The general timeline for discovery will be four to six months and experts are to be disclosed one to two months prior to close of discovery.

The Court's Case Management Order sets the discovery cutoff date, and Judge Grey will set a discovery cutoff date that is a firm deadline. Discovery must be served sufficiently in advance of the discovery cutoff to allow the opposing party enough time to respond under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure prior to the discovery deadline. All discovery motions must be filed prior to the discovery deadline. The only discovery that may be conducted after the discovery cutoff date without leave of the Court is discovery ordered by the Magistrate Judge for which a timely-filed motion was pending before the discovery cutoff date. Scheduling issues concerning the discovery cutoff date remain before Judge Grey.

Stipulated discovery periods or extensions of the discovery deadline which affect other dates or are longer than necessary without a showing of good cause are not permitted. Filing a motion does not change discovery deadlines. This Court will consider extensions or adjournments of all other dates in limited circumstances for good cause shown upon the timely filing of a written motion.

Local Rule 7.1(c) requires that motions and responses be accompanied by a separate brief. Motions may not be included within or appended to a response or a reply, and under no circumstances may a motion be included within the text or footnotes of another motion.

The Court does not typically issue a briefing schedule; rather, it follows the time limits set forth in Local Rule 7.1(e) and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 6. The Court enforces the response and reply due dates as set forth in Local Rule 7.1(3), even when the motion hearing is set far in advance.

The Court adheres to E.D. Mich. LR 5.1 and 7.1 regarding format and form of motions and briefs, the type of briefs required and permitted, and page limitations. All briefs must contain an index of exhibits, and the Court suggests a table of contents for briefs over ten pages. Deviations from the length and/or timing of briefs under these Rules must be by leave of Court and will rarely be granted. The parties must index and tab their exhibits. Failure to file timely briefs may result in those briefs being stricken, and untimely reply briefs may not be considered.

Citations in motions and briefs must comply with the current Bluebook rules for federal court, and controlling authority must be cited in the text of the brief, not in footnotes.

Except in pro se prisoner cases and on motions for reconsideration, the Court often hears oral argument on civil motions. Upon filing or referral, the Court will notify the parties of the date and time of a hearing. However, pursuant to E.D. Mich. LR 7.1(f), the Court may cancel a scheduled hearing or decide the matter without a hearing where the issues can be decided on the briefs.

Each side generally will be limited to an aggregate of 15 minutes of argument, as the Court will have reviewed the parties' briefs prior to the hearing.

No party may file more than one motion for summary judgment without obtaining leave of the Court.

Before filing a motion for summary judgment or responding to such motion, the parties are strongly urged to familiarize themselves with Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317 (1986), Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242 (1986), and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574 (1986). An excellent summary of these cases appears in Street v. J.C. Bradford & Co., 886 F.2d 1472 (6th Cir. 1989). See also Schwarzer, Summary Judgment under the Federal Rules: Defining Genuine Issues of Material Fact, 99 F.R.D. 465 (1984).

A Rule 56 motion must begin with a "Statement of Material Facts." The Statement must consist of separately numbered paragraphs briefly describing the material facts underlying the motion, sufficient to support judgment. Proffered facts must be supported with citations to the pleadings, interrogatories, admissions, depositions, affidavits, or documentary exhibits. Citations should contain page and line references, as appropriate. The full text of any source cited should be filed with the Court in a Fact Appendix. The Fact Appendix shall contain an index, followed by the tabbed exhibits. Chambers' copies of Fact Appendices of more than 20 pages must be separately bound and include a cover sheet identifying the motion to which they are appended. All pages from the same deposition or document should be at the same tab. The Statement of Material Facts counts against the page limit for the brief. No separate narrative facts section shall be permitted.

The response to a Rule 56 Motion must begin with a "Counterstatement of Material Facts" stating which facts are admitted and which are contested. The paragraph numbering must correspond to moving party's Statement of Material Facts. If any of the moving party's proffered facts are contested, the non-moving party must explain the basis for the factual disagreement, referencing and citing record evidence. Any proffered fact in the movant's Statement of Material Facts that is not specifically contested will, for the purpose of the motion, be deemed admitted. In similar form, the counterstatement may also include additional facts, disputed or undisputed, that require a denial of the motion. The Counterstatement of Material Facts counts against the page limit for the brief. No separate narrative facts section shall be permitted.

It is not the Court's function to "figure out" or to search the record to determine what evidence the parties rely upon in support of claims or defenses. It is incumbent upon the parties to make substantive arguments, with specific references to the record in support of each claim or defense asserted.

