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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO UNIFORM CIVIL PRACTICE STANDARDS OF JUDGE REGINA M. RODRIGUEZ Alfred A. Arraj United States Courthouse Courtroom: A901 Chambers: A941 Telephone: (303) 335-2170 Email: [email protected] JUDGE CHARLOTTE N. SWEENEY Alfred A. Arraj United States Courthouse Courtroom: A702 Chambers: A738 Telephone: (303) 335-2610 Email: [email protected] JUDGE NINA Y. WANG Alfred A. Arraj United States Courthouse Courtroom: A902 Chambers: A938 Telephone: (303) 335-2600 Email: [email protected] JUDGE GORDON P. GALLAGHER Wayne Aspinall Federal Building Courtroom: 323 Chambers: 310 Telephone: (970) 241-8932 Email: [email protected] JUDGE S. KATO CREWS Byron G. Rogers Courthouse Courtroom: 601 Chambers: 641 Telephone: (303) 335-2124 Email: [email protected] Court Website: http://www.cod.uscourts.gov/Home.aspx Effective: December 9, 2025 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. SCOPE, PURPOSE, AND CONSTRUCTION ........................................................ 2 Civ. Practice Standard 1.1 – Scope, Purpose, and Construction .................................. 2 Civ. Practice Standard 1.1A – Title and Citation ........................................................... 2 II. COMMENCEMENT OF ACTION, SERVICE OF PROCESS, PLEADINGS, MOTIONS, AND ORDERS .............................................................................................. 2 Civ. Practice Standard 6.1A – Motions for Extension of Time ....................................... 2 Civ. Practice Standard 6.1B – Continuances of Hearings or Trials ............................... 3 PLEADINGS AND MOTIONS ................................................................................ 3 III. Civ. Practice Standard 7.1A – Motions – General Information ...................................... 3 Civ. Practice Standard 7.1B – Motions to Dismiss Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b) ... 5 Civ. Practice Standard 7.1C – Motions Pursuant to Fed. R. Evid. 702 ......................... 5 Civ. Practice Standard 7.1D – Motions for Summary Judgment Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 56 ..................................................................................................................... 6 Civ. Practice Standard 7.2 – Public Access to Documents and Proceedings ............... 8 Civ. Practice Standard 10.1 – Format of Pleadings and Documents Presented for Filing ............................................................................................................................ 8 Civ. Practice Standard 16.6 – Alternative Dispute Resolution ..................................... 10 IV. PARTIES ............................................................................................................. 10 [No Practice Standards] ............................................................................................. 10 DEPOSITIONS AND DISCOVERY ...................................................................... 10 V. Civ. Practice Standard 26.1A – Employment Cases ................................................... 10 TRIALS ................................................................................................................ 11 VI. Civ. Practice Standard 43.1A – General Information .................................................. 11 Civ. Practice Standard 43.1B – Trial ........................................................................... 13 Civ. Practice Standard 43.1C – Exhibits ..................................................................... 13 Civ. Practice Standard 43.1D – Witnesses ................................................................. 14 VII. JUDGMENT ......................................................................................................... 15 [No Practice Standards] ............................................................................................. 15 VIII. PROVISIONAL AND FINAL REMEDIES ............................................................. 15 [No Practice Standards] ............................................................................................. 15 IX. SPECIAL PROCEEDINGS .................................................................................. 15 Civ. Practice Standard 72.3 – Objections to Magistrate Judge Recommendations ..... 15 DISTRICT COURT AND CLERK ......................................................................... 16 X. Civ. Practice Standard 77.2 – Communication with Chambers ................................... 16 XI. GENERAL PROVISIONS .................................................................................... 16 [No Practice Standards] ............................................................................................. 16 I. SCOPE, PURPOSE, AND CONSTRUCTION Civ. Practice Standard 1.1 – Scope, Purpose, and Construction (a) (b) (c) Applicability. These Practice Standards apply to all civil actions pending before Judges Rodriguez, Sweeney, Wang, Gallagher, and Crews at the time of this publication regardless of when the action was first filed. Unless otherwise indicated by a Judge’s initials under a specific Practice Standard, these are the Uniform Civil Practice Standards of Judge Regina M. Rodriguez (RMR), Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney (CNS), Judge Nina Y. Wang (NYW), Judge Gordon P. Gallagher (GPG), and Judge S. Kato Crews (SKC). Additional Applicable Rules. Those appearing in the District Court must know and follow: (1) (2) The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure; The Federal Rules of Evidence; (3) The Local Rules of Practice of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado; The Electronic Case Filing Procedures (Civil Cases); and These Practice Standards. (4) (5) The failure to follow these Practice Standards, the Local Rules of Practice, or the Federal Rules may result in an order striking the noncompliant filing without substantive consideration or other appropriate sanctions. Civ. Practice Standard 1.1A – Title and Citation (a) (b) Title. These Practice Standards shall be known as the presiding Judge’s “Uniform Civil Practice Standards.” Citation. These Practice Standards should be cited as Civ. Practice Standard, Section, Subsection, Paragraph, Subparagraph, Item, with reference to the presiding Judge’s initials (e.g. RMR Civ. Practice Standard 7.1D(b)(6)(B . II. COMMENCEMENT OF ACTION, SERVICE OF PROCESS, PLEADINGS, MOTIONS, AND ORDERS Civ. Practice Standard 6.1A – Motions for Extension of Time (a) This Practice Standard is subject to D.C.COLO.LCivR 6.1(a), which governs extension by stipulation. 2 (b) (c) (d) An extension of time to file a document must be sought by way of an appropriate written motion filed as far in advance of the deadline as possible. The moving party should clearly set forth good cause for the requested extension with particularity. Typically, the press of business does not constitute good cause for an extension of time. In a civil case, service on the client, as required by D.C.COLO.LCivR 6.1(c), must be noted in the Certificate of Service and must identify the individual(s) who received such service, including, if appropriate, the name and title of any individual who received service on behalf of a client that is not a natural person. No motion for an extension of time to file a document shall be considered unless it is filed on or before the original filing deadline date. Civ. Practice Standard 6.1B – Continuances of Hearings or Trials (a) A continuance of a hearing or trial must be sought by way of an appropriate written motion filed as far in advance of the proceeding as possible. Motions to continue (including motions to vacate or reset) hearings and trials shall be determined pursuant to D.C.COLO.LCivR 6.1 and 7.1; these Practice Standards; Rogers v. Andrus Transp. Servs., 502 F.3d 1147, 1151 (10th Cir. 2007); and United States v. West, 828 F.2d 1468, 1469–70 (10th Cir. 1987). (b) Oral or written motions for continuance of a hearing or trial made on the date of the hearing or trial may not be entertained by the Court. (c) (d) Stipulations for continuance shall not be effective unless and until approved by the Court. The moving party should email Chambers at the time a written motion to continue is filed. Civ. Practice Standard 7.1A – Motions – General Information III. PLEADINGS AND MOTIONS (a) Filing Requirements. (1) Parties shall submit a proposed order with any joint or unopposed motion. The proposed order in Word format is to be emailed to Chambers with the subject line containing “Proposed Order” and the case name and number and the motion docket number. (2) Motions and all supporting arguments should be contained in a single document. Motions with separately filed briefs or memoranda are noncompliant. 3 (3) All exhibits shall be filed as separate attachments to the corresponding motion, brief, or other document and shall be labeled in the CM/ECF system both by exhibit number or letter and by name (e.g., “Exhibit 1 – Doe Affidavit”). RMR: Where a motion is supported by exhibits, said motion shall be accompanied by one consecutively numbered appendix, containing all exhibits and shall be referenced in the motion, response, and reply by appendix page number and name, e.g., (Movant’s Appx., p. 30 – Smith Affidavit). If the respondent needs to include additional exhibits not already respondent shall submit a contained respondent’s appendix, with the pages numbered consecutively. Respondent’s appendix shall be referenced by page number and name, e.g., (Respondent’s Appx., p. 10 – Jones Affidavit). If parties wish to file any supporting exhibits under restriction, they must be filed in accordance with Civ. Practice Standard 7.1A(c) below. in movant’s appendix, the (4) (5) (6) If a party files what it deems an “emergency” motion, it must email Chambers at the time the motion is filed, with the subject line containing “Emergency Motion” and the case name and number. All requests for the Court to take distinct actions must be contained in separate, written motions. For instance, if a party seeks to move to dismiss and stay discovery pending the motion to dismiss, the party must file two separate motions. However, requests for complementary or alternative relief, such as multiple grounds for a motion to dismiss or in the alternative a motion for summary judgment, shall be included in a single motion. In other words, different bases for the same relief shall be filed in one motion, whereas requests for the Court to take different or distinct actions shall be filed in separate motions. A request for the Court to take action shall NOT be included in a response or reply to the original motion. Although the requirement applies to cross- motions for summary judgment, the requirement does not apply to objections to summary judgment evidence unless the objecting party is seeking total or partial exclusion of expert testimony under Federal Rule of Evidence 702. This requirement also does not apply to requests to convert a motion pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to one for summary judgment; such a request should instead be included in the response to the Rule 12(b)(6) motion. (b) Responses and Replies. (1) Unless otherwise ordered, for deadlines, see D.C.COLO.LCivR 7.1(d). Rule 6 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure controls the computation of time. 4 (2) A response shall clearly and completely identify by title, court CM/ECF docket number, and date filed the antecedent motion or petition to which response is made. Similarly, a reply shall clearly and completely identify by title, court CM/ECF docket number, and date filed the antecedent response to which reply is made. Restricted Exhibit(s). If any party believes that any of the exhibits in support of or in opposition to a party’s motion should be filed under restriction, the party shall file a placeholder exhibit (if the entire exhibit is restricted) or a redacted exhibit (if only portions of the exhibit are restricted) as an attachment or in its appendix, noting that the restricted exhibit will be filed under restriction. The party must also file a motion to restrict public access pursuant to D.C.COLO.LCivR 7.2(c), explaining the need for the restriction and attaching the actual restricted exhibit(s). Untimely or Noncomplying Motions, Responses, or Replies. Filings that are untimely, noncomplying, or filed without a certification when required under D.C.COLO.LCivR 7.1(a) or these Practice Standards may be denied without prejudice or stricken sua sponte. (c) (d) Civ. Practice Standard 7.1B – Motions to Dismiss Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b) (a) Unless otherwise ordered, each party shall be limited to the filing of a single motion to dismiss directed at the operative pleading. (b) Motions to dismiss filed under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b) are discouraged if the defect is curable by the filing of an amended pleading. As such, parties are required to meet and confer prior to the filing of a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b), unless one or more parties is an unrepresented, incarcerated, or detained person. The failure to comply with this conferral requirement may result in the Court striking the motion without substantive consideration. (c) Rule 12(b) motions which rely on matters outside the pleadings shall address the basis for the Court to consider such documents and whether the motion should or should not be converted into a motion for summary judgment. Civ. Practice Standard 7.1C – Motions Pursuant to Fed. R. Evid. 702 (a) Unless otherwise ordered, all motions filed under Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and any motion to strike an expert on the basis of discovery violations shall be filed no later than thirty (30) days after the deadline for disclosure of rebuttal witnesses. 5 (b) (c) (d) All motions filed under Rule 702 shall include the expert witness’s report as an exhibit and specify, with particularity, the opinion(s) that the moving party seeks to exclude and the specific ground(s) on which each opinion is challenged, e.g., relevancy, sufficiency, or methodology. All such motions shall specifically state whether the moving party is requesting an evidentiary hearing, and all responses shall similarly indicate whether the responding party believes an evidentiary hearing is necessary. Evidentiary hearings will be set at the Court’s discretion. Unless otherwise ordered, the expert witness whose testimony or opinion is proffered shall be present at the hearing. Pursuant to Civ. Practice Standard 7.1A(a)(5), all challenges to an expert’s testimony shall be made in a single motion, even if the moving party seeks to strike the expert’s testimony on multiple grounds (e.g., under Rule 702 and Rule 26(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure). Civ. Practice Standard 7.1D – Motions for Summary Judgment Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 56 (a) (b) RMR: For cases pending before Judge Rodriguez, Civ. Practice Standard 7.1D shall not apply. Instead, please follow Judge Rodriguez’s Standing Order Regarding Rule 56 Motions, available on the Court’s website. CNS: For cases pending before Judge Sweeney, a party may only file a motion under Civ. Practice Standard 7.1D after complying with Judge Sweeney’s Standing Order Regarding Rule 56 Motions, available on the Court’s website. SKC: For cases pending before Judge Crews, Civ. Practice Standard 7.1D shall not apply. Instead, please follow Judge Crews’ Standing Order Regarding Rule 56 Motions, available on the Court’s website. Single Motion. Absent leave of the Court, which will only be granted in exceptional circumstances, a party may file only one motion for summary judgment. Due to the voluminous factual materials often submitted with Rule 56 motions, all such motions must comply with the following: (1) In a section of the brief required by D.C.COLO.LCivR 56.1(a) styled “Statement of Undisputed Material Facts,” the movant shall set forth in simple, declarative sentences, separately numbered and paragraphed, each material fact that the movant believes is not in dispute and that supports the movant’s claim that movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Each material fact must be accompanied by a specific reference to material in the record that establishes that fact. General references to pleadings, depositions, or documents are insufficient if the document is more than one page in length. (2) 6 (3) (4) (5) (6) A general reference is sufficient only if the nature of the material fact does not permit a specific reference (e.g., “The contract contains no provision for termination.”). Any party opposing the motion for summary judgment shall, in a section of the brief styled “Response to Statement of Undisputed Material Facts,” admit or deny the movant’s asserted material facts. The admission or denial shall be made in separate correspondingly numbered paragraphs. Any denial shall be accompanied by a brief factual explanation of the reason(s) for the denial and a specific reference to material in the record supporting the denial. If the party opposing the motion believes that there are additional disputed questions of fact that have not been adequately addressed in the submissions made pursuant to subsection (4) above (e.g., disputed facts concerning an affirmative defense), the party shall, in a separate section of the brief styled “Statement of Additional Disputed Facts,” set forth in simple, declarative sentences, separately numbered and paragraphed, each additional, material disputed fact that undercuts the movant’s claim that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Each such fact shall be accompanied by a specific reference to material in the record establishing the fact or demonstrating that it is disputed. Any reply brief must comply with the following: (A) In a separate section styled “Reply Concerning Undisputed Facts,” the movant shall include any factual reply it cares to make regarding the facts asserted in its motion to be undisputed, supported by specific references to material in the record. The reply will be made in separate paragraphs numbered according to the motion and the opposing party’s response. In a separate section styled “Response Concerning Disputed Facts” (with respect to each fact that the opposing party, pursuant to subsection (5) above, claims to be in dispute), the movant shall either admit that the fact is disputed or supply a brief factual explanation for its position that the fact is undisputed, accompanied by a specific reference to material in the record establishing the fact is undisputed. This will be done in paragraphs numbered to correspond with the opposing party’s paragraph numbering. (B) (7) The sole purpose of these procedures is to establish facts and determine which of them are in dispute. Legal argument is not permitted here and should be reserved for separate portions of the briefs. (c) See D.C.COLO.LCivR 56.1(c) and Civ. Practice Standard 7.1A(a)(3) above regarding submission and marking of summary judgment exhibits. 7 (d) Failure to follow these procedures may result in an order striking or denying the motion or brief, and it will have to be re-submitted. Repeated failures may result in an order granting other proper relief. Civ. Practice Standard 7.2 – Public Access to Documents and Proceedings (a) Public access to the courts is fundamental to our system of justice. While the Court recognizes that some cases may involve information that must be restricted, this Court will not grant motions to restrict that do not specifically address all of the factors set out in D.C.COLO.LCivR 7.2, even if the motions are stipulated. Failure to comply with D.C.COLO.LCivR 7.2 may result in the striking of the motion to restrict and may also result in public availability of the information and/or document(s) at issue. In addition, the Court will rarely restrict court pleadings, papers, or orders, even if such documents refer to exhibits that are restricted. Civ. Practice Standard 10.1 – Format of Pleadings and Documents Presented for Filing (a) Font and Format. All papers filed with the Court by anyone other than a judicial officer shall be double spaced and in Arial 12-point font. SKC: All papers filed with Judge Crews should be double spaced and in Century Schoolbook 12-point font, excluding footnotes, which should remain in 12-point font but be single spaced. (b) Citations. (1) Citations shall be made pursuant to the most current edition of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation. (2) General references to cases, filings, or depositions are insufficient if the document is more than one page in length. Where possible, specific references in the form of pinpoint citations should be used to identify relevant excerpts from a document (e.g., to ECF page numbers or paragraph numbers). (3) Whenever practicable, citations to unpublished opinions should include a Westlaw® citation. If a Westlaw® citation does not exist, include the caselaw as an attachment. SKC: For cases pending before Judge Crews, no caselaw need be attached if a LexisNexis® citation is provided. (c) Page Limitations. 