IN THE UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT

IN THE UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF NORTH DAKOTA

In Re:

Bankruptcy No.

Chapter

Debtor.

/

Plaintiff,

vs.

Adversary No.

SAMPLE

FINAL PRETRIAL ORDER

Defendant.

/

IT IS ORDERED:

Trial of this adversary proceeding is scheduled for

.

The Court has allotted 1 day for trial of this matter.

A final pretrial conference will be conducted by telephone on

Please use the following phone instructions:

Telephonic Conference Instructions:

1) Call 877-336-1839 (toll free)

2) Enter the Participant Access Code 8843617

3) Enter the Participant Security Code 4321

4) After the security code is entered you will be connected into the conference.

5) Please identify yourself after you have joined the conference.

.

The conference shall be attended by lead counsel for each party, with authorization to bind the

party on all matters addressed at the conference.

PRIOR TO PRETRIAL

Prior to the date of the final pretrial conference, counsel shall confer in person or by telephone

for the purpose of preparing a joint Final Pretrial Statement and examining and marking exhibits as

detailed below. Within 24 hours of the Final Pretrial Conference, counsel shall e-mail the following

documents to Sharon_Horsager@ndb.uscourts.gov in "WordPerfect" or "Word" format:

(1)

Final Pretrial Statement;

(2)

Exhibit List for each party with the opposing party’s designations noted on the form;

and

(3)

Witness List for each party.

Final Pretrial Statement: Counsel will jointly prepare for presentation to the court at pretrial

a Final Pretrial Statement in substantially the same form as the sample attached. Rule 26(a)(3)

disclosures shall be incorporated into the Final Pretrial Statement.

Counsel are not required to stipulate or waive anything. They are required to confer in

advance of the conference and prepare a joint Final Pretrial Statement covering the matters set out

in this order for presentation to the court at the final pretrial conference.

The Final Pretrial Statement must be completed and signed by all counsel, signifying

acceptance. The court will enter an order following the conference accepting or modifying its terms.

A.

EXHIBITS

1.

Not later than 14 days before trial, the parties shall exchange exhibit lists and trial

exhibits. The exhibit list shall be on a form substantially similar to the sample form

attached to this Order and must comply with the following instructions.

Parties must complete the physical marking and numbering of all papers and objects

that may be introduced as exhibits prior to the proceedings before the court. Parties

shall mark a copy, rather than an original document, unless there is good cause for

offering an original record. Original documents offered shall be noted accordingly.

Upon request, a party shall make the original version of the exhibits available for

inspection by other parties.

Exhibits are to be marked with an exhibit sticker using the following protocol:

(a)

Trustee is assigned numbers 1-99. Exhibits shall be marked: Trustee-1 or T-1,

Trustee-2 or T-2, etc.

(b)

Debtor is assigned numbers 101-199. Exhibits shall be marked: Debtor-101 or

D-101, Debtor-102 or D-102, etc.

(c)

Creditors shall begin with number 201. If there is more than one creditor

involved in a hearing or trial, one creditor shall be assigned 201-299, the next

creditor shall be assigned 301-399, etc. Creditors shall use an acronym or word

that easily identifies the litigant. Ex: USA-201 or IRS-201, Bank-301 or US

Bank-301, Smith-401, ABC Co-501.

(d)

United States Trustee’s exhibits shall be marked alphabetically. Exhibits shall

be marked: UST-A, UST-B, etc.

If exhibits exceed 99 for one or more parties, the parties shall agree on a division of

numbers or letters, and the exhibit labels shall clearly identify the party who is offering

the exhibit.

Counsel must disclose and list all exhibits relating to an issue on which their client has

the burden of proof or the burden of going forward with the evidence. Each listed

exhibit shall be designated as "will offer" or "may offer" on the exhibit list. Documents

to be used solely for rebuttal purposes or impeachment need not be numbered or listed

until identified at trial.

If a party fails to disclose or list an exhibit required by this order or a procedural rule,

the Court will refuse to admit it into evidence unless the party shows good cause for

failing to disclose the exhibit.

2.

Not later than 24 hours before the Final Pretrial Conference, the parties shall

designate which of the opposing party’s exhibits they agree may be admitted into

evidence for all purposes, which exhibits they agree to waive authenticity and original

record objections, and which exhibits will draw objections. These designations shall

be appropriately marked on the opposing party’s exhibit list form and returned to

opposing counsel at least 24 hours before the Final Pretrial Conference.