Counsel is discouraged from employing elaborate boilerplate recitations of the summary judgment standard or lengthy string citations in support of well-established legal principles. Instead, counsel should focus their analysis on a few well-chosen cases, preferably recent and from controlling courts. Where unpublished opinions or opinions published only in a specialty reporter are cited, copies of these cases must be submitted with the briefs.

Within ten days of the date of arraignment, government and defense counsel shall meet and confer for the purpose of resolving or minimizing the issues in controversy, or government counsel shall file the Discovery Notice attached to E.D. Mich. Administrative Order No. 03-AO-027.

The Joint Final Pretrial Order must be submitted electronically through CM/ECF on or before the date set by the scheduling order.

Counsel is directed to consult and comply with Local Rule 16.2 governing the Joint Final Pretrial Order. The proposed Joint Final Pretrial Order shall strictly comply with the requirements of Local Rule 16.2. All witnesses expected to be called at trial, and all exhibits to be used at trial, must be listed in the Joint Final Pretrial Order, and the exhibits must be exchanged prior to trial. Any witness or exhibit not identified in the Joint Final Pretrial Order shall not be allowed or admitted at trial, absent a showing of good cause.

Pursuant to Local Rule 16.2(b)(9), any objection based on foundation or authenticity will be deemed waived if not raised before trial.

The following persons shall personally attend the final pretrial conference:

1. Trial counsel for each party;

2. All parties who are natural persons;

3. A representative on behalf of any other party with full settlement authority for the party;

4. A representative of any insurance carrier that has undertaken the prosecution or defense of the case and has contractually reserved to itself the ability to settle the action.

Agreement as to Admissibility: Counsel for the government is urged to make reasonable efforts to reach agreement with counsel for the defense concerning the admissibility of each intended physical exhibit prior to trial. In the event such agreement is reached, a list of such exhibits is to be prepared by government counsel for entry at the opening of trial, and the exhibits will be considered admitted at the outset.

Marking of Exhibits: Counsel is required to mark all proposed exhibits in advance of trial. The government's exhibits shall use numbers and defendant's exhibits shall use letters. A consecutive numbering and lettering system should be used by each party.

List of Exhibits: A list of proposed exhibits shall be submitted directly to Chambers by each of the parties by the deadline established at the final pretrial conference. However, no later than one week before the final pretrial conference, each party shall make available for inspection all exhibits which that party will introduce at trial. This provision shall not extend the time for disclosure and inspection of material previously ordered herein.

Foundation Issues and Motions in Limine: Motions in limine and any notices of intent to contest foundation, chain-of-custody, or scientific analysis shall be filed at or before the final pre-trial conference. Unless the items or exhibits are unusually voluminous, any notice of intent to contest foundation, chain-of-custody, or scientific analysis shall provide a brief item-by-item or exhibit-by-exhibit description of the good faith basis for any objection.

Objections to Exhibits: These guidelines shall not affect the right of a party to object at the time of trial to the introduction of an exhibit other than on the basis of authentication and foundation.

Custody and Record of Admitted Exhibits: Counsel should refer to and comply with the Standing Order of Discovery for this District.

Presentation of Exhibits During Trial: The Court encourages parties to use electronic projection to present exhibits during trial in a manner that allows the jury, the Court, attorneys, and parties to view the exhibit simultaneously. If photographs and documentary exhibits are not presented electronically, then the party must prepare exhibit books for the Court and each juror. Whether or not exhibits are presented electronically, a separate exhibit book should be prepared and made available to a witness who is to be questioned about an exhibit.

Preparing Exhibits for Jury Deliberation: Counsel must confer and purge from one set of binders or files all exhibits not admitted during the course of trial. Originals of all exhibits admitted at trial should be ready to be turned over to the jury foreperson prior to closing jury instructions so that jury deliberations are not delayed.

Filing Exhibits: It is the responsibility of the parties to ensure that the record is complete.

Full Disclosure: Computer-generated visual or animated evidence, together with underlying data, must be disclosed to opposing counsel at least one week before the start of trial.

Penalty: A party who does not abide by these provisions may be subject to sanctions, including preclusion of the introduction of exhibits at trial by the offending party.

The parties must meet and confer prior to trial to discuss jury instructions. By the deadline established in the Scheduling Order, the parties must submit directly to Chambers a single set of proposed, stipulated jury instructions. Counsel is responsible for submitting all instructions related to their specific claims or defenses, and special instructions relating to evidence.

All such instructions are to be submitted in typewritten form, double spaced, and on a USB drive compatible with Microsoft Word; each instruction shall contain references to authority (e.g., "Devitt and Blackmar, Section 11.08"); and each instruction shall be on a separate page. In addition, each party must submit separately to Chambers all additional proposed instructions to which any other party objects. These should be submitted in the same form as proposed stipulated instructions. The parties must make a concerted, good faith effort to narrow the areas of dispute and to discuss each instruction with a view to reaching agreement as to an acceptable form. Disputes between the government and defense counsel regarding proposed jury instructions are initially settled at a hearing on the record.