8 (1) Excluding motions filed under Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure; Objections to Magistrate Judge Recommendations and Orders and responses to Objections, which are addressed in Civ. Practice Standard 72.3(c); and motions and briefs filed in patent infringement, invalidity and unenforceability actions pursuant to D.C.COLO.LPtR 17, all motions, objections, responses, and concomitant briefs shall not exceed fifteen (15) pages. If the Court permits a party to file more than one Rule 12(b) motion pursuant to Civ. Practice Standard 7.1B(a), then opening briefs and response briefs shall not exceed fifteen (15) pages total for all such motions (not each such motion) filed by that party. Motions and briefs shall be combined pursuant to Civ. Practice Standard 7.1A(a)(2) and shall be considered one paper for purposes of computing page limitations. Replies shall not exceed ten (10) pages. These page limitations shall not include the cover page, table of contents, signature block, or certificate of service. (2) Motions for summary judgment or partial summary judgment and response briefs shall not exceed twenty (20) pages. Reply briefs shall not exceed ten (10) pages. These page limitations shall not include the cover page, table of contents, signature block, or certificate of service. (3) While these page limitations set forth the maximum number of pages for a party’s filing, parties should make the utmost effort to set forth their arguments clearly and concisely. A motion should state the relevant facts, the relevant legal standard, and a brief argument. Repetitive arguments and string citations are not necessarily persuasive and may only serve to slow the ultimate disposition of the motion. (4) (5) Please avoid characterizing the opposing party’s actions (“counsel conveniently overlooked,” “counsel attempts to mislead the court by stating,” etc.). Such characterizations serve no purpose and merely add to the overall amount of reading materials for a particular matter. The Court will entertain motions for extensions of the page limit where appropriate and for good cause. Notice of Supplemental Authority. To the extent that new legal authority prompts one or more parties to file a Notice of Supplemental Authority, such Notice shall be limited to the identification and attachment of the new legal authority. A Notice of Supplemental Authority may identify the relevant issue, but may not include any additional or new argument. A Notice of Supplemental Authority may not be used to identify legal authority available at the time of the original filings of the papers. (d) 9 Civ. Practice Standard 16.6 – Alternative Dispute Resolution (a) (b) (c) To facilitate settlement, no later than fourteen (14) days after the close of discovery, the parties shall file a Status Report regarding settlement discussions. Such Status Report shall reflect the efforts at settlement and the possibility of settlement, but should not include any details with respect to the substantive terms of settlement. To the extent that parties seek to participate in a settlement conference before a Magistrate Judge, the parties must move for an order setting a settlement conference pursuant to D.C.COLO.LCivR 16.6. Prior to moving for such settlement conference, the parties must exchange at least one written demand and response to that demand, including monetary and non-monetary terms. The parties should be prepared to address why a settlement conference before the Court is more appropriate than private alternative dispute resolution. If the parties reach a resolution of the case without Court assistance, they shall advise Chambers immediately by email. In addition, the parties shall file a Notice of Settlement on the docket at their earliest convenience. Please note that previously set conferences or deadlines (including trial) will not be vacated without the filing of dismissal papers, unless otherwise ordered by the Court. [No Practice Standards] IV. PARTIES Civ. Practice Standard 26.1A – Employment Cases V. DEPOSITIONS AND DISCOVERY (a) (b) This Court has adopted the Initial Discovery Protocols for Employment Cases Alleging Adverse Action (“Initial Discovery Protocols”) issued by the Advisory Committee on Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (see the Court’s website). These Initial Discovery Protocols will apply in all employment cases filed in the District of Colorado that are assigned to this Court on or after August 1, 2022, and which challenge one or more employment actions alleged to be adverse, except: (1) (2) Class Actions; Cases in which the allegations involve only the following: (A) (B) Discrimination in hiring; Harassment/hostile work environment; (C) (D) Violations of wage and hour laws under the Fair Labor Standards Act; Failure to provide reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act; 10 (c) (d) (e) (E) (F) Violations of the Family Medical Leave Act; or Violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. Parties and counsel shall comply with the Initial Discovery Protocols, located on the Court’s website. Within thirty (30) days following the Defendant’s submission of a responsive pleading or motion, the parties shall provide to one another the documents and information described in the Initial Discovery Protocols for the relevant time period. This obligation supersedes the parties’ obligations to provide initial disclosures pursuant to Rule 26(a)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The parties shall use the documents and information exchanged in accordance with the Initial Discovery Protocols to prepare the Rule 26(f) discovery plan. The parties’ responses to the Initial Discovery Protocols shall comply with the Rule 26 obligations to certify and supplement discovery responses, as well as the form of production standards for documents and electronically stored information. As set forth in the Initial Discovery Protocols, this Initial Discovery is not subject to objections, except upon the grounds set forth in Rule 26(b)(2)(B). If any party believes that there is good cause why a particular case should be exempted from the Initial Discovery Protocols, in whole or in part, that party may raise the issue with the Court. Civ. Practice Standard 43.1A – General Information VI. TRIALS (a) Courtroom Decorum. (1) Creating a courtroom where all litigants, witnesses, and counsel feel welcome and respected is of utmost importance to this Court. In that regard, counsel are invited and encouraged to identify the applicable pronouns of counsel, litigants, and witnesses at the earliest juncture possible. This may be done in an initial signature block, in person at a conference or hearing, or in a witness list. Should the wrong pronoun be used, counsel are encouraged to bring that to the Court’s attention at the time, or through a subsequent email to Chambers. All parties should observe the following courtroom decorum: (A) Stand when the Judge enters or leaves the courtroom, when addressing the Court, and when the jury enters or leaves the courtroom; Request permission to approach the bench; Address the Judge as “Your Honor”; Refer to all other persons by their surnames, prefaced by the individual’s title (e.g., Dr., Agent, Officer, etc.) and applicable pronouns. 11 (2) (B) (C) (D) (b) (c) (3) Oaths. Please note and advise all persons appearing with you in court, including co-counsel, paralegals, clients, witnesses, and spectators that oath-taking is treated formally in the courtroom. The Court will administer an oath to a jury or witness ONLY when all other activity in the courtroom has ceased. Attorneys are directed to observe the administration of the oath and to stop all other activity. Accessibility and Accommodations. Counsel should bring any accessibility or disability accommodation issues to the attention of the Courtroom Deputy prior to any hearing or trial so the Court can ensure that all necessary accommodations are in place. Recording of Proceedings. (1) (2) Transcripts of proceedings may be ordered by contacting the Court Reporter. Requests for daily transcripts should be made at least thirty (30) days before the trial or hearing. Requests for realtime transcription should be made no later than seven (7) days prior to the trial or hearing. Further details can be obtained from the Court Reporter. RMR: Jessica Anderson, [email protected] CNS: Sarah Mitchell, [email protected] NYW: Darlene Martinez, [email protected], (303) 335-2312 GPG: Megan Strawn, [email protected] SKC: Mary George, [email protected], (303) 296-2638 (d) Glossary. (1) Not later than five (5) business days before commencement of a hearing, a bench trial, a jury trial, or any other proceeding, the parties shall file a glossary of any difficult, unusual, scientific, technical, and/or medical jargon, words, names, terms and/or phrases. (2) Before a hearing or trial commences, the parties shall submit to the Courtroom Deputy three paper copies of the Glossary and shall submit additional paper copies of the Glossary to opposing counsel and any pro se party. 12 (e) Technology. The parties are responsible for ensuring that they are familiar with and have access to and/or have obtained all technology needed for any trial or hearing. For information about courtroom technology and trial preparation, please contact the Courtroom Deputy. RMR: Kally Myhaver, [email protected], (303) 335-2101 CNS: Julie Dynes, [email protected], (303) 335-2054 NYW: Emily Buchanan, [email protected], (303) 335-2044 GPG: Donald Clement, [email protected], (970) 241-8932 (Ext. 8209) SKC: Cathy Pearson, [email protected], (303) 335-2089 (f) Oral Argument. The Court may set a matter for oral argument at the Court’s discretion. The Court encourages counsel of record to ensure that more junior attorneys are afforded a meaningful opportunity to present arguments to the Court. Civ. Practice Standard 43.1B – Trial (a) Please refer to the respective Judge’s Standing Order found on the Court’s website for information regarding setting the case for trial, pre-trial preparations, and trial procedures. Civ. Practice Standard 43.1C – Exhibits (a) (b) (c) At least two business days before any hearing, the parties shall file via CM/ECF a single, joint Exhibit List. The form for Exhibit Lists is available on the Court’s website. Before any hearing, each party shall submit to the Courtroom Deputy three paper copies of the Exhibit List. Each party must pre-mark all exhibits that will be used or identified for the record in a hearing. The case number shall appear on each exhibit sticker or label. Copies of exhibits should be provided to opposing counsel or any pro se party as early as practicable before any hearing. Exhibits not timely pre-marked or exchanged before a hearing may not be admitted. SKC: Plaintiff’s exhibits should be marked using numbers. Defendant’s exhibits should be marked using letters A through Z, then using A-1 through A-99, then B- 1 through B-99, etc. The parties should avoid duplicate exhibits between their respective lists and should stipulate to the admissibility of as many exhibits as possible. 13 (d) Exhibits must be bound, e.g., in three-ring notebooks or folders, and the notebook or folder labeled with the following information: (i) caption, (ii) nature of proceeding, (iii) scheduled date and time, and (iv) “original” or “copy.” Exhibit notebooks should be delivered to Chambers by 9:00 a.m. at least two business days before commencement of a hearing. If exhibits are not bound and labeled properly and timely, the hearing may be delayed or continued until they are. (e) Number of Exhibits. Separate sets of bound exhibits shall be brought for (1) the Court and (2) the witness stand. SKC: Only one three-ring binder containing the original exhibits (for the witness box), together with a thumb/flash drive of the exhibits in PDF form, should be delivered to the Clerk’s office (ATTN: Nicholas Richards) at least two business days before the commencement of a hearing. NYW: Only one three-ring binder containing the original exhibits (for the witness box), together with two thumb/flash drives of the exhibits in PDF form, should be delivered to the Clerk’s office (ATTN: Emily Buchanan) at least two business days before the commencement of a hearing. Civ. Practice Standard 43.1D – Witnesses (a) (b) (c) At least two business days before any hearing, the parties shall file via CM/ECF a single, joint Witness List. The form for Witness Lists is available on the Court’s website. Before any hearing, each party shall submit to the Courtroom Deputy three paper copies of the Witness List. Testimony by Telephone or Video Conference. A party may request that testimony be presented by telephone or video conference at a trial or hearing. The Court will generally be amenable to allowing video testimony if the parties agree. Parties should meet and confer to reach agreement about proposed telephone or video conferences. A request for presentation of testimony by telephone or video conference shall be made by written motion or stipulation filed at least 7 days before the hearing at which testimony is proposed to be taken by telephone or video conference. For hearings set with less than 7 days’ notice, counsel should call Chambers as early as possible once the hearing is set to advise of the intent to file such a motion, and thereafter should file the motion as far as possible in advance of the hearing date. 14 [No Practice Standards] VII. JUDGMENT VIII. PROVISIONAL AND FINAL REMEDIES [No Practice Standards] Civ. Practice Standard 72.3 – Objections to Magistrate Judge Recommendations IX. SPECIAL PROCEEDINGS (a) (b) (c) (d) “[A] party’s objections to the magistrate judge’s report and recommendation must be both timely and specific to preserve an issue for de novo review by the district court or for appellate review.” United States v. 2121 E. 30th St., 73 F.3d 1057, 1060 (10th Cir. 1996). Failure to make timely Objections may bar de novo review by this Court of the Magistrate Judge’s Recommendation and may result in a waiver of the right to appeal from a judgment of this Court based on the Recommendation of the Magistrate Judge. See Vega v. Suthers, 195 F.3d 573, 579–80 (10th Cir. 1999). A general objection that does not put this Court on notice of the basis for the objection will not preserve the objection for de novo review. A party objecting to a Magistrate Judge’s Recommendation must identify, with particularity, the specific portions of the Recommendation that are the basis for the Objection. Objections must include specific citations to the case record—e.g., the party’s motion and/or briefing, supporting exhibits, and the Recommendation—that form the objecting party’s arguments. In general, this Court disfavors the consideration of arguments and exhibits not made to the Magistrate Judge. Should the objecting party seek to make arguments or introduce exhibits that were not raised before the Magistrate Judge, such party must expressly identify those arguments and/or exhibits and explain why such omitted arguments and/or exhibits should be considered, in the first instance, upon Objection. All Objections to Magistrate Judge Recommendations and Orders and responses to Objections are limited to ten (10) pages. Pursuant to Rule 72 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, replies in support of an Objection will not be permitted absent leave of Court and good cause shown. A party generally may not file a response to an Objection to Magistrate Judge Order on a non-dispositive issue. Should a party seek leave to file a response to an Objection to a Magistrate Judge Order on a non-dispositive issue, the party shall seek leave within three (3) business days of the filing of the Objection discussing the reasons why a response is necessary. Should leave be granted to file such a response to an Objection, such response must be limited to issues raised by the original Objection. 15 Civ. Practice Standard 77.2 – Communication with Chambers X. DISTRICT COURT AND CLERK (a) (b) (c) Chambers staff is not authorized to give legal advice or grant oral requests over the telephone, so please do not contact Chambers about substantive matters. For procedural information or assistance regarding a case, including scheduling of hearings or trials, please contact Chambers. SKC: Do NOT call or come to Chambers. You may contact Chambers only by a joint email to [email protected] All emails to Chambers should include the case name and number in the subject line of the email and should copy all involved parties on the email. You may be directed to transmit proposed orders or other pleadings or papers to Chambers by email. The proposed order or document should be submitted as an attachment to the email in Word format unless otherwise specified. The email message should identify the case number and document attached. Please do not send documents directly to Chambers by facsimile or email unless requested or ordered to do so by the Court. [No Practice Standards] XI. GENERAL PROVISIONS 16

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Standing Order Regarding Pretrial and Trial Procedures (Civil Cases) Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney United States District Court District of Colorado Courtroom A702 Alfred A. Arraj Courthouse Chambers A738 901 19th Street Denver Denver, CO 80294 Telephone: (303) 335-2610 Email: [email protected] Revised: December 2025 I. GENERAL PROCEDURES A. Communications with Chambers Inquiries to Chambers (e.g., questions about procedures and standards) should be made via email to [email protected]. Please copy opposing counsel or opposing pro se parties on all emails. Please do not contact Chambers about substantive matters as Chambers staff cannot give legal advice or grant informal requests not made via motion. For information about filing documents electronically please contact the ECF Help Desk at [email protected] or (303) 844-3433. B. Citations This Standing Order should be cited as CNS Civil Standing Order, Part, Section, Subsection, and Paragraph (e.g., CNS Civ. Standing Order III.E.4.a). II. COURTROOM PROCEDURES A. Courtroom Operations For information regarding the courtroom, including telephonic or video connection (if such remote appearances have been granted by the Court), courtroom equipment and technology, courtroom protocol, use of deposition transcripts, the submission of trial exhibits and witness lists, and the use of exhibits at trial, please contact the Courtroom Deputy, Julie Dynes, at [email protected] or (303) 335-2054. The courtroom is equipped with HDMI and VGA plug-ins for displaying exhibits. In addition, there are monitors at each table including the witness stand, large screens for the gallery, white pads, easels, and an ELMO. For trial or evidentiary hearings, please contact Ms. Dynes at least 14 days prior with any questions regarding remote witnesses (if allowed by the Court), submission of trial exhibits and witness lists, use of exhibits at trial, general courtroom procedures, and to schedule a technical walk-through. B. Recording of Proceedings 1. The realtime court reporter assigned to the Court is Sarah Mitchell. Transcripts of proceedings may be ordered from Ms. Mitchell by for email at [email protected]. Requests realtime or daily rough draft transcripts must be made at least 30 days before trial. For further details, contact Ms. Mitchell. - 1 - 2. The realtime and rough draft transcripts are unedited and uncertified and may contain untranslated stenographic symbols, an occasional reporter's note, a misspelled proper name, and/or nonsensical word combinations. All such entries will be corrected on the final certified transcript when ordered. Due to the need to correct entries prior to certification, counsel shall use the realtime draft only for the purpose of augmenting counsel's notes. It shall not be used or cited in any court proceeding or distributed to any other parties. By purchasing a realtime transcript, purchaser agrees to the terms and conditions for the use of this rough draft. A. Final Pretrial Order and Conference III. TRIALS The Court will hold a Final Pretrial Conference as prescribed by Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(e) and D.C.COLO.LCivR 16.3. The Final Pretrial Order Form can be found at http://www.cod.uscourts.gov/CourtOperations/RulesProcedures/ Forms.aspx. At least 14 days before the scheduled date of the Final Pretrial Conference, counsel shall meet and confer to develop jointly the contents of the proposed Final Pretrial Order. It is the responsibility of Plaintiff’s counsel (but if Plaintiff is pro se, it shall be Defendant’s counsel’s responsibility) to schedule meetings and then file and submit the proposed Final Pretrial Order. If the parties agree, Plaintiff may delegate responsibility for filing and submission to Defendant. Unless otherwise ordered, the parties shall submit their proposed Final Pretrial Order no later than seven days before the date of the Final Pretrial Conference. The proposed Final Pretrial Order should be filed in CM/ECF and submitted electronically in editable (Word) format directly to Chambers at [email protected]. B. Trial Settings Whenever practicable, dates for the trial and the Trial Preparation Conference will be given to the parties during the Final Pretrial Conference. The parties shall be prepared to accept a trial date within three to six months of the date of the Final Pretrial Conference. C. Length of Trial Should the parties request a trial lasting longer than five days, before a trial date can be set, counsel shall be prepared to present argument to the Court as to why a trial longer than five days is necessary. - 2 - D. Motions In Limine Motions in limine are strongly discouraged when the motion cannot be resolved until evidence is presented at trial. Instead, such evidentiary issues can be flagged in a trial brief. If motions in limine are filed, they must be filed 21 days before the Trial Preparation Conference. Any responses to the motions in limine shall be filed 14 days before the Trial Preparation Conference. Conferral and One Motion Limit: Prior to filing a motion in limine, counsel shall confer with one another in an attempt to resolve the contested evidentiary issues. If they are unable to come to a mutual resolution, counsel shall then determine which party will file the motion on the particular evidentiary issue and which party will file the response. Each party shall be limited to one motion in limine unless the Court grants leave for a supplemental filing. The motion shall address all difficult or unusual evidentiary issues the party anticipates will arise at trial, with each discrete evidentiary dispute separately numbered within the motion. Each motion and response shall be limited to eight pages unless there is a showing of good cause and the Court grants leave to extend the page limits. All text in these filings will count against the page limits, except for the attorney or party signature blocks and the certificate of service. No reply brief in support of a motion in limine will be permitted. E. Trial Preparation Conference The Trial Preparation Conference will typically be held approximately 14 days before trial. Counsel who will try the case must attend. Seven days before the Trial Preparation Conference, the parties shall file in CM/ECF their proposed voir dire questions. F. Jury Instructions and Verdict Form Clear and concise jury instructions are imperative. While the Court encourages the use of stock and model instructions, counsel should review those instructions with the average layperson in mind and modify language that is overly complicated or “lawyerly.” Where possible, jury instructions and verdict forms will be finalized before the trial begins. This will allow counsel to refer to the instructions in opening statements and throughout the presentation of evidence. In addition, the Court may utilize the jury instructions in advising the jury before the trial begins. Of course, the jury instructions will be revisited at the close of evidence and the Court will hold a charging conference to ensure that counsel has the opportunity to offer additional or alternative instructions based on the evidence. - 3 - 1. 