhibits shall be marked and referred to as “Trial Exhibit No. ,” not as “Plaintiff’s Exhibit” or “Defendant’s Exhibit.”

If a party files an amended pleading, it shall concurrently file a redlined version comparing the amended pleading to the prior operative pleading.

Plea agreements pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(c)(1)(B) must include the following: 1. If the agreement includes a Sentencing Guidelines calculation, then it must also state that the parties agree that the adjusted offense level results in a Guidelines range of ___ to ___ months depending on the defendant's Criminal History Category. 2. If the agreement includes a waiver of appellate rights, it must also reserve the...

Counsel shall submit a proposed form of order with all motion and opposition papers.

b. Each side’s proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law. Each party shall file at least 7 days prior to the Pretrial Conference proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law on all material issues. The Court requests that the parties hyperlink each proposed Finding of Fact to any supporting evidence. Proposed Findings shall be brief, written in plain English, and free of pejorative language, conclusions and argument. Parties shall deliver to Chambers with a label including the name of the case, the case number and a description of the submission

a. In lieu of preparing a joint pretrial conference statement, the parties shall meet and confer and prepare a joint proposed final pretrial order that contains: (i) a brief description of the substance of claims and defenses which remain to be decided, (ii) a statement of all relief sought, (iii) all stipulated facts, (iv) a list of all factual issues which remain to be tried, (v) a joint exhibit list in numerical order, including a brief description of the exhibit, a column for when it is offered in evidence, a column for when it is received in evidence, and a column for any limitations on its use, and (vi) each party’s separate witness list for its case-in-chief witnesses (including those appearing by deposition) providing, for all such witnesses other than an individual plaintiff and an individual defendant, a short statement of the substance of his/her testimony and, separately, what, if any, non-cumulative testimony the witness will give. If non-cumulative testimony is not spelled out, then the Court will presume the witness is cumulative. For each witness, state an hour/minute time estimate for the direct examination (only).

c. Each side’s trial brief.

Please do not prepare a joint pretrial conference statement. Nor should counsel invest time on deposition designations or extracts from interrogatories or requests for admissions at the pretrial conference stage. Instead, please file seven calendar days in advance of the final pretrial conference the following:

Communication with opposing party. Throughout the trial, all counsel are entitled to know a firm order of witnesses for the next full court day and the exhibits that will be used on direct examination (other than for impeachment of an adverse witness). All other counsel shall provide any objections to such exhibits and shall provide a list of all exhibits to be used with the same witness on cross-examination (other than for impeachment). This requires that the first such notice be provided before trial actually begins.

Counsel must always have their next witness ready and in the courthouse. Failure to have the next witness ready or to be prepared to proceed with the evidence will usually constitute resting.

A witness not included in the pre-trial list may not be used without good cause.

On the first day of trial, be sure to bring the original and clean copies of any deposition(s) for which you are responsible. Any corrections must be readily available. If you are likely to need to use the deposition during a witness examination, then give the Court and the witness a copy with any corrections at the outset of the examination.

The parties must meet and confer as reasonable. Counsel for the proffering party must then assemble a final packet, including objections and responses to objections, and provide it to the Court at least two calendar days before the proffer will be used. Ordinarily, argument will not be needed.

Deposition testimony should be provided to all other parties at least five calendar days before it will be used in court. For the rare case of voluminous designations, more lead time will be required. Please be reasonable.

All other parties must then promptly review and return the packet, highlighting in yellow any passages objected to, and in blue additional passages as needed to cure the completeness objection. Please cross out any irrelevant portions of any additional pages. A completeness objection should normally be made only if a few extra lines will cure the problem. The parties must provide brief explanations for any additions or deletions. They must also return any counter designations at the same time.

Exhibits offered and admitted during trial shall be filed on the docket within ten days of a trial verdict pursuant to Civil Local Rule 5-1 (g). The parties shall file through the exhibits shall be accompanied by a Joint Certification of Counsel that the exhibits are true and correct copies of the exhibits submitted to the trier of fact in the matter.

Bench copy: Deposit your exhibits with the deputy clerk (Lashanda Scott) on the first day of trial. A bench binder containing a copy of each side’s exhibits must be provided to the Court on the first day of trial. Each exhibit must be separated with a label divider. Please use 1-1/2-inch binders with locking rings. (Heavier binders are too hard to handle.)

There can only be one lawyer per witness per party for all purposes, including objections.