Confidentiality Agreements and Stipulated Protective Orders

• Parties may reach an agreement governing the use and disclosure of discovery materials designated as confidential. The court will generally enforce stipulated and signed confidentiality agreements without the need to endorse, adopt, or enter such an agreement.
• Generally, the court will not adopt stipulated protective orders that purport to require the court to retain jurisdiction to enforce the order for an indefinite period of time after the conclusion of the litigation.
• Each confidentiality agreement or stipulated protective order shall provide, or shall be deemed to provide the following:

"No party shall file a document under seal without first having obtained an order granting leave to file under seal on a showing of particularized need, pursuant to Local Rule 1.09(a)."

• The court's protective orders generally do not constitute an order authorizing the filing under seal for purposes of Local Rule 1.09(b).

Contacting Chambers

• Counsel may contact chambers to discuss procedural matters.

Disputes During Depositions

• If a dispute arising during a deposition that would practically prevent the deposition from continuing, counsel may contact chambers to ascertain whether Judge Flynn is available to consider the disputed issue by telephone.
• Counsel for the parties, however, should conduct a good-faith conference pursuant to Local Rule 3.01(g) on the record before involving the court.
• For all other disputes, the parties should state the nature of their objection(s) on the record, continue with the deposition, and file an appropriate written motion immediately following the deposition.

Emergency and Other Time-Sensitive Motions

• Emergency motions should be clearly and conspicuously designated as such in the caption of the motion. See Local Rule 3.01(e). If a motion is not a true emergency but is otherwise time-sensitive, counsel must indicate that the matter is time-sensitive in the caption of the motion and explain in the first paragraph of the body of the motion why the court should shorten the response period or otherwise expedite ruling.

Motions to File Under Seal

• Motions requesting leave to file any materials under seal must strictly comply with the requirements of Local Rule 1.09(a).
• The question of whether a document may be filed under seal is a separate and distinct issue from whether the parties agree that produced documents shall be treated as confidential.

Proposed Orders

• Unless otherwise ordered, proposed orders are not required. A party, however, is free to attach a proposed order as an exhibit to any motion.

Accommodation of Joint Requests

• Notwithstanding his stated preferences, Judge Flynn will endeavor to accommodate joint requests.

Courtroom Decorum

• Counsel shall comply with Local Rule 5.03.

Date Certain

• Judge Flynn will schedule all consent trials on a date certain.
• Judge Flynn will invite the parties to jointly propose dates for trial.

Examination of Witnesses

• Judge Flynn permits direct, cross, and redirect examination.
• Further examination is generally not permitted.
• In making objections, counsel making the objection shall stand and announce the legal basis for the objection without further argument. See Local Rule 5.03(b)(12).
• The responding lawyer shall respond accordingly, giving only the legal basis for opposing the objection.
• Neither lawyer shall make any other argument or comment in the presence of the jury other than at side bar conferences on the record, which conferences will be held, if necessary, to assist the court in its ruling, upon the request of either lawyer or upon the court's own directive.

Exhibits

• The parties should, in good faith, provide a realistic list of exhibits they actually plan to present at trial.
• All exhibits must be listed in the joint pretrial statement.
• Any exhibit that is not adequately identified on the exhibit list will be stricken.
• Examples of improper submissions include:
  • "all persons disclosed in discovery"
  • "all documents produced in discovery"
  • "all documents produced in response to non-party subpoenas"
• All exhibits shall be marked before trial.
• The parties are encouraged to agree on joint exhibits to which there is no objection.
• Upon agreement by the parties, joint exhibits may be summarily moved into evidence at the beginning of trial.
• No exhibit shall be published to the jury prior to being admitted into evidence.

Jurors

• Unless the parties otherwise agree, the court generally allows jurors to take notes.
• Unless the parties otherwise agree, the court generally does not allow jurors to submit questions to be asked of witnesses.

Jury Instructions and Verdict Form

• Parties shall submit a single jointly proposed set of jury instructions in order of presentation to the jury together with a jointly proposed jury verdict form.
• The court prefers pattern jury instructions approved by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
• A party may include at the appropriate place in the single set of jointly-proposed jury instructions a contested charge, so designated with the name of the requesting party and bearing at the bottom a citation of authority for its inclusion, together with a summary of the opposing party's objection.
• Any modifications to Eleventh Circuit Pattern Jury Instructions are disfavored and shall be clearly marked and identified on the proposed jury instructions.
• The court requires that the parties provide to the court via email their proposed joint jury instructions and verdict form in Microsoft Word format

Jury Selection

• The venire will typically consist of 18 potential jurors.
• While Judge Flynn prefers to conduct voir dire, he will permit counsel to conduct voir dire upon a joint request.
• Typically, the jury in civil trials will consist of eight jurors
• There are no alternate jurors. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 47 (1991 advisory committee notes) ("The former provision for alternate jurors is stricken and the institution of the alternate juror abolished."); Fed. R. Civ. P. 48(a).
• The court will hear challenges for good cause followed by preemptory challenges.
• The parties will alternate using preemptory challenges beginning with the plaintiff. If a party elects to pass on a turn, it shall be deemed a waiver of the use of a preemptory challenge.
• Unless the parties otherwise agree, strike-backs are not permitted.

Opening Statements and Closing Arguments

• Judge Flynn generally does not impose time restriction on opening statements and closing arguments.
• Counsel shall obtain the court's approval in advance for use of any visual aid during opening statement.
• Judge Flynn prefers to instruct the jury prior to closing arguments.

Trial Schedule

• Judge Flynn is committed to conducting efficient trials while providing all parties a fair opportunity to present their case.
• Parties should avoid unnecessary delays and work to maximize the jury's time.
• Unless otherwise ordered, each trial day shall:
  • begin promptly at 9:00 a.m.
  • conclude at the fist practical stopping point after 5:00 p.m.
• Generally, Judge Flynn will provide 15-minute mid-morning and mid-afternoon comfort breaks. Lunch breaks will typically last 75 minutes.
• To the greatest extent possible, Judge Flynn will hear motions outside the normal trial day.
• As a professional courtesy and to promote efficiency, Judge Flynn requests that at the conclusion of each trial day the appropriate party identify the witnesses to be called the next trial day.

Witnesses

• The parties should, in good faith, provide a realistic list of witnesses they actually plan to present at trial.
• For example, listing "all persons disclosed in discovery" is improper.
• The parties are directed to discuss the elimination of unnecessary records custodian witnesses.
• If a legitimate concern with authenticity exists with respect to a particular exhibit, lead counsel shall communicate that concern to opposing counsel, who shall, unless the authenticity concern has been resolved, have available the appropriate records custodian witness.

• Lawyers permitted to practice law in the Middle District of Florida may bring personal electronic devices into the courthouse by presenting to the courthouse security a valid Florida Bar identification or pro hac vice order. See Local Rule 7.02 for further details.
• All other persons seeking permission to bring electronics into the courtroom must file a motion.
• Please contact chambers to schedule a time to test the courtroom technology prior to using at trial or hearing.