2. 3. 4. The Court requires preparation and submission of instructions 21 days before the Trial Preparation Conference, so counsel and the Court can devote the time necessary for this crucial task before other trial preparation demands become overwhelming. to submit stipulated The parties shall meet and confer to stipulate to the verdict form, as many proposed jury instructions as possible, and a joint statement of the case. Only true conflict or uncertainty in binding substantive law should prevent agreement. It is Plaintiff’s counsel’s responsibility (but if Plaintiff is pro se, it shall be Defendant’s counsel’s responsibility) if applicable, a stipulated verdict form) directly to Chambers in editable (Word) format via email ([email protected]) with a copy to opposing counsel/party, at least 21 days before the Trial Preparation Conference. Similarly, competing and non- stipulated instructions should also be submitted to Chambers via email by the party proffering such instructions at least twenty-one days before the Trial Preparation Conference. Instructions shall NOT be filed via CM/ECF. The Court will consider only those jury instructions and verdict forms tendered using the procedures described below. instructions (and, jury The Court generally follows the most current editions of the form instructions provided in Federal Jury Practice and Instructions (for federal claims and introductory instructions) and the Colorado Jury Instructions – Civil (for state claims). However, the Court encourages counsel to carefully read and tailor any form instruction to the facts and circumstances of the particular case as well as to edit such instructions to use plain language. Categories of Jury Instructions: The Court contemplates three categories of jury instructions, as described below. In order to assist the Court in distinguishing among the different instructions, at the legal bottom of each authority), the instruction should be identified as “Stipulated,” “Competing,” or “Non-Stipulated,” and, in the case of competing or non-stipulated instructions, should also identify the party tendering the instruction (e.g., “Plaintiff’s Competing Instruction,” “Defendant’s Non-Stipulated Instruction.”) instruction (immediately preceding the a. Stipulated Instructions: Stipulated instructions are those instructions about which the parties agree after conferral. There should be no duplication of stipulated instructions (or verdict forms); i.e., if the parties stipulate to a particular instruction or a verdict form, then that instruction or form should be submitted as stipulated only, and no similar - 4 - b. c. d. instruction or form should appear in any party’s competing or non-stipulated instructions. Competing Instructions: Competing instructions are those instructions about which all parties agree that an instruction is necessary but disagree about the content of that instruction. Non-Stipulated Instructions: Non-stipulated instructions are those instructions requested by a party (or parties) to which any other party objects, but does not request/tender a competing instruction. Each proposed competing or non-stipulated instruction should contain, at the bottom of the instruction, one paragraph of argument from each side, including citations to legal authority, explaining why the instruction is tendered or opposed. No separate objection should be filed. 5. Format of Proposed Jury Instructions a. b. c. d. Proposed instructions should NOT be numbered. Each proposed instruction should contain a title, which shall be centered in bold. If the parties edit a form, model, or pattern instruction, the parties shall either redline/track such changes or specifically describe them at the bottom of the instruction. Proposed instructions should be submitted with “hard page breaks” (not the use of “hard returns”) between each instruction. Stylistic conventions. When referring to this Court in the body of the instructions, always capitalize the word “Court.” Additionally, do not use articles when referring to the parties, but do capitalize the parties’ names or designation. Thus, the preferred format is: “Plaintiff Smith” or “Mr./Ms./Mx. Doe” or “XYZ Corp.” rather than “the Plaintiff/Defendant.” Please be mindful of a party’s preferred pronouns. Please proofread submissions carefully. 6. Verdict Form: As with jury instructions, the Court urges counsel to confer and to craft a stipulated verdict form that is understandable to lay persons. The verdict form should provide a roadmap for the jury as to each claim and affirmative defense, as well as specific instructions about where to proceed in the verdict form, if, for example, a Plaintiff fails to prove an element of a claim. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 49(a). The verdict form shall not be filed via CM/ECF; it should - 5 - be submitted pursuant to the same deadlines and method provided in subsection F.2. 7. Charging Conference: The Court will examine the jury instructions and verdict form again when it holds the charging conference before the case goes to the jury. The parties will have another opportunity to request changes or additions to the proposed instructions and verdict forms and to state their objections on the record. 8. Final Instructions and Verdict Form: Court staff will prepare a final, clean set of instructions and the verdict form for the jury. G. Exhibits 1. 2. 3. Format: Parties must use the exhibit list available on the District Court website at http://www.cod.uscourts.gov/JudicialOfficers/ ActiveArticleIIIJudges/HonCharlotteNSweeney.aspx. Parties must pre-mark all exhibits that will be used or identified for the record in trial. The parties shall submit a single, joint list of exhibits listed numerically and consecutively using the exhibit list form. Parties shall file their final joint exhibit list via CM/ECF no later than seven days before the Trial Preparation Conference. Final trial exhibit lists shall be filed via CM/ECF by noon the Friday before trial. One USB flash drive and two exhibit notebooks, one containing the original exhibits and one containing copies of the exhibits for the Court, shall be provided to the courtroom deputy the first day of trial or evidentiary hearing. The following information should appear on the cover of each notebook: (i) caption, (ii) nature of the proceeding, (iii) scheduled date and time, and (iv) “original” or “copy.” a. the original exhibit The Courtroom Deputy will place notebook(s) in the witness box. Thus, when asking a witness to look at an exhibit, the party may simply say, “Please look at Exhibit No. __ in the notebook in front of you,” and the witness will be able to refer to the exhibit in the original exhibit notebook. Please note that electronic copies may be used in place of referring the witness to the notebook. - 6 - 4. Exhibits Preparation: a. b. c. d. e. f. The parties must pre-mark all exhibits that will be used or identified for the record. The case number shall appear on each exhibit sticker or label. If exhibits are not bound and labeled properly, the trial may be delayed or continued until they are. There is no need for duplicate exhibits or for a party to seek to admit exhibits offered by another party and admitted by the court or by stipulation. In order to create a joint list, the parties must provide a copy of each exhibit to each other before trial. The parties shall confer and attempt to stipulate to the admissibility of any exhibits. No oversized exhibits are to be used unless requested by prior motion and approved by the Court. H. Witness Lists 1. Format: Parties must use the form of witness list available through the District Court website at http://www.cod.uscourts.gov/Judicial Officers/ActiveArticleIIIJudges/HonCharlotteNSweeney.aspx. 2. When to File: Each party shall submit a list of its proposed witnesses as set forth below: a. b. Parties shall file their witness lists via CM/ECF no later than seven days before the Trial Preparation Conference. Final trial witness lists shall be filed via CM/ECF by noon the Friday before trial. Two days after witness lists are filed, the parties shall file estimates of the time required for their cross-examination of the opposing party’s witnesses. 3. Final witness lists shall include an estimate of the time anticipated for each witness’s direct and cross-examination. One copy will be made available to the Court Reporter to assist in the transcription of Court proceedings, so please be sure that names are spelled correctly. - 7 - I. Depositions 1. Together with Fed. R. Civ. P. 32, this Standing Order governs the use of both regular and videotape depositions in Court proceedings. 2. When needed during witness testimony, a party shall deliver to the Courtroom Deputy the sealed, original transcript of the deposition. 3. If the parties intend to offer deposition testimony in lieu of a live witness at trial: a. b. c. d. Not later than 30 days prior to trial, counsel shall exchange with each other their designation of anticipated deposition and videotaped deposition testimony. Plaintiff’s designations shall be highlighted in yellow; Defendant’s designations highlighted in blue; and any other party’s in green. Subsequent to the original exchange, and not later than 21 days prior to trial, counsel shall notify opposing counsel of any counter- designated deposition testimony, exchange objections to all designated testimony, and make a good-faith attempt to resolve such objections. Not later than 14 days prior to trial, the parties shall submit directly to Chambers the transcript of the designated deposition testimony, highlighted as set forth above, along with the objections thereto highlighted in red, with a notation as to the basis for the objection and a response to such objection. The Court will attempt to resolve disputes regarding the admissibility of properly designated deposition testimony prior to trial. However, if the Court does not rule on the admissibility of deposition testimony before trial, as with all other live testimony, objections shall be raised at the time the deposition testimony is presented. To accommodate evidentiary objections to deposition testimony presented by video, the proponent must have the technical ability to “mute” excluded responses and efficiently “fast forward” to the next segment of testimony. 4. 5. For jury trials, if evidence will be presented through a written deposition transcript, the proponent shall supply a person to read from a written deposition transcript. For bench trials, depositions will usually not be read in open Court. Instead, the Court will read them in Chambers in any sequence requested. At the beginning of the trial, the offering party shall - 8 - provide the Courtroom Deputy with two copies of the relevant deposition transcript marked as an exhibit with Plaintiff’s designated portions highlighted in yellow, Defendant’s in blue, and any other party’s in green. If there is any dispute or objection concerning such testimony, see subsection 3 above. J. Glossary 1. 2. Not later than five business days before trial, the parties shall email to Chambers a Glossary of any difficult, unusual, scientific, or technical words, names, terms, or phrases. The parties shall submit to the Courtroom Deputy three paper copies of the Glossary and provide a copy of the Glossary to opposing counsel and any pro se party on the day of trial. K. Jury Trials 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. The parties shall be present on the first day of trial at 8:00 a.m. Jury selection will begin at 8:30 a.m. The second day of trial will begin at 8:30 a.m. and continue until 5:00 p.m. The trial day will have morning and afternoon recesses of approximately fifteen minutes in duration. A lunch break of approximately one hour will be taken at approximately 12:00 p.m. The jury in civil cases will normally consist of nine jurors. Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 47(b) and 28 U.S.C. § 1870, each side shall have three peremptory challenges. Voir Dire: After potential jurors are seated in the courtroom, the Court will give a brief statement of the case and conduct initial voir dire. a. The parties will conduct the remainder of the voir dire examination. The Court will not set any time limits on voir dire but reserves the right to do so if the parties are taking too long, repetitive, or condescending. Jurors will be permitted to take notes during the trial. Jurors will be permitted to submit written questions for witnesses to the courtroom deputy while the witness is on the stand. The parties will approach the bench to read the proposed question(s) and raise any objections. Based on the objections, the Court may read, modify, or reject the question(s). The jury will be instructed before closing argument. Each juror will be given a copy of the written jury instructions for use during deliberations. - 9 - 7. The parties are not required to remain behind the lectern. It is useful, however, for the reporter if parties use the microphone at the lectern. Please speak slowly for the reporter. The parties should also remind their witnesses to speak slowly and clearly. L. Trials To Court 1. 2. Trials to court will begin at 8:30 a.m. on the first day of trial. Not less than two business days before the Trial Preparation Conference, counsel and any pro se party shall file proposed findings of fact, conclusions of law, and orders. A copy shall also be emailed to Chambers in Word format. Counsel and any pro se party are requested to state their proposed findings of fact in the same order as their anticipated order of proof at trial. Counsel and any pro se party are requested to key their closing arguments to their proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law and to emphasize the evidence on which they rely to support their positions. 3. For a trial to the court, a proper resume or curriculum vitae, marked as an exhibit, generally will suffice for the qualification of an expert witness. M. Trial Briefs Trial briefs are encouraged but not required absent a specific Court order. If filed, trial briefs shall not exceed ten pages and shall be filed no later than two business days before the Trial Preparation Conference. A trial brief may not be used as a substitute for a motion. N. Opening Statements The Court does not limit the length of opening statements but reserves the right to interrupt if counsel becomes repetitive or argumentative. Parties may use charts, graphs, and other demonstrative aids in opening statements. Such aids must be exchanged no later than three business days before trial so that objections can be resolved before trial. O. Closing Arguments The Court will not place time limits on closing arguments. The parties are required to adhere to the evidence admitted during the trial but may argue inferences from the evidence, use analogies, or employ other tactics that would be useful for the jury. - 10 - Table of Pretrial/Trial Deadlines Note: This table is provided for the convenience of parties. It does not include all the dates and deadlines listed within the Judge’s Civil Standing Order. DEADLINE DAYS PRIOR Meet and confer regarding Final Pretrial Order 14 days Prior to Final Pretrial Conference Final Pretrial Order 7 days Proposed jury instructions and verdict form 21 days Prior to Trial Preparation Conference Motions in limine Responses to motions in limine Proposed voir dire questions Joint list of exhibits Witness lists 21 days 14 days 7 days 7 days 7 days Estimates for cross-examinations of opposing party’s witnesses Proposed findings of fact, conclusions of law, and orders (bench trials only) Trial briefs 5 days (or two days after witness lists are filed) 2 business days 2 days Prior to Trial 30 days 30 days 21 days 14 days 14 days Realtime or daily rough draft request Exchange deposition designations Counter-designations and objections regarding deposition designations Transcript of designated deposition testimony and objections Questions to Courtroom Deputy regarding courtroom technology Glossary due (3 total) Exhibit notebooks (2) and USB flash drive (1) Final witness and exhibit lists CNS CIV. STANDING ORDER REF. III.A III.A III.F III.D III.D III.E III.G.2 III.H.2.a III.H.2.b III.L.2 III.M II.B III.I.3.a III.I.3.a III.I.3.b II.A 5 business days via email and 3 copies on the first day of trial Morning of first day of trial Friday before trial by noon III.J & Civ. Practice Standard 43.1A(d)(1) III.G.3 III.H.2 and III.G.2 - 11 -

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Standing Order Regarding Pretrial and Trial Procedures (Civil Cases) Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney United States District Court District of Colorado Courtroom A702 Alfred A. Arraj Courthouse Chambers A738 901 19th Street Denver Denver, CO 80294 Telephone: (303) 335-2610 Email: [email protected] Revised: December 20254 I. GENERAL PROCEDURES A. Communications with Chambers Inquiries to Chambers (e.g., questions about procedures and standards) should be made via email to [email protected]. Please copy opposing counsel or opposing pro se parties on all emails. Please do not contact Chambers about substantive matters as Chambers staff cannot give legal advice or grant informal requests not made via motion. For information about filing documents electronically please contact the ECF Help Desk at [email protected] or (303) 844-3433. B. Citations This Standing Order should be cited as CNS Civil Standing Order, Part, Section, Subsection, and Paragraph (e.g., CNS Civ. Standing Order III.E.4.a). II. COURTROOM PROCEDURES A. Courtroom Operations For information regarding the courtroom, including telephonic or video connection (if such remote appearances have been granted by the Court), courtroom equipment and technology, courtroom protocol, use of deposition transcripts, the submission of trial exhibits and witness lists, and the use of exhibits at trial, please contact the Courtroom Deputy, Julie Dynes, at [email protected] or (303) 335-2054. The courtroom is equipped with HDMI and VGA plug-ins for displaying exhibits. In addition, there are monitors at each table including the witness stand, large screens for the gallery, white pads, easels, and an ELMO. For trial or evidentiary hearings, please contact Ms. Dynes at least 14 days prior with any questions regarding remote witnesses (if allowed by the Court), submission of trial exhibits and witness lists, use of exhibits at trial, general courtroom procedures, and to schedule a technical walk-through. B. Recording of Proceedings 1. The realtime court reporter assigned to the Court is Sarah Mitchell. Transcripts of proceedings may be ordered from Ms. Mitchell by for email at [email protected]. Requests realtime or daily rough draft transcripts must be made at least 30 days before trial. For further details, contact Ms. Mitchell. - 1 - 2. The realtime and rough draft transcripts are unedited and uncertified and may contain untranslated stenographic symbols, an occasional reporter's note, a misspelled proper name, and/or nonsensical word combinations. All such entries will be corrected on the final certified transcript when ordered. Due to the need to correct entries prior to certification, counsel shall use the realtime draft only for the purpose of augmenting counsel's notes. It shall not be used or cited in any court proceeding or distributed to any other parties. By purchasing a realtime transcript, purchaser agrees to the terms and conditions for the use of this rough draft. A. Final Pretrial Order and Conference III. TRIALS The Court will hold a Final Pretrial Conference as prescribed by Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(e) and D.C.COLO.LCivR 16.3. The Final Pretrial Order Form can be found at http://www.cod.uscourts.gov/CourtOperations/RulesProcedures/ Forms.aspx. At least 14 days before the scheduled date of the Final Pretrial Conference, counsel shall meet and confer to develop jointly the contents of the proposed Final Pretrial Order. It is the responsibility of Plaintiff’s counsel (but if Plaintiff is pro se, it shall be Defendant’s counsel’s responsibility) to schedule meetings and then file and submit the proposed Final Pretrial Order. If the parties agree, Plaintiff may delegate responsibility for filing and submission to Defendant. Unless otherwise ordered, the parties shall submit their proposed Final Pretrial Order no later than seven days before the date of the Final Pretrial Conference. The proposed Final Pretrial Order should be filed in CM/ECF and submitted electronically in editable (Word) format directly to Chambers at [email protected]. B. Trial Settings Whenever practicable, dates for the trial and the Trial Preparation Conference will be given to the parties during the Final Pretrial Conference. The parties shall be prepared to accept a trial date within three to six months of the date of the Final Pretrial Conference. C. Length of Trial Should the parties request a trial lasting longer than five days, before a trial date can be set, counsel shall be prepared to present argument to the Court as to why a trial longer than five days is necessary. - 2 - D. Motions In Limine Motions in limine are strongly discouraged when the motion cannot be resolved until evidence is presented at trial. Instead, such evidentiary issues can be flagged in a trial brief. If motions in limine are filed, they must be filed 21 days before the Trial Preparation Conference. Any responses to the motions in limine shall be filed 14 days before the Trial Preparation Conference. Conferral and One Motion Limit: Prior to filing a motion in limine, counsel shall confer with one another in an attempt to resolve the contested evidentiary issues. If they are unable to come to a mutual resolution, counsel shall then determine which party will file the motion on the particular evidentiary issue and which party will file the response. Each party shall be limited to one motion in limine unless the Court grants leave for a supplemental filing. The motion shall address all difficult or unusual evidentiary issues the party anticipates will arise at trial, with each discrete evidentiary dispute separately numbered within the motion. Each motion and response shall be limited to eight pages unless there is a showing of good cause and the Court grants leave to extend the page limits. All text in these filings will count against the page limits, except for the attorney or party signature blocks and the certificate of service. No reply brief in support of a motion in limine will be permitted. E. Trial Preparation Conference The Trial Preparation Conference will typically be held approximately 14 days before trial. Counsel who will try the case must attend. Seven days before the Trial Preparation Conference, the parties shall file in CM/ECF their proposed voir dire questions. If parties want to use a jury questionnaire, they must confer and then provide by email a draft questionnaire in editable (Word) format to [email protected] at least seven days prior to the raise the issue at the Trial Preparation Conference. F. Jury Instructions and Verdict Form Clear and concise jury instructions are imperative. While the Court encourages the use of stock and model instructions, counsel should review those instructions with the average layperson in mind and modify language that is overly complicated or “lawyerly.” Where possible, jury instructions and verdict forms will be finalized before the trial begins. This will allow counsel to refer to the instructions in opening statements and throughout the presentation of evidence. In addition, the Court may utilize the jury instructions in advising the jury before the trial - 3 - begins. Of course, the jury instructions will be revisited at the close of evidence and the Court will hold a charging conference to ensure that counsel has the opportunity to offer additional or alternative instructions based on the evidence. 1. 2. 3. 4. The Court requires preparation and submission of instructions 21 days before the Trial Preparation Conference, so counsel and the Court can devote the time necessary for this crucial task before other trial preparation demands become overwhelming. to submit stipulated The parties shall meet and confer to stipulate to the verdict form, as many proposed jury instructions as possible, and a joint statement of the case. Only true conflict or uncertainty in binding substantive law should prevent agreement. It is Plaintiff’s counsel’s responsibility (but if Plaintiff is pro se, it shall be Defendant’s counsel’s if responsibility) applicable, a stipulated verdict form) directly to Chambers in editable (Word) format via email ([email protected]) with a copy to opposing counsel/party, at least 21 days before the Trial Preparation Conference. Similarly, competing and non- stipulated instructions should also be submitted to Chambers via email by the party proffering such instructions at least twenty-one days before the Trial Preparation Conference. Instructions shall NOT be filed via CM/ECF. The Court will consider only those jury instructions and verdict forms tendered using the procedures described below. instructions (and, jury The Court generally follows the most current editions of the form instructions provided in Federal Jury Practice and Instructions (for federal claims and introductory instructions) and the Colorado Jury Instructions – Civil (for state claims). However, the Court encourages counsel to carefully read and tailor any form instruction to the facts and circumstances of the particular case as well as to edit such instructions to use plain language. Categories of Jury Instructions: The Court contemplates three categories of jury instructions, as described below. In order to assist the Court in distinguishing among the different instructions, at the bottom of each legal authority), the instruction should be identified as “Stipulated,” “Competing,” or “Non-Stipulated,” and, in the case of competing or non-stipulated instructions, should also identify the party tendering the instruction (e.g., “Plaintiff’s Competing Instruction,” “Defendant’s Non-Stipulated Instruction.”) instruction (immediately preceding the a. Stipulated Instructions: Stipulated instructions are those instructions about which the parties agree after conferral. - 4 - There should be no duplication of stipulated instructions (or verdict forms); i.e., if the parties stipulate to a particular instruction or a verdict form, then that instruction or form should be submitted as stipulated only, and no similar instruction or form should appear in any party’s competing or non-stipulated instructions. Competing Instructions: Competing instructions are those instructions about which all parties agree that an instruction is necessary but disagree about the content of that instruction. Non-Stipulated Instructions: Non-stipulated instructions are those instructions requested by a party (or parties) to which any other party objects, but does not request/tender a competing instruction. Each proposed competing or non-stipulated instruction should contain, at the bottom of the instruction, one paragraph of argument from each side, including citations to legal authority, explaining why the instruction is tendered or opposed. No separate objection should be filed. b. c. d. 5. Format of Proposed Jury Instructions a. b. c. d. Proposed instructions should NOT be numbered. Each proposed instruction should contain a title, which shall be centered in bold. If the parties edit a form, model, or pattern instruction, the parties shall either redline/track such changes or specifically describe them at the bottom of the instruction. Proposed instructions should be submitted with “hard page breaks” (not the use of “hard returns”) between each instruction. Stylistic conventions. When referring to this Court in the body of the instructions, always capitalize the word “Court.” Additionally, do not use articles when referring to the parties, but do capitalize the parties’ names or designation. Thus, the preferred format is: “Plaintiff Smith” or “Mr./Ms./Mx. Doe” or “XYZ Corp.” rather than “the Plaintiff/Defendant.” Please be mindful of a party’s preferred pronouns. Please proofread submissions carefully. 6. Verdict Form: As with jury instructions, the Court urges counsel to confer and to craft a stipulated verdict form that is understandable to lay persons. The verdict form should provide a roadmap for the jury - 5 - as to each claim and affirmative defense, as well as specific instructions about where to proceed in the verdict form, if, for example, a Plaintiff fails to prove an element of a claim. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 49(a). The verdict form shall not be filed via CM/ECF; it should be submitted pursuant to the same deadlines and method provided in subsection F.2. 7. Charging Conference: The Court will examine the jury instructions and verdict form again when it holds the charging conference before the case goes to the jury. The parties will have another opportunity to request changes or additions to the proposed instructions and verdict forms and to state their objections on the record. 8. Final Instructions and Verdict Form: Court staff will prepare a final, clean set of instructions and the verdict form for the jury. G. Exhibits 1. 2. 3. Format: Parties must use the exhibit list available on the District Court website at http://www.cod.uscourts.gov/JudicialOfficers/ ActiveArticleIIIJudges/HonCharlotteNSweeney.aspx. Parties must pre-mark all exhibits that will be used or identified for the record in trial. The parties shall submit a single, joint list of exhibits listed numerically and consecutively using the exhibit list form. Parties shall file their final joint exhibit list via CM/ECF no later than seven days before the Trial Preparation Conference. Final trial exhibit lists shall be filed via CM/ECF by noon the Friday before trial. One USB flash drive and two exhibit notebooks, one containing the original exhibits and one containing copies of the exhibits for the Court, shall be provided to the courtroom deputy the first day of trial or evidentiary hearing. The following information should appear on the cover of each notebook: (i) caption, (ii) nature of the proceeding, (iii) scheduled date and time, and (iv) “original” or “copy.” a. the original exhibit The Courtroom Deputy will place notebook(s) in the witness box. Thus, when asking a witness to look at an exhibit, the party may simply say, “Please look at Exhibit No. __ in the notebook in front of you,” and the witness will be able to refer to the exhibit in the original exhibit notebook. Please note that electronic copies may be used in place of referring the witness to the notebook. - 6 - 4. Exhibits Preparation: a. b. c. d. e. f. The parties must pre-mark all exhibits that will be used or identified for the record. The case number shall appear on each exhibit sticker or label. If exhibits are not bound and labeled properly, the trial may be delayed or continued until they are. There is no need for duplicate exhibits or for a party to seek to admit exhibits offered by another party and admitted by the court or by stipulation. In order to create a joint list, the parties must provide a copy of each exhibit to each other before trial. The parties shall confer and attempt to stipulate to the admissibility of any exhibits. No oversized exhibits are to be used unless requested by prior motion and approved by the Court. H. Witness Lists 1. Format: Parties must use the form of witness list available through the District Court website at http://www.cod.uscourts.gov/Judicial Officers/ActiveArticleIIIJudges/HonCharlotteNSweeney.aspx. 2. When to File: Each party shall submit a list of its proposed witnesses as set forth below: a. b. Parties shall file their witness lists via CM/ECF no later than seven days before the Trial Preparation Conference. Final trial witness lists shall be filed via CM/ECF by noon the Friday before trial. Two days after witness lists are filed, the parties shall file estimates of the time required for their cross-examination of the opposing party’s witnesses. 3. Final witness lists shall include an estimate of the time anticipated for each witness’s direct and cross-examination. One copy will be made available to the Court Reporter to assist in the transcription of Court proceedings, so please be sure that names are spelled correctly. - 7 - I. Depositions 1. Together with Fed. R. Civ. P. 32, this Standing Order governs the use of both regular and videotape depositions in Court proceedings. 2. When needed during witness testimony, a party shall deliver to the Courtroom Deputy the sealed, original transcript of the deposition. 3. If the parties intend to offer deposition testimony in lieu of a live witness at trial: a. b. c. d. Not later than 30 days prior to trial, counsel shall exchange with each other their designation of anticipated deposition and videotaped deposition testimony. Plaintiff’s designations shall be highlighted in yellow; Defendant’s designations highlighted in blue; and any other party’s in green. Subsequent to the original exchange, and not later than 21 days prior to trial, counsel shall notify opposing counsel of any counter- designated deposition testimony, exchange objections to all designated testimony, and make a good-faith attempt to resolve such objections. Not later than 14 days prior to trial, the parties shall submit directly to Chambers the transcript of the designated deposition testimony, highlighted as set forth above, along with the objections thereto highlighted in red, with a notation as to the basis for the objection and a response to such objection. The Court will attempt to resolve disputes regarding the admissibility of properly designated deposition testimony prior to trial. However, if the Court does not rule on the admissibility of deposition testimony before trial, as with all other live testimony, objections shall be raised at the time the deposition testimony is presented. To accommodate evidentiary objections to deposition testimony presented by video, the proponent must have the technical ability to “mute” excluded responses and efficiently “fast forward” to the next segment of testimony. 4. 5. For jury trials, if evidence will be presented through a written deposition transcript, the proponent shall supply a person to read from a written deposition transcript. For bench trials, depositions will usually not be read in open Court. Instead, the Court will read them in Chambers in any sequence requested. At the beginning of the trial, the offering party shall - 8 - provide the Courtroom Deputy with two copies of the relevant deposition transcript marked as an exhibit with Plaintiff’s designated portions highlighted in yellow, Defendant’s in blue, and any other party’s in green. If there is any dispute or objection concerning such testimony, see subsection 3 above. J. Glossary 1. 2. Not later than five business days before trial, the parties shall email to Chambers a Glossary of any difficult, unusual, scientific, or technical words, names, terms, or phrases. The parties shall submit to the Courtroom Deputy three paper copies of the Glossary and provide a copy of the Glossary to opposing counsel and any pro se party on the day of trial. K. Jury Trials 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. The parties shall be present on the first day of trial at 8:00 a.m. Jury selection will begin at 8:30 a.m. The second day of trial will begin at 8:30 a.m. and continue until 5:00 p.m. The trial day will have morning and afternoon recesses of approximately fifteen minutes in duration. A lunch break of approximately one hour will be taken at approximately 12:00 p.m. The jury in civil cases will normally consist of nine jurors. Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 47(b) and 28 U.S.C. § 1870, each side shall have three peremptory challenges. Voir Dire: After potential jurors are seated in the courtroom, the Court will give a brief statement of the case and conduct initial voir dire. a. The parties will conduct the remainder of the voir dire examination. The Court will not set any time limits on voir dire but reserves the right to do so if the parties are taking too long, repetitive, or condescending. Jurors will be permitted to take notes during the trial. Jurors will be permitted to submit written questions for witnesses to the courtroom deputy while the witness is on the stand. The parties will approach the bench to read the proposed question(s) and raise any objections. Based on the objections, the Court may read, modify, or reject the question(s). The jury will be instructed before closing argument. Each juror will be given a copy of the written jury instructions for use during deliberations. - 9 - 7. The parties are not required to remain behind the lectern. It is useful, however, for the reporter if parties use the microphone at the lectern. Please speak slowly for the reporter. The parties should also remind their witnesses to speak slowly and clearly. L. Trials To Court 1. 2. Trials to court will begin at 8:30 a.m. on the first day of trial. Not less than two business days before the Trial Preparation Conference, counsel and any pro se party shall file proposed findings of fact, conclusions of law, and orders. A copy shall also be emailed to Chambers in Word format. Counsel and any pro se party are requested to state their proposed findings of fact in the same order as their anticipated order of proof at trial. Counsel and any pro se party are requested to key their closing arguments to their proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law and to emphasize the evidence on which they rely to support their positions. 3. For a trial to the court, a proper resume or curriculum vitae, marked as an exhibit, generally will suffice for the qualification of an expert witness. M. Trial Briefs Trial briefs are encouraged but not required absent a specific Court order. If filed, trial briefs shall not exceed ten pages and shall be filed no later than two business days before the Trial Preparation Conference. A trial brief may not be used as a substitute for a motion. N. Opening Statements The Court does not limit the length of opening statements but reserves the right to interrupt if counsel becomes repetitive or argumentative. Parties may use charts, graphs, and other demonstrative aids in opening statements. Such aids must be exchanged no later than three business days before trial so that objections can be resolved before trial. O. Closing Arguments The Court will not place time limits on closing arguments. The parties are required to adhere to the evidence admitted during the trial but may argue inferences from the evidence, use analogies, or employ other tactics that would be useful for the jury. - 10 - Table of Pretrial/Trial Deadlines Note: This table is provided for the convenience of parties. It does not include all the dates and deadlines listed within the Judge’s Civil Standing Order. DEADLINE DAYS PRIOR Meet and confer regarding Final Pretrial Order 14 days Prior to Final Pretrial Conference Final Pretrial Order 7 days Proposed jury instructions and verdict form 21 days Prior to Trial Preparation Conference Motions in limine Responses to motions in limine Proposed voir dire questions Joint list of exhibits Witness lists 21 days 14 days 7 days 7 days 7 days Estimates for cross-examinations of opposing party’s witnesses Proposed findings of fact, conclusions of law, and orders (bench trials only) Trial briefs 5 days (or two days after witness lists are filed) 2 business days 2 days Prior to Trial 30 days 30 days 21 days 14 days 14 days Realtime or daily rough draft request Exchange deposition designations Counter-designations and objections regarding deposition designations Transcript of designated deposition testimony and objections Questions to Courtroom Deputy regarding courtroom technology Glossary due (3 total) Exhibit notebooks (2) and USB flash drive (1) Final witness and exhibit lists CNS CIV. STANDING ORDER REF. III.A III.A III.F III.D III.D III.E III.G.2 III.H.2.a III.H.2.b III.L.2 III.M II.B III.I.3.a III.I.3.a III.I.3.b II.A 5 business days via email and 3 copies on the first day of trial Morning of first day of trial Friday before trial by noon III.J & Civ. Practice Standard 43.1A(d)(1) III.G.3 III.H.2 and III.G.2 - 11 -

