Tobacco On Trial

On Wed., June 8, Judge Kessler issued Order # 964, detailing the Post-trial filing schedule. The order sides with the DOJ on simultaneous, not staggered, submissions.

The Findings of Fact are limited to 2,500 pages, and,

All proposed Findings of Fact shall contain hyperlinks to any testimony and exhibits upon which they rely which have already been admitted into evidence, as well as prior testimonies and exhibits which have not yet been ruled on. All post-trial briefs 1 shall contain hyperlinks to legal citations upon which they rely.

Post-trial briefs and Praecipes are tightly scheduled throughout the summer, the last filing being due September 25, 2005.

Text follows of ORDER #964: POST-TRIAL SCHEDULING (PDF)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff,

PHILIP MORRIS USA INC.,

f/k/a PHILIP MORRIS INC., et al.,

Defendants.

Civil Action No. v. : 99-2496 (GK)

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ORDER #964

POST-TRIAL SCHEDULING

The Court has discussed with the parties and received from Counsel their respective proposals relating to timing, format, and submission of post-trial filings. The positions of the parties are diametrically opposed. The Court has considered all the arguments very carefully. In reaching its conclusions about post-trial filings, the Court has weighed the need to adopt a schedule which will minimize post-trial delay, and thereby enable work to begin on the final opinion as soon as possible. The Court has also taken into account the fact that the parties are extremely familiar with both the factual and legal issues, and have been on notice from

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“day one” that they would have to prepare post-trial submissions.

Based on all these considerations, the Court ORDERS as follows:

1. All proposed Findings of Fact shall contain hyperlinks to any testimony and exhibits upon which they rely which have already been admitted into evidence, as well as prior testimonies and exhibits which have not yet been ruled on. All post-trial briefs 1 shall contain hyperlinks to legal citations upon which they rely.

Parties shall format their proposed Findings of Fact and post-trial briefs in 12 point type both in the body and footnotes. No filing shall contain more than an average of six lines of footnote per page.

2. The parties shall file simultaneous post-trial proposed findings of fact on July 25, 2005, not to exceed 2,500 pages per side.

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1 Parties are advised, if they are citing to a prior testimony which has not yet been ruled on, to provide an alternative cite to evidence which is already in the record.

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3. The parties shall file sequential post-trial briefs on the following schedule. On August 10, 2005, the Government shall file its opening brief, not to exceed 250 pages. On August 25, 2005, the Joint Defendants shall file their combined Opposition to the Government’s opening brief, not to exceed 250 pages, and their opening brief on affirmative defenses, not to exceed 50 pages. On September 5, 2005, the Government shall file its combined Reply brief, not to exceed 100 pages, and its Opposition to Joint Defendants’ brief on affirmative defenses not to exceed 50 pages.

On September 15, 2005, the Joint Defendants shall file their Reply brief on affirmative defenses, not to exceed 20 pages.

4. As to the prior written testimonies, the parties are to take the following steps in order to assist the Court in reviewing the massive amount of testimony which has been submitted. As to each submission, the Government is to submit no later than September 15, 2005, and the Joint Defendants no later than

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September 25, 2005, a one page Praecipe stating the significant areas covered, i.e., smoking and health, second hand smoke, suppression/destruction of documents, remedies, independent research by CTR and TRC, light cigarettes, development of safer cigarettes, existence of an agreement to violate RICO, etc. In the one page Praecipe, parties are to prioritize the evidentiary significance of the matters contained in the submission, i.e., Priority I (highest priority), II (medium priority) or III (lowest priority).

June 8, 2005 /s/

Gladys Kessler

United States District Judge

Copies via ECF to all counsel of record

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