The court strongly encourages such agreement and expects counsel to waive original

evidence and authenticity objections unless there is a compelling, specific objection to

a particular exhibit. Stipulations to admissibility or waiver of original record and

authenticity objections shall be indicated in the appropriate column on the exhibit list.

The non-offering party shall note objections to admissibility of exhibits by the offering

party, by listing the relevant rule(s) of evidence which serve as a basis for the objection

in the column marked “objections” on the exhibit list. An objection not so made,

except for one under Federal Rule of Evidence 402 or 403, is waived unless excused

by the court for good cause. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(3)(B).

3.

B.

On or before the day of trial, the parties shall hand-deliver two copies of their marked

exhibits to the Court (originally-marked exhibits shall be offered at trial). If a party

intends to offer more than 15 exhibits, the copies of the exhibits delivered to the Court

shall be tabbed and bound or filed in binders.

WITNESS LIST

Not later than 24 hours before the Final Pretrial Conference, the parties shall

exchange a list of witnesses, separately identifying those witnesses the party will call

and those the party may call at trial. In addition to the full name and address of the

witnesses, the parties shall provide a brief one or two-sentence synopsis of the

testimony the witness is expected to offer. Example: “Testimony regarding loan

balance.” or “Expert testimony regarding fair market value of real property.” The

parties shall also describe any special needs (i.e. primary language or disability) of a

witness and suggest an appropriate accommodation. The witness list shall be on a form

substantially similar to the form attached to this Order.

C.

D.

DEPOSITION DESIGNATION

1.

Not later than 14 days before trial, the offering party shall serve a designation of the

portions of any depositions that the offering party expects to present at trial (other than

solely for impeachment purposes), and the manner in which each of those depositions

was recorded. A transcript of the pertinent portions of any deposition not

stenographically recorded shall accompany the designation.

2.

The other parties shall have 7 days to file and serve any objections to the use of the

deposition under Rule 32(a) and/or to designate additional portions of any deposition

appearing on the offering party's list. Failure to make a specific objection, except for

one under Federal Rule of Evidence 402 or 403, is waived unless excused by the court

for good cause.

TRIAL BRIEF AND PRETRIAL MOTIONS

1.

Motions in Limine and other motions relating to the conduct of the trial must be filed

and served not later than 7 days before trial.

2.

Not later than 3 days before trial, counsel for the respective parties shall file and serve

a trial brief. The trial brief shall contain:

a.

a general statement of the case;

b.

a list of the fact issues to be determined at trial with reference to the

burden of proof and a short discussion of evidence to be offered;

c.

a list of the issues of law to be determined with citations to authority

referencing the legal standard and the elements of any claims or

affirmative defenses;

d.

a summary of any nonmonetary or monetary relief sought, including

injunctive relief, determination of dischargeability, allowance of a claim,

secured status, costs, fees, etc., and the basis of any relief sought;

e.

an itemized statement of damages, in cases in which damages are

relevant; (If the parties agree on damages, they shall submit a stipulated

statement of the damages. If the parties do not agree on damages, each

party shall submit an itemized statement on damages.)

f.

a statement of any evidentiary or procedural problem expected to arise,

with citations to authority.

3.

Not later than 24 hours before the Final Pretrial Conference, counsel for the

respective parties shall file a joint stipulation of all uncontested facts.

E.

FAILURE TO COMPLY

1.

The fact that the Court may change dates or schedules that appear in this Order does

not change the remaining provisions of the Order.

2.

Failure of counsel to comply with the provisions of this order, may result in dismissal

or default, as may be appropriate.

Dated:

Shon Hastings, Judge

United States Bankruptcy Court

(12/11)

UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT

DISTRICT OF NORTH DAKOTA

EXHIBIT LIST

Bankruptcy Case No:

Adversary Case No.:

EX.

NO.

DATE

WITNESS

Bankruptcy Case Title:

Adversary Case Title:

DESCRIPTION

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* - O - Original Record & Authenticity Only

* - A - Admitted into Evidence for all purposes

§ - Federal Rule of Evidence Rule Number

Irregular Exhibits: ___________________________________________________________________________________________

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(12/11)

UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT

DISTRICT OF NORTH DAKOTA

WITNESS LIST

Bankruptcy Case Name:

Bankruptcy Case No.:

Chapter

Contested Matter ( )

Adversary Proceeding No.:

Adversary Proceeding Title:

Witness(es) to be called by:

NAME & ADDRESS

Will/

May

Call

SYNOPSIS OF TESTIMONY

Use Additional Sheet(s) For Additional Witnesses

8

ADDITIONAL SHEET

NAME & ADDRESS

Will/

May

Call

SYNOPSIS OF TESTIMONY

9