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Standing Order Regarding Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 Motions Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney United States District Court District of Colorado Courtroom A702 Alfred A. Arraj Courthouse Chambers A738 901 19th Street Denver Denver, CO 80294 or Telephone: (303) 335-2610 Email: [email protected] December 2025 Parties litigating before this Court shall comply with the following prerequisites for filing summary judgment motions. I. PURPOSE Motions for summary judgment are only appropriate when there is “no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56. All too often, litigants in federal court ignore this threshold requirement and file motions for summary judgment as a matter of course. Summary judgment motions can be a valuable tool for narrowing or resolving issues in a case, but where there are obvious disputes as to material facts, summary judgment motions merely burden courts and impose unnecessary costs on the parties. Determining whether there are disputes as to material facts is an important step in the litigation process, and it requires the parties to meaningfully meet and confer. A meaningful conferral should enable the parties to identify (a) what facts are material, and (b) whether those facts are in dispute. II. APPLICABILITY This Standing Order Regarding Rule 56 Motions shall apply to all civil actions except (1) Social Security actions and (2) actions with pro se parties. In actions where one or more party is unrepresented, the parties should obtain a dispositive motions deadline during the scheduling conference. III. NOTICE TO CHAMBERS A. No later than 10 days after the close of discovery, a party seeking to file a motion for summary judgment must email Chambers, copying opposing counsel, to inform the Court of their intent to file such motion. B. Upon receipt of such notice, the Court will schedule a hearing with the parties to discuss the material facts and to determine whether there are disputes of any material facts. IV. HEARING REQUIREMENTS A. No later than three business days prior to the hearing, the Parties shall jointly file a chart of undisputed material facts. The parties shall allow sufficient time to exchange and substantively discuss the chart prior to filing. The Parties shall format their chart in accordance with Appendix A. The moving party or parties shall also submit to the Court a statement of the claims or defenses on which they intend to move for summary judgment. B. This chart is a tool for establishing whether there are disputes as to material facts. The chart is not intended to set forth legal arguments. C. Each fact must be supported by specific citations to supporting evidence. The citation must be specific—e.g., provide a page and line number in a deposition transcript or multi-page document. But Parties need not file exhibits with the chart. 1 D. If the nonmovant disputes a particular fact, they shall identify the evidence that contradicts the purported fact and provide specific citations to supporting evidence. E. In the fourth column of the chart, the parties shall state whether they agree that the fact in question is material. F. To the extent a party intends to move for summary judgment on more than one claim and includes in their chart a fact that is unique to a particular claim or claim(s), the party may, but is not required to, add an additional column to the chart identifying the specific claim(s) to which the stated fact pertains. V. MISCELLANEOUS A. At the hearing, the Court will consider the issues raised and will set a briefing schedule. The Court will not preclude a party from filing a motion for summary judgment, but the Court will make suggestions regarding issues based on the facts identified during the hearing. Should a party proceed with filing a motion for summary judgment after the hearing, the parties shall comply with the Civ. Practice Standard 7.1D of the Uniform Civil Practice Standards governing motions for summary judgment. B. Motions for summary judgment filed without adhering to the procedures in this standing order or Civ. Practice Standard 7.1D will be stricken for noncompliance. C. No party shall file an early motion for summary judgment without first obtaining leave of the Judge or Magistrate Judge. 2 APPENDIX A REQUIRED FORMAT FOR CHART OF UNDISPUTED FACTS IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney CASE NO. ______________________________ DATE OF HEARING__________________________ CASE CAPTION _______________________________________________________________ PARTY OR PARTIES SEEKING SUMMARY JUDGMENT_____________________________ Statement of Undisputed Facts [Party’s] Motion for Summary Judgment Number Movant’s purported undisputed material fact (with citations) Non-movant’s response (with citations) Do the parties agree that the purported fact is material? 1. 2. 3. APPNDIX B EXAMPLE CHART OF UNDISPUTED FACTS [Party’s] Motion for Summary Judgment Movant’s purported undisputed material fact (with citations) Non-movant’s response (with citations) The Plaintiffs employment began on June 15, 2018. Citation: BATES004298. Undisputed. Do the parties agree that the purported fact is material? Agree. The Plaintiff was terminated on June 30, 2020. Citation: BATES004214. Undisputed. Agree. Defendant Doe made the decision to terminate the Plaintiff. Citation: BATES005732; Doe Dep. Tr. 10:22- 11:1. Disputed. The superintendent Mr. Smith, not Defendant Doe, made the decision to terminate the Plaintiff. Citation: BATES006873; Smith Dep. Tr. 51:15-24. Agree. Defendant Doe’s employment records state that, in 2019, he was investigated for “potential misuse of the company credit card.” Citation: BATES006832. Undisputed. Disagree.

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Standing Order Regarding Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 Motions Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney United States District Court District of Colorado Courtroom A702 Alfred A. Arraj Courthouse Chambers A738 901 19th Street Denver Denver, CO 80294 or Telephone: (303) 335-2610 Email: [email protected] December 20245 (this Standing Order shall take effect for all actions with a dispositive motions deadline on or after February 1, 2025) Parties litigating before this Court shall comply with the following prerequisites for filing summary judgment motions. I. PURPOSE Motions for summary judgment are only appropriate when there is “no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56. All too often, litigants in federal court ignore this threshold requirement and file motions for summary judgment as a matter of course. Summary judgment motions can be a valuable tool for narrowing or resolving issues in a case, but where there are obvious disputes as to material facts, summary judgment motions merely burden courts and impose unnecessary costs on the parties. Determining whether there are disputes as to material facts is an important step in the litigation process, and it requires the parties to meaningfully meet and confer. A meaningful conferral should enable the parties to identify (a) what facts are material, and (b) whether those facts are in dispute. II. APPLICABILITY This Standing Order Regarding Rule 56 Motions shall apply to all civil actions except (1) Social Security actions and (2) actions with pro se parties. In actions where one or more party is unrepresented, the parties should obtain a dispositive motions deadline during the scheduling conference. III. NOTICE TO CHAMBERS A. No later than 10 days after the close of discovery, a party seeking to file a motion for summary judgment must email Chambers, copying opposing counsel, to inform the Court of their intent to file such motion. B. Upon receipt of such notice, the Court will schedule a hearing with the parties to discuss the material facts and to determine whether there are disputes of any material facts. IV. HEARING REQUIREMENTS A. No later than three business days prior to the hearing, the Parties shall jointly file a chart of undisputed material facts. The parties shall allow sufficient time to exchange and substantively discuss the chart prior to filing. The Parties shall format their chart in accordance with Appendix A. The moving party or parties shall also submit to the Court a statement of the claims or defenses on which they intend to move for summary judgment. B. This chart is a tool for establishing whether there are disputes as to material facts. The chart is not intended to set forth legal arguments. The movant shall complete a separate chart for each claim it seeks summary judgment. C. Each fact must be supported by specific citations to supporting evidence. The citation must be specific—e.g., provide a page and line number in a deposition transcript or multi-page document. But Parties need not file exhibits with the chart. 1 D. If the nonmovant disputes a particular fact, they shall identify the evidence that contradicts the purported fact and provide specific citations to supporting evidence. E. In the fourth column of the chart, the parties shall state whether they agree that the fact in question is material. E.F. To the extent a party intends to move for summary judgment on more than one claim and includes in their chart a fact that is unique to a particular claim or claim(s), the party may, but is not required to, add an additional column to the chart identifying the specific claim(s) to which the stated fact pertains. V. MISCELLANEOUS A. At the hearing, the Court will consider the issues raised and will set a briefing schedule. The Court will not preclude a party from filing a motion for summary judgment, but the Court will make suggestions regarding issues based on the facts identified during the hearing. Should a party proceed with filing a motion for summary judgment after the hearing, the parties shall comply with the Civ. Practice Standard 7.1D of the Uniform Civil Practice Standards governing motions for summary judgment. B. Motions for summary judgment filed without adhering to the procedures in this standing order or Civ. Practice Standard 7.1D will be stricken for noncompliance. C. No party shall file an early motion for summary judgment without first obtaining leave of the Judge or Magistrate Judge. 2 APPENDIX A REQUIRED FORMAT FOR CHART OF UNDISPUTED FACTS IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney CASE NO. ______________________________ DATE OF HEARING__________________________ CASE CAPTION _______________________________________________________________ PARTY OR PARTIES SEEKING SUMMARY JUDGMENT_____________________________ Statement of Undisputed Facts Number Movant’s purported undisputed material fact [Party’s] Motion for Summary Judgment on [Party’s] Claim # ____ Non-movant’s response (with citations) (with citations) Do the parties agree that the purported fact is material? 1. 2. 3. APPNDIX B EXAMPLE CHART OF UNDISPUTED FACTS [Party’s] Motion for Summary Judgment on [Party's] Claim # Movant’s purported undisputed material fact (with citations) Non-movant’s response (with citations) The Plaintiffs employment began on June 15, 2018. Citation: BATES004298. Undisputed. Do the parties agree that the purported fact is material? Agree. The Plaintiff was terminated on June 30, 2020. Citation: BATES004214. Undisputed. Agree. Defendant Doe made the decision to terminate the Plaintiff. Citation: BATES005732; Doe Dep. Tr. 10:22- 11:1. Disputed. The superintendent Mr. Smith, not Defendant Doe, made the decision to terminate the Plaintiff. Citation: BATES006873; Smith Dep. Tr. 51:15-24. Agree. Defendant Doe’s employment records state that, in 2019, he was investigated for “potential misuse of the company credit card.” Citation: BATES006832. Undisputed. Disagree.

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PRACTICE STANDARDS (Criminal Cases) Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney United States District Court District of Colorado Courtroom A702 Alfred A. Arraj Courthouse Chambers A738 901 19th Street Denver, CO 80294 Telephone: (303) 335-2610 Email: [email protected] Revised: December 2025 I. GENERAL PROCEDURES A. Applicable Rules 1. Those appearing in the District Court must know and follow: a. The Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure; b. The Federal Rules of Evidence; c. The Local Rules of Practice of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado; d. The Electronic Case Filing Procedures (Criminal Version 3.0 or the most current version); and e. These Practice Standards. 2. Failure to comply with the foregoing rules or procedures or the Practice Standards of this Court may result in appropriate sanctions. B. Communications with Chambers Inquiries to Chambers (e.g., questions about procedures and standards) should be made via email to [email protected]. Please copy opposing counsel or opposing pro se parties on all emails. Please do not contact Chambers about substantive matters as Chambers staff cannot give legal advice or grant informal requests not made via motion. For information about filing documents electronically please contact the ECF Help Desk at [email protected] or (303) 844-3433. C. Citations 1. 2. 3. Citations shall be made pursuant to the most current edition of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation. Specific references in the form of pinpoint citations should be used to identify relevant excerpts from a document (e.g., to ECF page numbers or paragraph numbers). Whenever practicable, a citation to an unpublished opinion should include its Westlaw citation. These standards should be cited as Crim. Practice Standard, Part, Section, Subsection, Paragraph, and Subparagraph (e.g., Crim. Practice Standard IV.C.2.b.1). - 1 - D. Typeface and Spacing All papers filed with the Court by anyone other than a judicial officer shall be double-spaced and in Arial 12-point font (exclusive of footnotes and endnotes). E. Proposed Orders Parties may be directed to transmit proposed orders or other pleadings or papers by e-mail to [email protected]. The proposed order or document should be submitted as an attachment to the e-mail in editable (Word) format unless otherwise specified. The e-mail message should identify the case number and document attached. Please do not send documents directly to chambers by mail or e-mail unless requested or ordered to do so by the Court. II. COURTROOM PROCEDURES A. Courtroom Operations For information regarding the courtroom, including telephonic or video connection (if such remote appearances have been granted by the Court), courtroom equipment and technology, courtroom protocol, use of deposition transcripts, the submission of trial exhibits and witness lists, and the use of exhibits at trial, please contact the Courtroom Deputy, Julie Dynes, at [email protected] or (303) 335-2054. The courtroom is equipped with HDMI and VGA plug-ins for displaying exhibits. In addition, there are monitors at each table including the witness stand, large screens for the gallery, white pads, easels, and an ELMO. Please contact Ms. Dynes at least 14 days prior to trial or evidentiary hearing with any questions regarding remote witnesses (if allowed by the Court), submission of trial exhibits and witness lists, use of exhibits at trial, general courtroom procedures, and to schedule a technical walk-through, if needed. B. Recording of Proceedings 1. The realtime court reporter assigned to the Court is Sarah Mitchell. Transcripts of proceedings may be ordered from Ms. Mitchell by email at [email protected]. Requests for realtime or daily rough draft transcripts must be made at least 30 days before trial. For further details, contact Ms. Mitchell. - 2 - 2. The realtime and rough draft transcripts are unedited and uncertified and may contain untranslated stenographic symbols, an occasional reporter’s note, a misspelled proper name, and/or nonsensical word combinations. All such entries will be corrected on the final certified transcript when ordered. Due to the need to correct entries prior to certification, counsel shall use the realtime draft only for the purpose of augmenting counsel's notes. It shall not be used or cited in any court proceeding or distributed to any other parties. By purchasing a realtime transcript, purchaser agrees to the terms and conditions for the use of this rough draft. C. Courtroom Decorum Creating a courtroom where all parties, witnesses, and counsel feel welcome and respected is of utmost importance to this Court. In that regard, counsel are invited and encouraged to identify the preferred pronouns of counsel, clients, and witnesses at the earliest juncture possible. This may be done in an initial signature block, in person at a conference or hearing, or in a witness list. Should the wrong pronoun be used, counsel are encouraged to bring that to the Court’s attention at the time, or through a subsequent email to Chambers. Counsel should bring any accessibility or disability accommodation issues to the attention of the courtroom deputy prior to any hearing or trial so the Court can ensure that all necessary accommodations are in place. All parties should observe the following courtroom decorum: 1. 2. 3. 4. Stand when the Judge enters or leaves the courtroom, when addressing the Court, including making objections, and when the jury enters or leaves the courtroom; Request permission to approach the bench; Address the Judge as “Your Honor”; and Refer to all other persons by their surnames, prefaced by the individual’s title (e.g., Dr., Agent, Officer, etc.) and preferred pronouns. D. Oaths Please note and advise all persons appearing with you in court, including co-counsel, paralegals, clients, witnesses, and spectators that oath-taking is treated formally in the courtroom. The Court will administer an oath to a jury or witness ONLY when all other activity in the courtroom has ceased. Attorneys are directed to observe the administration of the oath and to stop all other activity. - 3 - III. MOTIONS AND OBJECTIONS PRACTICE A. General Motions with separately filed briefs or memoranda in support are not permitted. The motion and all supporting arguments must be contained within a single document. Exhibits to a motion, response, or reply must be filed on the same calendar day as the motion, response, or reply. Exhibits filed on a later day may be summarily stricken. B. Conferral The moving party is directed to confer with opposing counsel (and co- defendant counsel if applicable) before filing any motion and include the opposing party’s position in the motion. C. Page Limitations and Font Size All motions, objections, responses, and concomitant briefs shall not exceed 15 pages. Replies are limited to 10 pages. These page limitations shall not include any cover page, table of contents, signature block, or certificate of service. The body of the text shall be no smaller than 12-point font. The Court will entertain motions for extensions of the page limit where appropriate and for good cause. D. Motions to Continue Motions to continue (including motions to vacate or reset) hearings and trials will be determined pursuant to United States v. West, 828 F.2nd 1468, 1469–70 (10th Cir. 1987) unless a party seeks to continue a hearing or trial outside the Speedy Trial Act deadlines, in which case it will be decided pursuant to the Speedy Trial Act. Oral or written motions to continue should not be made at the time of a hearing or trial. Stipulations for continuance are not effective unless approved by the Court. E. Motions for Extensions of Time Motions for extension of time require a showing of good cause, which must be established with particularity. For Ends of Justice extensions, see subsection G. - 4 - F. Motions for Discovery 1. 2. 3. The Court will not consider any motion related to the disclosure or production of discovery that is addressed by the discovery order and/or Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 16, unless counsel for the moving party, prior to filing the motion, has conferred or made reasonable efforts to attempt to resolve the disputed matter (e.g., questions or disputes relating to the scope and/or timing of disclosure of such discovery). Motions filed without conferral will be summarily stricken. If the parties can resolve the dispute, the motion shall be entitled “Unopposed Motion for _____” and the parties shall submit via email to Chambers the proposed order that the parties wish the Court to enter. If the parties are unable to resolve the dispute, the moving party shall state in the motion the specific efforts that were taken to comply with this duty to confer. G. Ends of Justice Continuances of Hearings and Trials All motions for an ends of justice continuance must: 1. Specify the number of days remaining on the speedy trial clock and the date the requesting party believes the speedy trial clock expires; 2. Specify the number of days the party is seeking to exclude; 3. Identify which parties join in the motion and which parties object to the motion. Any party who objects to the granting of an ends of justice continuance must file their objection within seven days of the filing of the motion. H. Emergency Motions Emergency motions are only those necessary to avoid imminent irreparable harm. Counsel filing an emergency motion should ensure that: (1) the caption of the motion begins with the word “emergency”; (2) the motion is electronically filed using CM/ECF drop-down menu option entitled “Emergency” on the docket text modification screen; and (3) Chambers is notified of the motion by email to [email protected], with a subject line containing “Emergency Motion,” and the case name and number. - 5 - I. Responses and Replies A response shall clearly and completely identify by title, the CM/ECF docket number, and date filed the antecedent motion or petition to which the response is made. Similarly, a reply shall clearly and completely identify by title, CM/ECF docket number, and date filed the antecedent response to which the reply is made. J. Objections to Rule 404(b) Notices Objections to a Fed. R. Evid. 404(b) notice shall be filed no later than seven days after such Rule 404(b) notice was filed. K. Motions In Limine 1. 2. 