The Court has its own standard introductory and concluding instructions, and counsel is directed to concentrate on elements of the offense, the defense(s), etc. In criminal cases, the Court will usually instruct the jury using the Sixth Circuit's pattern jury instructions when available. The jury is charged after final argument, but upon a joint request by the parties, the Court will charge the jury before final argument.

The Court uses a "struck jury" system for jury selection. In most cases, the government is allowed 6 peremptory challenges and the defendant is allowed 10 peremptory challenges. The Court will select twelve regular and two alternate jurors. Alternate jurors are not told they are alternates; they are dismissed by random draw at the conclusion of the proofs.

The Court will conduct general voir dire, but counsel may conduct their own inquiries of prospective jurors with the Court's permission. All proposed voir dire questions must be submitted to the Court in writing at least 10 days before the start of voir dire.

Marking of Exhibits: Counsel is required to mark all proposed exhibits in advance of trial. Plaintiff's exhibits shall use numbers and Defendant's exhibits shall use letters. A consecutive numbering and lettering system should be used by each party.

List of Exhibits: A list of proposed exhibits shall be submitted directly to Chambers by each party by the deadline established at the final pretrial conference. However, no later than one week before the final pretrial conference, each party shall make available for inspection all exhibits which that party will introduce at trial. This provision shall not extend the time for disclosure and inspection of material previously ordered herein.

Foundation for Exhibits: When a party has inspected an exhibit that the opposing party intends to introduce in evidence, the authentication of that will be deemed established unless the objecting party files a notice with the Court at or before the final pretrial conference that the foundation of the exhibit will be contested. See E.D. Mich. L.R. 16.2(b)(9).

Objections to Exhibits: These guidelines shall not affect the right of a party to object at the time of trial to the introduction of an exhibit other than on the basis of authentication and foundation.

Custody and Record of Admitted Exhibits: Counsel is required to maintain a record of all admitted exhibits during trial. Counsel for each party must keep custody of that party's admitted exhibits during trial. A party who objects to this provision must file a written objection prior to jury selection.

Publication of Exhibits During Trial: The Court encourages parties to use electronic projection to publish exhibits during trial in a manner that allows the jury, the Court, attorneys, and parties to view the exhibit simultaneously. Parties are responsible for providing equipment for such purpose. If photographs and documentary exhibits are not published electronically, then the party must prepare exhibit books for the Court and each juror. Whether or not exhibits are published electronically, a separate exhibit book should be prepared and made available to a witness who is to be questioned about an exhibit.

Preparing Exhibits for Jury Deliberation: Counsel must confer and purge from one set of binders or files all exhibits not admitted during the course of trial. Originals of all exhibits admitted at trial should be ready to be turned over to the jury foreperson prior to closing jury instructions so that jury deliberations are not delayed.

Filing Exhibits: It is the responsibility of the parties to ensure that the record is complete.

Post-Trial: After trial pending appeal, the parties retain custody of their respective exhibits.

Full Disclosure: Computer generated visual or animated evidence, together with underlying data, must be disclosed to opposing counsel at least one week before the start of trial.

The parties must meet and confer prior to trial to discuss jury instructions. By the deadline established in the Scheduling Order, the parties must submit directly to Chambers a single set of proposed, stipulated jury instructions. Counsel is responsible for submitting all instructions related to their specific claims or defenses, and special instructions relating to evidence.

All such instructions are to be submitted in typewritten form, double spaced, and on a USB drive compatible with either Microsoft Word; each instruction shall contain references to authority (e.g., "Devitt and Blackmar, Section 11.08"), and each instruction shall be on a separate page. In addition, each party must submit separately to Chambers all additional proposed instructions to which any other party objects. These should be submitted in the same form as proposed stipulated instructions. The parties must make a concerted, good faith effort to narrow the areas of dispute and to discuss each instruction with a view to reaching agreement as to an acceptable form. Disputes between plaintiff and defense counsel regarding proposed jury instructions are initially settled at a hearing on the record.

The Court has its own standard introductory and concluding instructions, and counsel is directed to concentrate on elements of the offense, the defense(s), etc. The jury is instructed after final argument, but upon a joint request by the parties, the Court will instruct the jury before final argument.

The Court uses a "struck jury" system for jury selection.

The Court will conduct general voir dire, but counsel may conduct their own inquiries of prospective jurors with the Court's permission. All proposed voir dire questions must be submitted to the Court in writing at least three days before the start of voir dire.