IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
CUYAHOGA COUNTY, OHIO
Plaintiffs,
v.
Defendants,
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CASE NO. CV
JUDGE BRENDAN J. SHEEHAN
TRIAL ORDER
I. GENERAL
It is the duty of counsel to confer with each other frequently in order to prepare the case
for trial. It will be necessary to confer in person on occasion. If an attorney is not complying with
the requirements of this Trial Order, or is failing to cooperate with opposing counsel, opposing
counsel shall immediately bring the matter to the Court's attention by written notification.
FAILURE TO CONFORM TO THIS TRIAL ORDER IS DEEMED A WAIVER OF ANY
AND ALL OBJECTIONS TO RESULTING PROCEEDINGS.
II. REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO ALL TRIALS.
A. TRIAL BRIEF:
Each party is required to serve and file a trial brief no later than one week prior to the
scheduled trial date. The trial brief shall contain:
(a) a succinct statement of the essential and material facts;
(b) a discussion of the controlling law;
(c) the type and amount of damages sought;
(d) an estimate of how long it will take to put on their case in chief;
(e) a discussion of any evidentiary issues likely to arise at trial, and
(f) for cases tried to a jury, proposed voir dire questions concerning sensitive
or unusual issues that are anticipated.
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Trial briefs shall not exceed 10 pages without good cause shown and leave of Court.
B. WITNESS LISTS:
No later than one week prior to the scheduled trial date, the parties shall exchange, serve
and file witness lists which shall include the witnesses' names and a very brief description of the
subject matter of the testimony of each witness. If a witness is not listed in the witness list, the
witness shall not testify except under extraordinary circumstances.
C. EXHIBIT LISTS:
No later than one week prior to the scheduled trial date, the parties shall serve and file a
list of trial exhibits. Trial exhibits shall be pre-marked with exhibit stickers and exchanged no
later than one week prior to the scheduled trial date. The plaintiff shall mark exhibits with
numbers and the defendant shall mark exhibits with letters. If there are multiple parties, the
party's last name should precede the number or letter (e.g., Jones-1 or Smith-A). If the parties
have a joint exhibit, it shall be marked as Jt. Ex. 1, etc. If the defendant has more than twenty-six
(26) exhibits, double letters shall be used (e.g., AA, BB, CC, etc.)
One copy of each exhibit shall be furnished to the Court no later than one week before
the scheduled trial date. The Court recommends that counsel place all exhibits in three-ring
looseleaf binders, with appropriately marked divider tabs. A table of contents for each binder
must be included. There is no need to file the exhibits with the Clerk of Court. The original
exhibits should be retained by counsel for use at trial.
D. MOTIONS IN LIMINE:
Motions in limine must be filed and served upon opposing counsel at least one week prior
to the scheduled trial date. The nonmoving party shall respond, if desired, at least two (2)
business days prior to the scheduled trial date.
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E. DEPOSITION TESTIMONY (VIDEOTAPE AND WRITTEN):
Whenever depositions (videotape and written) are intended to be used as evidence at trial,
counsel proposing to use such deposition shall notify opposing counsel at least one week prior to
the scheduled trial date. Any objections to portions of the deposition must be filed in writing
with the Court at least three (3) business days prior to the scheduled trial date. If there are
objections, counsel proposing to use said deposition shall file a brief in support within two (2)
business days after the objections are filed or indicate an agreement to delete the portion for
which there is an objection. The Court must be provided with a complete written transcript of
videotape depositions.
FAILURE TO PRESERVE OBJECTIONS AT DEPOSITION BY FILING
WRITTEN OBJECTIONS PRIOR TO TRIAL AS SET FORTH ABOVE WILL BE
DEEMED A WAIVER OF ALL OBJECTIONS NOT SO PRESERVED.
III. JURY TRIALS:
A. JOINTLY SUBMITTED MATERIALS:
The parties are required to meet and confer to prepare and submit the following
materials:
1. STIPULATIONS OF FACT: Counsel for the parties shall confer to prepare written
stipulations as to all uncontested facts to be presented to the jury. The stipulations
shall be filed with the Court no later than one week prior to the scheduled trial date.
2. STATEMENT OF DISPUTED FACTS: Counsel for the parties shall confer to prepare
a joint statement listing all disputed issues of fact which are to be submitted to the
jury. The statement shall be filed with the Court no later than one week prior to the
scheduled trial date.
3. PRELIMINARY STATEMENTS: Counsel shall prepare a joint statement describing
the case in an impartial, easily understood and concise manner for use by the Court
either during voir dire and/or at the time the jury is impaneled. This statement will be
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used to set the context of the trial for the jury and must be submitted at the same time
the trial brief is submitted.
4. JURY INSTRUCTIONS: Counsel for the parties are required to confer on
requested jury instructions with the goal of submitting agreed upon instructions.
The instructions agreed upon by all counsel shall be identified. Disputed instructions
shall also be identified, along with separate citations to legal authority for each
instruction. No proposed jury instruction will be considered by the Court unless it
has been submitted in compliance with these provisions, except that a request for
instructions that could not reasonably have been anticipated may be submitted at
least twenty-four (24) hours before final argument. FAILURE TO COMPLY
WITH THIS REQUIREMENT WILL BE DEEMED AS A WAIVER OF
OBJECTIONS TO FINAL JURY INSTRUCTIONS USED BY THE COURT.
Proposed jury instructions must be submitted to the court at least one week prior to the
scheduled trial date. Counsel shall also proved the agreed-upon jury instruction to the
court on a CD in Word format or via email attachment addressed to the court's staff
attorney at cp1jj@cuyahogacounty.us.
Materials submitted by ind
with this Trial Order.
B. VOIR DIRE:
The Court will conduct initial voir dire of the panel and of individual panel members.
Proposed voir dire questions concerning any particularly sensitive or unusual issues that were
submitted in the trial brief may be included in the Court's examination, subject to the Court's
discretion. The Court may thereafter allow one counsel for each party to question briefly the
panel on issues not addressed by the Court. In cases involving more than one plaintiff and/or
more than one defendant, the time for voir dire shall be divided by counsel for the parties.
Additional time for voir dire shall not be allowed except where otherwise permitted by the Court.
The Court will discontinue questioning by counsel if questioning seeks to instruct the jury on the
law or accomplish anything other than to elicit information regarding the panel member's
background, biases, or suitability for service.
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Parties may discuss the voir dire process with the Court and suggest a format that would
be agreeable among all parties and the Court.
IV. BENCH TRIALS.
A. PROPOSED FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW IN NON-
JURY TRIALS:
In all non-jury cases, counsel for each of the parties shall prepare proposed Findings of
Fact and Conclusions of Law, which shall be filed with the Court and served upon opposing
counsel not later than one week before the date set for trial.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
________________________________
JUDGE BRENDAN J. SHEEHAN
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
A copy of the foregoing was hand delivered to the parties and/or counsel at pretrial in this
matter.