3. Motions in limine are strongly discouraged when the motion cannot be resolved until evidence is presented at trial. Instead, such evidentiary issues can be flagged in a trial brief. If motions in limine are filed, they must be filed 14 days before the Trial Preparation Conference. Any responses to the motions in limine shall be filed seven days before the Trial Preparation Conference. Conferral and One Motion Limit: Prior to filing a motion in limine, counsel shall confer with one another in an attempt to resolve the contested evidentiary issues. If they are unable to come to a mutual resolution, counsel shall then determine which party will file the motion on the particular evidentiary issue and which party will file the response. Each party shall be limited to one motion in limine unless the Court grants leave for a supplemental filing. The motion shall address all difficult or unusual evidentiary issues the party anticipates will arise at trial, with each discrete evidentiary dispute separately numbered within the motion. The motion and response shall be limited to eight pages unless there is a showing of good cause and the Court grants leave to extend the page limits. All text in these filings will count against the page limits, except for the attorney or party signature blocks and the certificate of service. No reply brief in support of a motion in limine will be permitted. L. Expert Disclosures All required disclosures by the Government pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 16(a)(b)(1)(G) or any Defendant(s) pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 16(b)(1)(C) shall occur no later than 30 days prior to trial. Any objections to such disclosures or anticipated testimony, - 6 - including but not limited to those that may be made pursuant to Federal Rules of Evidence 702, 703, and 705, and Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharms., Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (1993), shall be filed within seven days thereafter. M. Trial Briefs Trial briefs are encouraged but not required absent specific Court order. If filed, trial briefs shall not exceed 10 pages and shall be filed not later than seven days before trial. Please flag evidentiary issues in a trial brief rather than by motion in limine. A trial brief may not be used as a substitute for a motion. IV. HEARINGS AND TRIALS A. Exhibits and Exhibit Lists 1. Format: Parties must use the exhibit list template available on the District Court website at Hon. Charlotte N. Sweeney | US District Court of Colorado. 2. When to File Exhibit Lists: a. Parties shall file their exhibit lists via CM/ECF no later than two business days before a hearing or seven days before the Trial Preparation Conference. Final exhibit lists shall be filed via CM/ECF by noon the Friday before trial. 3. When to Submit Exhibits: a. b. Motions Hearings: each party must provide a copy of its exhibits to opposing counsel or any pro se party two business days before the hearing. Each party must provide a copy of its exhibits (one flash drive and two notebooks) to the Courtroom deputy on the day of the hearing. Trial: each party must provide one USB flash drive and two exhibit notebooks, one containing the original exhibits and one containing copies of the exhibits for the Court, to the Courtroom Deputy on the morning of the first day of trial. The following information should appear on the cover of each notebook: the proceeding, (iii) scheduled date and time, and (iv) “original” or “copy.” (ii) nature of (i) caption, c. Exhibits Preparation: i. The parties must pre-mark all exhibits that will be used or identified for the record. Exhibits not timely pre- - 7 - marked or exchanged before a hearing or trial may not be admitted. The case number shall appear on each exhibit sticker or label. If exhibits are not bound and labeled properly, the trial may be delayed or continued until they are. There is no need for duplicate exhibits or for a party to seek to admit exhibits offered by another party and admitted by the Court or by stipulation. The parties shall confer and attempt to stipulate to the admissibility of any exhibits. No oversized exhibits are to be used unless requested by prior motion and approved by the Court. If a particular exhibit has more than two pages and is not otherwise paginated internally, pages within the exhibit shall be numbered sequentially. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. B. Witness Lists 1. Format: The parties must use the witness list form available through the http://www.cod.uscourts.gov/Judicial District Court website at Officers/ActiveArticleIIIJudges/HonCharlotteNSweeney.aspx. 2. When to File: Each party shall submit a list of its proposed witnesses as set forth below: a. Parties shall file their witness lists via CM/ECF no later than two business days before a hearing or seven days before the Trial Preparation Conference. Final witness lists shall be filed via CM/ECF by noon the Friday before trial. b. For trial preparation conferences, two days after witness lists are filed, the parties shall file estimates of the time required for their cross-examination of the opposing party’s witnesses. The parties shall include the proposed order of witnesses, the anticipated length of testimony, and the expertise of any testifying experts. The parties shall also advise the Court whether any witnesses will appear by video. 3. A Final witness lists, must include an estimate of the time anticipated for each witness’s direct and cross-examination. - 8 - C. Depositions Together with Fed. R. Crim. P. 15, this practice standard governs the use of depositions in criminal proceedings: 1. Deposition designations and objections: If a party intends to offer deposition testimony in lieu of a live witness at trial, counsel shall exchange with each other their designations of anticipated deposition testimony. If any party objects to any deposition designations, the parties shall jointly file with the Court a single marked-up transcript of their respectively designated deposition testimony no later than 14 days before trial. The Government’s designations shall be highlighted in yellow, and Defendant’s designations shall be highlighted in blue. The parties shall also file a chart identifying the designation by page and line number and any objections to that designation. Objections must state the rule and a short statement of the basis for the objection. 2. For jury trials, parties shall provide a person to read the deposition answers. 3. For bench trials, depositions will not usually be read in open court. Instead, the Court will read them in chambers in any requested sequence. At the beginning of the trial, the offering party shall provide the courtroom deputy with two copies of the relevant deposition transcript marked as an exhibit with the Government’s designated portions highlighted in yellow and the defendant’s in blue. D. Videotaped Depositions Together with Fed. R. Crim. P. 15, this practice standard governs the use of videotaped depositions in criminal proceedings. Objections to any portion of a proposed videotaped deposition shall be filed and determined pursuant to D.C.COLO.LCivR 7.1 and these Practice Standards. Objections may be resolved before trial to facilitate appropriate redaction. E. Trial Preparation Conference The Court will set a date for the Trial Preparation Conference at the time it sets the case for Trial. Counsel who will try the case must attend. Not later than seven days prior to the Trial Preparation Conference, the parties shall submit, via CM/ECF, the following: 1. Witness and exhibit lists: the parties shall file their proposed witness and exhibit lists via CM-ECF in accordance with Section IV.A and B. - 9 - 2. Proposed jury instructions and verdict forms: the parties shall file their instructions and verdict forms via CM-ECF and by email to [email protected] in editable (Word) format. Verdict forms shall be submitted in a separate file from jury instructions. Within the jury instruction file, each jury instruction shall begin on a new page. Clear and concise jury instructions are imperative. While the Court encourages the use of stock and model instructions, counsel should review those instructions with the average layperson in mind and modify language that is overly complicated or “lawyerly.” As with jury instructions, the Court urges counsel to confer and craft a stipulated verdict form that is understandable to lay persons. Where possible, jury instructions and verdict forms will be finalized before the trial begins. a. b. c. d. Each instruction should be numbered (e.g., “Government’s Instruction No. 1”) for purposes of making a record at the jury instruction conference. The parties shall attempt to stipulate to the jury instructions, particularly “stock” instructions, and verdict forms. To the maximum extent possible, the parties shall agree on one stipulated set of proposed jury instructions; only true conflict or uncertainty in binding substantive law should prevent such agreement. The jury instructions shall identify the source of the instruction and supporting authority. Whenever practicable and appropriate, the parties shall use or adapt for use the Criminal Pattern Jury Instructions prepared by the Criminal Pattern Jury Instruction Committee of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. The pattern instructions and updates at may (https://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/). online found be To the extent that counsel are unable to agree on proposed instructions, they are to jointly submit a document identifying all disputed instructions, with a brief statement of dispute and each side’s proposed language. - 10 - F. Jury Trials 1. 2. 3. The parties shall be present on the first day of trial at 8:00 a.m. Jury selection will begin at 8:30 a.m. The second day of trial will begin at 8:30 a.m. and continue until approximately 4:30 p.m. The trial day will have morning and afternoon recesses of approximately fifteen minutes in duration. A lunch break of approximately one hour will be taken at approximately 12:00 p.m. Voir Dire: After potential jurors are seated in the courtroom, the Court will give them a brief statement of the case and conduct initial voir dire. a. The parties will conduct the remainder of the voir dire examination. Unless ordered otherwise, each side shall be permitted voir dire examination of 30 minutes after voir dire examination by the Court. Challenges pursuant to Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), shall be made and considered at the time challenges for cause are made, before the jury is sworn. A party that wants to preserve a Batson challenge should request the Court not to release any jurors subject to the challenge. 4. Jurors will be permitted to take notes during the trial. 5. The jury will be instructed before closing argument. 6. Each juror will be given a copy of the written jury instructions for use during deliberations. G. Trials to the Court 1. 2. Trials to the court will begin at 8:30 a.m. on the first day of trial. For a trial to the Court, a proper resume or curriculum vitae, marked as an exhibit, generally will suffice for the qualification of an expert witness. J. Glossary 1. 2. Not later than five business days before trial, the parties shall email to Chambers a Glossary of any difficult, unusual, scientific, or technical words, names, terms, or phrases. The parties shall submit to the Courtroom Deputy three paper copies of the Glossary and provide a copy of the Glossary to opposing counsel and any pro se party on the day of trial. - 11 - V. PLEA AGREEMENTS A. Treatment of Notice of Disposition Any notice of disposition filed pursuant to D.C.COLO.LCrR 11.1A shall be considered to be a pretrial motion within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(1)(F) for the purpose of computing time under the Speedy Trial Act of 1974, 18 U.S.C. §§ 3161–74. B. Rule 11(c)(1)(C) Pleas Any plea agreement pursuant to Fed. R. Crim P. 11(c)(1)(C) must be submitted to chambers no later than 14 days before the date set for trial. C. Plea Agreement Content Restriction 1. 2. No plea agreement shall identify whether a defendant has agreed to cooperate with the United States or other jurisdiction with respect to the investigation or prosecution of others. Consequently, no plea agreement shall contain any reference to any cooperation agreement between the Defendant and Government, to any potential for a motion under 5K.1.1 of the United States Sentencing Guidelines (U.S.S.G.), or to any other statutory or guideline calculation or adjustment predicated on such cooperation. D. Change of Plea Hearing 1. 2. 3. 4. The AUSA who negotiated the plea agreement and defense counsel who reviewed the plea agreement with the defendant must be present in person at the Change of Plea hearing. Courtesy Copy of Plea Agreement: No less than five business days before the Change of Plea Hearing, the parties shall send via email a courtesy copy of the plea agreement (signed or unsigned) to Chambers. Signed Plea Agreement: Pursuant to D.C.COLO.LCrR 11.1(e), defense counsel shall submit the signed original and one copy of the “Statement by Defendant in Advance of Change of Plea” and the “Plea Agreement and Statement of Facts” to the Courtroom Deputy at the time of the hearing. If the defendant is pleading to an Information that has not been filed prior to the Change of Plea Hearing, Counsel must provide copies of the Information, Criminal Penalty Sheet, and Waiver of Indictment to the Courtroom Deputy at the time of the hearing. - 12 - Table of Pretrial/Trial Deadlines Note: This table is provided for the convenience of parties appearing before Judge Sweeney. It does not include all the dates and deadlines listed within the Judge’s Criminal Practice Standards and is not a substitute for knowledge of and familiarity with the text. DEADLINE DAYS PRIOR CRIM. PRACTICE STANDARDS REF. Objections to Rule 404(b) Notices 7 days after notice filed III.E Motions Hearing Objections to Ends of Justice Continuance Courtesy Copy of Plea Agreement 7 days after motion filed 5 business days prior III.D V.D.2 Exhibits and Witness List 2 business days prior IV.A.2.a & IV.B.2.a Prior to Trial Preparation Conference Motions in limine Responses to motions in limine 14 days 7 days Proposed jury instructions and verdict form 7 days Exhibit list Witness list 7 days 7 days Estimates for cross-examinations of opposing party’s witnesses 5 days (or two days after witness lists are filed) Prior to Trial Realtime or daily rough draft transcript request 30 days Designations and objections regarding deposition designations Questions to Courtroom Deputy regarding courtroom technology Trial briefs 14 days 14 days 7 days III.F III.F IV.E.2 IV.E IV.E IV.B.2.b II.B IV.C.2 II.A III.G Glossary due (3 copies) 5 business days IV.J.1 Exhibit notebooks (2) and USB flash drive (1) Final witness list Final exhibit list Morning of first day of trial Friday before trial by noon Friday before trial by noon IV.A.2.b IV.B.3 IV.A.3 - 13 -

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PRACTICE STANDARDS (Criminal Cases) Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney United States District Court District of Colorado Courtroom A702 Alfred A. Arraj Courthouse Chambers A738 901 19th Street Denver, CO 80294 Telephone: (303) 335-2610 Email: [email protected] Revised: December 20254 I. GENERAL PROCEDURES A. Applicable Rules 1. Those appearing in the District Court must know and follow: a. The Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure; b. The Federal Rules of Evidence; c. The Local Rules of Practice of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado; d. The Electronic Case Filing Procedures (Criminal Version 3.0 or the most current version); and e. These Practice Standards. 2. Failure to comply with the foregoing rules or procedures or the Practice Standards of this Court may result in appropriate sanctions. B. Communications with Chambers Inquiries to Chambers (e.g., questions about procedures and standards) should be made via email to [email protected]. Please copy opposing counsel or opposing pro se parties on all emails. Please do not contact Chambers about substantive matters as Chambers staff cannot give legal advice or grant informal requests not made via motion. For information about filing documents electronically please contact the ECF Help Desk at [email protected] or (303) 844-3433. C. Citations 1. 2. 3. Citations shall be made pursuant to the most current edition of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation. Specific references in the form of pinpoint citations should be used to identify relevant excerpts from a document (e.g., to ECF page numbers or paragraph numbers). Whenever practicable, a citation to an unpublished opinion should include its Westlaw citation. These standards should be cited as Crim. Practice Standard, Part, Section, Subsection, Paragraph, and Subparagraph (e.g., Crim. Practice Standard IV.C.2.b.1). - 1 - D. Typeface and Spacing All papers filed with the Court by anyone other than a judicial officer shall be double-spaced and in Arial 12-point font (exclusive of footnotes and endnotes). E. Proposed Orders Parties may be directed to transmit proposed orders or other pleadings or papers by e-mail to [email protected]. The proposed order or document should be submitted as an attachment to the e-mail in editable (Word) format unless otherwise specified. The e-mail message should identify the case number and document attached. Please do not send documents directly to chambers by mail or e-mail unless requested or ordered to do so by the Court. II. COURTROOM PROCEDURES A. Courtroom Operations For information regarding the courtroom, including telephonic or video connection (if such remote appearances have been granted by the Court), courtroom equipment and technology, courtroom protocol, use of deposition transcripts, the submission of trial exhibits and witness lists, and the use of exhibits at trial, please contact the Courtroom Deputy, Julie Dynes, at [email protected] or (303) 335-2054. The courtroom is equipped with HDMI and VGA plug-ins for displaying exhibits. In addition, there are monitors at each table including the witness stand, large screens for the gallery, white pads, easels, and an ELMO. Please contact Ms. Dynes at least 14 days prior to trial or evidentiary hearing with any questions regarding remote witnesses (if allowed by the Court), submission of trial exhibits and witness lists, use of exhibits at trial, general courtroom procedures, and to schedule a technical walk-through, if needed. B. Recording of Proceedings 1. The realtime court reporter assigned to the Court is Sarah Mitchell. Transcripts of proceedings may be ordered from Ms. Mitchell by email at [email protected]. Requests for realtime or daily rough draft transcripts must be made at least 30 days before trial. For further details, contact Ms. Mitchell. - 2 - 2. The realtime and rough draft transcripts are unedited and uncertified and may contain untranslated stenographic symbols, an occasional reporter’s note, a misspelled proper name, and/or nonsensical word combinations. All such entries will be corrected on the final certified transcript when ordered. Due to the need to correct entries prior to certification, counsel shall use the realtime draft only for the purpose of augmenting counsel's notes. It shall not be used or cited in any court proceeding or distributed to any other parties. By purchasing a realtime transcript, purchaser agrees to the terms and conditions for the use of this rough draft. C. Courtroom Decorum Creating a courtroom where all parties, witnesses, and counsel feel welcome and respected is of utmost importance to this Court. In that regard, counsel are invited and encouraged to identify the preferred pronouns of counsel, clients, and witnesses at the earliest juncture possible. This may be done in an initial signature block, in person at a conference or hearing, or in a witness list. Should the wrong pronoun be used, counsel are encouraged to bring that to the Court’s attention at the time, or through a subsequent email to Chambers. Counsel should bring any accessibility or disability accommodation issues to the attention of the courtroom deputy prior to any hearing or trial so the Court can ensure that all necessary accommodations are in place. All parties should observe the following courtroom decorum: 1. 2. 3. 4. Stand when the Judge enters or leaves the courtroom, when addressing the Court, including making objections, and when the jury enters or leaves the courtroom; Request permission to approach the bench; Address the Judge as “Your Honor”; and Refer to all other persons by their surnames, prefaced by the individual’s title (e.g., Dr., Agent, Officer, etc.) and preferred pronouns. D. Oaths Please note and advise all persons appearing with you in court, including co-counsel, paralegals, clients, witnesses, and spectators that oath-taking is treated formally in the courtroom. The Court will administer an oath to a jury or witness ONLY when all other activity in the courtroom has ceased. Attorneys are directed to observe the administration of the oath and to stop all other activity. - 3 - III. MOTIONS AND OBJECTIONS PRACTICE A. General Motions with separately filed briefs or memoranda in support are not permitted. The motion and all supporting arguments must be contained within a single document. Exhibits to a motion, response, or reply must be filed on the same calendar day as the motion, response, or reply. Exhibits filed on a later day may be summarily stricken. B. Conferral The moving party is directed to confer with opposing counsel (and co- defendant counsel if applicable) before filing any motion and include the opposing party’s position in the motion. C. Page Limitations and Font Size All motions, objections, responses, and concomitant briefs shall not exceed 15 pages. Replies are limited to 10 pages. These page limitations shall not include any cover page, table of contents, signature block, or certificate of service. The body of the text shall be no smaller than 12-point font. The Court will entertain motions for extensions of the page limit where appropriate and for good cause. D. Motions to Continue Motions to continue (including motions to vacate or reset) hearings and trials will be determined pursuant to United States v. West, 828 F.2nd 1468, 1469–70 (10th Cir. 1987) unless a party seeks to continue a hearing or trial outside the Speedy Trial Act deadlines, in which case it will be decided pursuant to the Speedy Trial Act. Oral or written motions to continue should not be made at the time of a hearing or trial. Stipulations for continuance are not effective unless approved by the Court. E. Motions for Extensions of Time Motions for extension of time require a showing of good cause, which must be established with particularity. For Ends of Justice extensions, see subsection G. - 4 - F. Motions for Discovery 1. 2. 3. The Court will not consider any motion related to the disclosure or production of discovery that is addressed by the discovery order and/or Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 16, unless counsel for the moving party, prior to filing the motion, has conferred or made reasonable efforts to attempt to resolve the disputed matter (e.g., questions or disputes relating to the scope and/or timing of disclosure of such discovery). Motions filed without conferral will be summarily stricken. If the parties can resolve the dispute, the motion shall be entitled “Unopposed Motion for _____” and the parties shall submit via email to Chambers the proposed order that the parties wish the Court to enter. If the parties are unable to resolve the dispute, the moving party shall state in the motion the specific efforts that were taken to comply with this duty to confer. G. Ends of Justice Continuances of Hearings and Trials All motions for an ends of justice continuance must: 1. Specify the number of days remaining on the speedy trial clock and the date the requesting party believes the speedy trial clock expires; 2. Specify the number of days the party is seeking to exclude; 3. Identify which parties join in the motion and which parties object to the motion. Any party who objects to the granting of an ends of justice continuance must file their objection within seven days of the filing of the motion. H. Emergency Motions Emergency motions are only those necessary to avoid imminent irreparable harm. Counsel filing an emergency motion should ensure that: (1) the caption of the motion begins with the word “emergency”; (2) the motion is electronically filed using CM/ECF drop-down menu option entitled “Emergency” on the docket text modification screen; and (3) Chambers is notified of the motion by email to [email protected], with a subject line containing “Emergency Motion,” and the case name and number. - 5 - I. Responses and Replies A response shall clearly and completely identify by title, the CM/ECF docket number, and date filed the antecedent motion or petition to which the response is made. Similarly, a reply shall clearly and completely identify by title, CM/ECF docket number, and date filed the antecedent response to which the reply is made. J. Objections to Rule 404(b) Notices Objections to a Fed. R. Evid. 404(b) notice shall be filed no later than seven days after such Rule 404(b) notice was filed. K. Motions In Limine 1. 2. 3. Motions in limine are strongly discouraged when the motion cannot be resolved until evidence is presented at trial. Instead, such evidentiary issues can be flagged in a trial brief. If motions in limine are filed, they must be filed 14 days before the Trial Preparation Conference. Any responses to the motions in limine shall be filed seven days before the Trial Preparation Conference. Conferral and One Motion Limit: Prior to filing a motion in limine, counsel shall confer with one another in an attempt to resolve the contested evidentiary issues. If they are unable to come to a mutual resolution, counsel shall then determine which party will file the motion on the particular evidentiary issue and which party will file the response. Each party shall be limited to one motion in limine unless the Court grants leave for a supplemental filing. The motion shall address all difficult or unusual evidentiary issues the party anticipates will arise at trial, with each discrete evidentiary dispute separately numbered within the motion. The motion and response shall be limited to eight pages unless there is a showing of good cause and the Court grants leave to extend the page limits. All text in these filings will count against the page limits, except for the attorney or party signature blocks and the certificate of service. No reply brief in support of a motion in limine will be permitted. L. Expert Disclosures All required disclosures by the Government pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 16(a)(b)(1)(G) or any Defendant(s) pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 16(b)(1)(C) shall occur no later than 30 days prior to trial. Any objections to such disclosures or anticipated testimony, - 6 - including but not limited to those that may be made pursuant to Federal Rules of Evidence 702, 703, and 705, and Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharms., Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (1993), shall be filed within seven days thereafter. M. Trial Briefs Trial briefs are encouraged but not required absent specific Court order. If filed, trial briefs shall not exceed 10 pages and shall be filed not later than seven days before trial. Please flag evidentiary issues in a trial brief rather than by motion in limine. A trial brief may not be used as a substitute for a motion. IV. HEARINGS AND TRIALS A. Exhibits and Exhibit Lists 1. Format: Parties must use the exhibit list template available on the District Court website at Hon. Charlotte N. Sweeney | US District Court of Colorado. 2. When to File Exhibit Lists: a. Parties shall file their exhibit lists via CM/ECF no later than two business days before a hearing or seven days before the Trial Preparation Conference. Final exhibit lists shall be filed via CM/ECF by noon the Friday before trial. 3. When to Submit Exhibits: a. b. Motions Hearings: each party must provide a copy of its exhibits to opposing counsel or any pro se party two business days before the hearing. Each party must provide a copy of its exhibits (one flash drive and two notebooks) to the Courtroom deputy on the day of the hearing. Trial: each party must provide one USB flash drive and two exhibit notebooks, one containing the original exhibits and one containing copies of the exhibits for the Court, to the Courtroom Deputy on the morning of the first day of trial. The following information should appear on the cover of each notebook: the proceeding, (iii) scheduled date and time, and (iv) “original” or “copy.” (ii) nature of (i) caption, c. Exhibits Preparation: i. The parties must pre-mark all exhibits that will be used or identified for the record. Exhibits not timely pre- - 7 - marked or exchanged before a hearing or trial may not be admitted. The case number shall appear on each exhibit sticker or label. If exhibits are not bound and labeled properly, the trial may be delayed or continued until they are. There is no need for duplicate exhibits or for a party to seek to admit exhibits offered by another party and admitted by the Court or by stipulation. The parties shall confer and attempt to stipulate to the admissibility of any exhibits. No oversized exhibits are to be used unless requested by prior motion and approved by the Court. If a particular exhibit has more than two pages and is not otherwise paginated internally, pages within the exhibit shall be numbered sequentially. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. B. Witness Lists 1. Format: The parties must use the witness list form available through the http://www.cod.uscourts.gov/Judicial District Court website at Officers/ActiveArticleIIIJudges/HonCharlotteNSweeney.aspx. 2. When to File: Each party shall submit a list of its proposed witnesses as set forth below: a. Parties shall file their witness lists via CM/ECF no later than two business days before a hearing or seven days before the Trial Preparation Conference. Final witness lists shall be filed via CM/ECF by noon the Friday before trial. b. For trial preparation conferences, two days after witness lists are filed, the parties shall file estimates of the time required for their cross-examination of the opposing party’s witnesses. The parties shall include the proposed order of witnesses, the anticipated length of testimony, and the expertise of any testifying experts. The parties shall also advise the Court whether any witnesses will appear by video. 3. A Final witness lists, must include an estimate of the time anticipated for each witness’s direct and cross-examination. - 8 - C. Depositions Together with Fed. R. Crim. P. 15, this practice standard governs the use of depositions in criminal proceedings: 1. Deposition designations and objections: If a party intends to offer deposition testimony in lieu of a live witness at trial, counsel shall exchange with each other their designations of anticipated deposition testimony. If any party objects to any deposition designations, the parties shall jointly file with the Court a single marked-up transcript of their respectively designated deposition testimony no later than 14 days before trial. The Government’s designations shall be highlighted in yellow, and Defendant’s designations shall be highlighted in blue. The parties shall also file a chart identifying the designation by page and line number and any objections to that designation. Objections must state the rule and a short statement of the basis for the objection. 2. For jury trials, parties shall provide a person to read the deposition answers. 3. For bench trials, depositions will not usually be read in open court. Instead, the Court will read them in chambers in any requested sequence. At the beginning of the trial, the offering party shall provide the courtroom deputy with two copies of the relevant deposition transcript marked as an exhibit with the Government’s designated portions highlighted in yellow and the defendant’s in blue. D. Videotaped Depositions Together with Fed. R. Crim. P. 15, this practice standard governs the use of videotaped depositions in criminal proceedings. Objections to any portion of a proposed videotaped deposition shall be filed and determined pursuant to D.C.COLO.LCivR 7.1 and these Practice Standards. Objections may be resolved before trial to facilitate appropriate redaction. E. Trial Preparation Conference The Court will set a date for the Trial Preparation Conference at the time it sets the case for Trial. Counsel who will try the case must attend. Not later than seven days prior to the Trial Preparation Conference, the parties shall submit, via CM/ECF, the following: 1. Witness and exhibit lists: the parties shall file their proposed witness and exhibit lists via CM-ECF in accordance with Section IV.A and B. - 9 - 2. Proposed jury instructions and verdict forms: the parties shall file their instructions and verdict forms via CM-ECF and by email to [email protected] in editable (Word) format. Verdict forms shall be submitted in a separate file from jury instructions. Within the jury instruction file, each jury instruction shall begin on a new page. Clear and concise jury instructions are imperative. While the Court encourages the use of stock and model instructions, counsel should review those instructions with the average layperson in mind and modify language that is overly complicated or “lawyerly.” As with jury instructions, the Court urges counsel to confer and craft a stipulated verdict form that is understandable to lay persons. Where possible, jury instructions and verdict forms will be finalized before the trial begins. a. b. c. d. Each instruction should be numbered (e.g., “Government’s Instruction No. 1”) for purposes of making a record at the jury instruction conference. The parties shall attempt to stipulate to the jury instructions, particularly “stock” instructions, and verdict forms. To the maximum extent possible, the parties shall agree on one stipulated set of proposed jury instructions; only true conflict or uncertainty in binding substantive law should prevent such agreement. The jury instructions shall identify the source of the instruction and supporting authority. Whenever practicable and appropriate, the parties shall use or adapt for use the Criminal Pattern Jury Instructions prepared by the Criminal Pattern Jury Instruction Committee of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. The pattern instructions and updates at may (https://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/). online found be To the extent that counsel are unable to agree on proposed instructions, they are to jointly submit a document identifying all disputed instructions, with a brief statement of dispute and each side’s proposed language. - 10 - F. Jury Trials 1. 2. 3. The parties shall be present on the first day of trial at 8:00 a.m. Jury selection will begin at 8:30 a.m. The second day of trial will begin at 8:30 a.m. and continue until approximately 4:30 p.m. The trial day will have morning and afternoon recesses of approximately fifteen minutes in duration. A lunch break of approximately one hour will be taken at approximately 12:00 p.m. Voir Dire: After potential jurors are seated in the courtroom, the Court will give them a brief statement of the case and conduct initial voir dire. a. The parties will conduct the remainder of the voir dire examination. Unless ordered otherwise, each side shall be permitted voir dire examination of 30 minutes after voir dire examination by the Court. Challenges pursuant to Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), shall be made and considered at the time challenges for cause are made, before the jury is sworn. A party that wants to preserve a Batson challenge should request the Court not to release any jurors subject to the challenge. 4. Jurors will be permitted to take notes during the trial. 5. The jury will be instructed before closing argument. 6. Each juror will be given a copy of the written jury instructions for use during deliberations. G. Trials to the Court 1. 2. Trials to the court will begin at 8:30 a.m. on the first day of trial. For a trial to the Court, a proper resume or curriculum vitae, marked as an exhibit, generally will suffice for the qualification of an expert witness. J. Glossary 1. 2. Not later than five business days before trial, the parties shall email to Chambers a Glossary of any difficult, unusual, scientific, or technical words, names, terms, or phrases. The parties shall submit to the Courtroom Deputy three paper copies of the Glossary and provide a copy of the Glossary to opposing counsel and any pro se party on the day of trial. - 11 - V. PLEA AGREEMENTS A. Treatment of Notice of Disposition Any notice of disposition filed pursuant to D.C.COLO.LCrR 11.1A shall be considered to be a pretrial motion within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(1)(F) for the purpose of computing time under the Speedy Trial Act of 1974, 18 U.S.C. §§ 3161–74. B. Rule 11(c)(1)(C) Pleas Any plea agreement pursuant to Fed. R. Crim P. 11(c)(1)(C) must be submitted to chambers no later than 14 days before the date set for trial. C. Plea Agreement Content Restriction 1. 2. No plea agreement shall identify whether a defendant has agreed to cooperate with the United States or other jurisdiction with respect to the investigation or prosecution of others. Consequently, no plea agreement shall contain any reference to any cooperation agreement between the Defendant and Government, to any potential for a motion under 5K.1.1 of the United States Sentencing Guidelines (U.S.S.G.), or to any other statutory or guideline calculation or adjustment predicated on such cooperation. D. Change of Plea Hearing 1. 2. 3. 4. The AUSA who negotiated the plea agreement and defense counsel who reviewed the plea agreement with the defendant must be present in person at the Change of Plea hearing. Courtesy Copy of Plea Agreement: No less than five business days before the Change of Plea Hearing, the parties shall send via email a courtesy copy of the plea agreement (signed or unsigned) to Chambers. Signed Plea Agreement: Pursuant to D.C.COLO.LCrR 11.1(e), defense counsel shall submit the signed original and one copy of the “Statement by Defendant in Advance of Change of Plea” and the “Plea Agreement and Statement of Facts” to the Courtroom Deputy at the time of the hearing. If the defendant is pleading to an Information that has not been filed prior to the Change of Plea Hearing, Counsel must provide copies of the Information, Criminal Penalty Sheet, and Waiver of Indictment to the Courtroom Deputy at the time of the hearing. - 12 - Table of Pretrial/Trial Deadlines Note: This table is provided for the convenience of parties appearing before Judge Sweeney. It does not include all the dates and deadlines listed within the Judge’s Criminal Practice Standards and is not a substitute for knowledge of and familiarity with the text. DEADLINE DAYS PRIOR CRIM. PRACTICE STANDARDS REF. Objections to Rule 404(b) Notices 7 days after notice filed III.E Motions Hearing Objections to Ends of Justice Continuance Courtesy Copy of Plea Agreement 7 days after motion filed 5 business days prior III.D V.D.2 Exhibits and Witness List 2 business days prior IV.A.2.a & IV.B.2.a Prior to Trial Preparation Conference Motions in limine Responses to motions in limine 14 days 7 days Proposed jury instructions and verdict form 7 days Exhibit list Witness list 7 days 7 days Estimates for cross-examinations of opposing party’s witnesses 5 days (or two days after witness lists are filed) Prior to Trial Realtime or daily rough draft transcript request 30 days Designations and objections regarding deposition designations Questions to Courtroom Deputy regarding courtroom technology Trial briefs 14 days 14 days 7 days III.F III.F IV.E.2 IV.E IV.E IV.B.2.b II.B IV.C.2 II.A III.G Glossary due (3 copies) 5 business days IV.J.1 Exhibit notebooks (2) and USB flash drive (1) Final witness list Final exhibit list Morning of first day of trial Friday before trial by noon Friday before trial by noon IV.A.2.b IV.B.3 IV.A.3 - 13 -

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JURY SELECTION PROCEDURE SINGLE DEFENDANT CRIMINAL TRIALS U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE CHARLOTTE N. SWEENEY The jury will consist of 12 regular jurors and on alternate juror, who shall remain anonymous to all but the Court and the parties, and will be chose in the following manner: 1. Thirty-one prospective jurors will be chosen at random by lot and seated together as a panel in and in front of or near the jury box. Voir dire will be conducted by the Court and counsel and will be directed to those 31 prospective jurors seated in and in front of the jury box. The prospective regular jurors shall be in seats 1– 28 and prospective alternate jurors shall be in seats 29–31 on the chart pro- vided to counsel by the courtroom deputy. 2. The Court will initially conduct voir dire, first through general questions to the en- tire panel, followed by individual questions to each juror. Any juror excused by the Court for hardship or cause will be replaced by a prospective juror other than the initial 31 (i.e., from the gallery or reserve). The newly selected juror will be asked to respond to those questions previously asked of the panel. 3. Upon completion of the primary questioning, counsel will be permitted to conduct a brief follow-up voir dire (usually limited to 30 minutes per side). After voir dire examination by counsel is completed, the Court shall entertain challenges for cause at the bench. 4. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 24(b), (c)(2), and (c)(4), a de- fendant is entitled to 11 peremptory challenges (i.e., 10 for the regular jurors and one for the alternate), and the government is entitled to seven peremptory chal- lenges (i.e., six for the regular jurors and one for the alternate). 5. After all prospective jurors are excused for hardship or stricken for cause, the Courtroom Deputy will provide a strike sheet to counsel to be completed as to regular (non-alternate) juror peremptory challenges in the following order: - 1 - Round 1 Government 1 Defendant 1 Defendant 2 Round 2 Government 2 Defendant 3 Defendant 4 Round 3 Government 3 Defendant 5 Defendant 6 Round 4 Government 4 Defendant 7 Defendant 8 Round 5 Government 5 Defendant 9 Government 6 Defendant 10 6. These challenges may only be directed at those jurors seated in seats 1–28 and may not be directed at any of the three prospective alternates juror. If either side accepts the regular jury before exercising all its peremptory challenges, the other side may continue to exercise available peremptory challenges. 7. Once the parties have completed their regular (non-alternate) peremptory chal- lenges, the parties shall exercise their alternate juror peremptory challenges (one per side, on the same strike sheet provided by the courtroom deputy). These chal- lenges may only be directed at jurors in seats 29–31. 8. If not all peremptory challenges are used as to the regular jurors, the Court will excuse from those (by highest juror number first) the appropriate number to com- pose a jury of 12. If more than one of the three prospective alternate jurors re- mains unstricken, the prospective alternate juror(s) with the highest juror num- ber(s) will be excused. 9. Once the strike sheet is complete, the Court will excuse the stricken jurors (regular and alternate) as a group. - 2 -

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CASE NO.______________________ FINAL LIST OF JOINT EXHIBITS CASE CAPTION __________________________ vs. __________________________ DATE __________________________ EXHIBIT NO. WITNESS DESCRIPTION AUTH- ENTICITY STIP OFFER RECD. REF. RUL. RSVD. COMMENTS/ INFO.

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney Case No. __________________________ Date _________________ Case Title _____________________________________________________________ ___________________________ FINAL WITNESS LIST (Plaintiff / Defendant) WITNESS & DATE (MAY / WILL) PROPOSED LENGTH OF TESTIMONY Direct: Direct: Direct: Direct: Direct: Direct: Direct: Direct: Direct: Direct: Direct: Direct: Direct: Direct: Direct: Direct: Direct: Direct: Cross: Cross: Cross: Cross: Cross: Cross: Cross: Cross: Cross: Cross: Cross: Cross: Cross: Cross: Cross: Cross: Cross: Cross: Total: Total: Total: Total: Total: Total: Total: Total: Total: Total: Total: Total: Total: Total: Total: Total: Total: Total:

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PILOT PROJECT REGARDING INITIAL DISCOVERY PROTOCOLS FOR EMPLOYMENT CASES ALLEGING ADVERSE ACTION November 2011 The Federal Judicial Center is making this document available at the request of the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules, in furtherance of the Center's statutory mission to conduct and stimulate research and development for the improvement of judicial administration. While the Center regards the contents as responsible and valuable, it does not reflect policy or recommendations of the Board of the Federal Judicial Center. INTRODUCTION The Initial Discovery Protocols for Employment Cases Alleging Adverse Action provide a new pretrial procedure for certain types of federal employment cases. As described in the Protocols, their intent is to "encourage parties and their counsel to exchange the most relevant information and documents early in the case, to assist in framing the issues to be resolved and to plan for more efficient and targeted discovery." Individual judges throughout the United States District Courts will pilot test the Protocols and the Federal Judicial Center will evaluate their effects. This project grew out of the 2010 Conference on Civil Litigation at Duke University, sponsored by the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Civil Rules for the purpose of re-examining civil procedures and collecting recommendations for their improvement. During the conference. a wide range of attendees expressed support for the idea of case-type-specific "pattern discovery" as a possible solution to the problems of unnecessary cost and delay in the litigation process. They also arrived at a consensus that employment cases, "regularly litigated and [presenting] recurring issues,,,j would be a good area for experimentation with the concept. Following the conference, Judge Lee Rosenthal convened a nationwide committee of attorneys, highly experienced in employment matters, to develop a pilot project in this area. Judge John Koeltl volunteered to lead this committee. By design, the committee had a balance of plaintiff Joseph Garrison 2 (New Haven, Connecticut) chaired a plaintiff and defense attorneys. subcommittee, and Chris Kitchel 3 (Portland, Oregon) chaired a defense subcommittee. The committee invited the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System at the University of Denver (lAALS) to facilitate the process. 1 Civil Rules Advisory Committee, Report to the Standing Committee, 10 (May 17,2010). 2 Mr. Garrison was a panelist at the Duke Conference. He also wrote and submitted a conference paper, entitled A Proposal to Implement a Cost-Effective and Efficient Procedural Tool Info Federal Litigation Practice, which advocated for the adoption of model or pattern discovery tools for "categories of cases which routinely appear in the federal courts" and suggested the appointment of a task force to bring the idea to fruition. J Ms. Kitchel serves on the American College of Trial Lawyers Task Force on Discovery and Civil Justice, which produced the Final Report on the Joint Project a/the American College a/Trial Lawyers Task Force on Discovery and the Institute/or the Advancement o/the American Legal System, 268 F.R.D. 407 (2009). As a result of her role on the ACTL Task Force, Ms. Kitchel had already begun discussing possibilities for improving employment litigation with Judge Rosenthal when she attended the Duke Conference. I The group worked diligently over the course of one year. Committee members met at IAALS for valuable in-person discussions in March and July of2011. Judge Koeltl was in attendance as well, to oversee the process and assist in achieving workable consensus. In addition, committee members exchanged hundreds of emails, held frequent telephone conferences, and prepared numerous drafts. The committee's final product is the result of rigorous debate and compromise on both sides, undertaken in the spirit of making constructive and even-handed improvements to the pretrial process. The Protocols create a new category of information exchange, replacing initial disclosures with initial discovery specific to employment cases alleging adverse action. This discovery is provided automatically by both sides within 30 days of the defendant's responsive pleading or motion. While the parties' subsequent right to discovery under the F.R.C.P. is not affected, the amount and type of information initially exchanged ought to focus the disputed issues, streamline the discovery process, and minimize opportunities for gamesmanship. The Protocols are accompanied by a standing order for their implementation by individual judges in the pilot project, as well as a model protective order that the attorneys and the judge can use a basis for discussion. The Federal Judicial Center will establish a framework for effectively measuring the results of this pilot project. 4 If the new process ultimately benefits litigants, it is a model that can be used to develop protocols for other types of cases. Please note: Judges adopting the protocols for use in cases before them should inform FJC senior researcher Emery Lee, [email protected], so that their cases may be included in the evaluation. 4 Civil Rules Advisory Committee, Draft Minutes of April 2011 Meeting, 43 (June 8, 2011). 2 INITIAL DISCOVERY PROTOCOLS FOR EMPLOYMENT CASES ALLEGING ADVERSE ACTION PART 1: INTRODUCTION AND DEFINITIONS. (1) Statement of purpose. a. The Initial Discovery Protocols for Employment Cases Alleging Adverse Action is a proposal designed to be implemented as a pilot project by individual judges throughout the United States District Courts. The project and the product are endorsed by the Civil Rules Advisory Committee. b. In participating courts, the Initial Discovery Protocols will be implemented by standing order and will apply to all employment cases that challenge one or more actions alleged to be adverse, except: I. Class actions; ii. Cases in which the allegations involve only the following: I. Discrimination in hiring; 2. Harassment/hostile work environment; 3. Violations of wage and hour laws under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA); 4. Failure to provide reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); 5. Violations of the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA); 6. Violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). If any party believes that there is good cause why a particular case should be exempted, in whole or in part, from this pilot program, that party may raise such reason with the Court. c. The Initial Discovery Protocols are not intended to preclude or to modifY the rights of any party for discovery as provided by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (F.R.C.P.) and other applicable local rules, but they are intended to supersede the parties' obligations to make initial disclosures pursuant to F.R.C.P. 26(a)(I). The purpose of the pilot project is to encourage parties and their counsel to exchange the most relevant information and documents early in the case, to assist in framing the issues to be resolved and to plan for more efficient and targeted discovery. 4 d. The Initial Discovery Protocols were prepared by a group of highly experienced attorneys from across the country who regularly represent plaintiffs and/or defendants in employment matters. The information and documents identified are those most likely to be requested automatically by experienced counsel in any similar case. They are unlike initial disclosures pursuant to F.R.C.P. 26(a)(I) because they focus on the type of information most likely to be useful in narrowing the issues for employment discrimination cases. (2) Definitions. The following definitions apply to cases proceeding under the Initial Discovery Protocols. a. Concerning. The term "concerning" means referring to, describing, evidencing, or constituting. b. Document. The terms "document" and "documents" are defined to be synonymous in meaning and equal in scope to the terms "documents" and "electronically stored information" as used in F.R.C.P. 34(a). c. Identify (Documents). When referring to documents, to "identify" means to give, to the extent known: (i) the type of document; (ii) the general subject matter of the document; (iii) the date of the document; (iv) the author(s), according to the document; and (v) the person(s) to whom, according to the document, the document (or a copy) was to have been sent; or, alternatively, to produce the document. d. Identify (Persons). When referring to natural persons, to "identify" means to give the person's: (i) full name; (ii) present or last known address and telephone number; (iii) present or last known place of employment; (iv) present or last known job title; and (v) relationship, if any, to the plaintiff or defendant. Once a person has been identified in accordance with this subparagraph, only the name of that person need be listed in response to subsequent discovery requesting the identification of that person. (3) Instructions. a. For this Initial Discovery, the relevant time period begins three years before the date of the adverse action, unless otherwise specified. b. This Initial Discovery is not subject to objections except upon the grounds set 5 forth in F.R.C.P. 26(b)(2)(B). c. If a partial or incomplete answer or production is provided, the responding party shall state the reason that the answer or production is partial or incomplete. d. This Initial Discovery is subject to F.R.C.P. 26(e) regarding supplementation and F.R.C.P. 26(g) regarding certification of responses. e. This Initial Discovery is subject to F.R.C.P. 34(b)(2)(E) regarding form of production. PART 2: PRODUCTION BY PLAINTIFF. (1) Timing. a. The plaintiffs Initial Discovery shall be provided within 30 days after the defendant has submitted a responsive pleading or motion, unless the court rules otherwise. (2) Documents that Plaintiff must produce to Defendant. a. All communications concerning the factual allegations or claims at issue in this lawsuit between the plaintiff and the defendant. b. Claims, lawsuits, administrative charges, and complaints by the plaintiff that rely upon any of the same factual allegations or claims as those at issue in this lawsuit. c. Documents concerning the formation and termination, if any, of the employment relationship at issue in this lawsuit, irrespective of the relevant time period. d. Documents concerning the terms and conditions of the employment relationship at issue in this lawsuit. e. Diary, journal, and calendar entries maintained by the plaintiff concerning the factual allegations or claims at issue in this lawsuit. f. The plaintiffs current resume(s). g. Documents in the possession of the plaintiff concerning claims for unemployment benefits, unless production is prohibited by applicable law. h. Documents concerning: (i) communications with potential employers; (ii) job search efforts; and (iii) offer(s) of employment, job description(s), and income 6 and benefits of subsequent employment. The defendant shall not contact or subpoena a prospective or current employer to discover information about the plaintiffs claims without first providing the plaintiff30 days notice and an opportunity to file a motion for a protective order or a motion to quash such subpoena. If such a motion is filed, contact will not be initiated or the subpoena will not be served until the motion is ruled upon. i. Documents concerning the termination of any subsequent employment. j. Any other document(s) upon which the plaintiff relies to support the plaintiffs claims. (3) Information that Plaintiff must produce to Defendant. a. Identify persons the plaintiff believes to have knowledge of the facts concerning the claims or defenses at issue in this lawsuit, and a brief description of that knowledge. b. Describe the categories of damages the plaintiff claims. c. State whether the plaintiff has applied for disability benefits and/or social security disability benefits after the adverse action, whether any application has been granted, and the nature of the award, if any. Identify any document concerning any such application. PART 3: PRODUCTION BY DEFENDANT. (1) Timing. a. The defendant's Initial Discovery shall be provided within 30 days after the defendant has submitted a responsive pleading or motion, unless the court rules otherwise. (2) Documents that Defendant must produce to Plaintiff. a. All communications concerning the factual allegations or claims at issue in this lawsuit among or between: I. The plaintiff and the defendant; ii. The plaintiffs manager(s), and/or supervisor(s), and/or the defendant's human resources representative(s). 7 b. Responses to claims, lawsuits, administrative charges, and complaints by the plaintiff that rely upon any ofthe same factual allegations or claims as those at issue in this lawsuit. c. Documents concerning the formation and termination, if any, of the employment relationship at issue in this lawsuit, irrespective of the relevant time period. d. The plaintiffs personnel file, in any form, maintained by the defendant, including files concerning the plaintiff maintained by the plaintiffs supervisor(s), manager(s), or the defendant's human resources representative(s), irrespective of the relevant time period. e. The plaintiffs performance evaluations and formal discipline. f. Documents relied upon to make the employment decision(s) at issue in this lawsuit. g. Workplace policies or guidelines relevant to the adverse action in effect at the time of the adverse action. Depending upon the case, those may include policies or guidelines that address: I. Discipline; II. Termination of employment; iii. Promotion; IV. Discrimination; v. Performance reviews or evaluations; VI. Misconduct; VII. Retaliation; and viii. Nature of the employment relationship. h. The table of contents and index of any employee handbook, code of conduct, or policies and procedures manual in effect at the time ofthe adverse action. i. Job description(s) for the position(s) that the plaintiff held. j. Documents showing the plaintiffs compensation and benefits. Those normally include retirement plan benefits, fringe benefits, employee benefit summary plan descriptions, and summaries of compensation. k. Agreements between the plaintiff and the defendant to waive jury trial rights or to arbitrate disputes. I. Documents concerning investigation(s) of any complaint(s) about the plaintiff or made by the plaintiff, if relevant to the plaintiffs factual allegations or claims at issue in this lawsuit and not otherwise privileged. 8 m. Documents in the possession of the defendant and/or the defendant's agent(s) concerning claims for unemployment benefits unless production is prohibited by applicable law. n. Any other document(s) upon which the defendant relies to support the defenses, affirmative defenses, and counterclaims, including any other document(s) describing the reasons for the adverse action. (3) Information that Defendant must produce to Plaintiff. a. Identify the plaintiff's supervisor(s) and/or manager(s). b. c. Identify person(s) presently known to the defendant who were involved in making the decision to take the adverse action. Identify persons the defendant believes to have knowledge of the facts concerning the claims or defenses at issue in this lawsuit, and a brief description of that knowledge. d. State whether the plaintiff has applied for disability benefits and/or social security disability benefits after the adverse action. State whether the defendant has provided information to any third party concerning the application(s). Identify any documents concerning any such application or any such information provided to a third party. 9