District of Delaware Adjournment & Extension Requirements

Claim construction hearing: no testimony without prior approval, max 3 hours total.

Source text: Beginning at _ _ __ .m. on _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ the Court will hear argument on claim construction. Absent prior approval of the Court (which, if it is sought, must be done by joint letter submission no later than the date on which answering claim construction briefs are due to be served), the parties shall not present testimony at the argument, and the argument shall not exceed a total of three hours.

Rule 56 dispositive motions cannot be filed more than 10 days before the deadline without leave.

Source text: No case dispositive motion under Rule 56 may be filed more than ten days before this date without leave of the Court.

Motions to join parties or amend pleadings must be filed by specified date.

Source text: All motions to join other parties, and to amend or supplement the pleadings, shall be filed on or before [DATE]. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, any motion to join a party or motion to amend the pleadings shall be made pursuant to the procedures set forth in Paragraphs 8(g) and 9 below.

Protective order agreement must be submitted within 10 days of order entry.

Source text: counsel should confer and attempt to reach an agreement on a proposed form of order and submit it to the Court within ten (10) days from the date the Court enters this Order. If counsel are unable to reach an agreement on a proposed form of protective order, counsel must follow the provisions of Paragraph 8(g) below.

Objections to magistrate judge decisions are due within 14 days of service of R&R or Order

Source text: WHEREAS pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 72, objections to a Magistrate Judge’s decision on dispositive and non-dispositive matters are due within fourteen (14) days after being served with a copy of the Report & Recommendation (“R&R”) or Order,

United States must respond to defense pretrial motions within 21 calendar days

Source text: Whenever a Defendant files a pretrial motion and there is no case-specific Court Order establishing a timetable for a response from the United States, the United States shall file a response no later than twenty-one (21) calendar days from the date that the Defendant's motion was filed;

Extension requests must be submitted via motion or stipulation showing good cause.

Source text: Requests for extension of time to respond to a pleading or motion or a request for the extension of the dates in a scheduling order must be made by motion or stipulation demonstrating good cause which can be reviewed and ruled upon.

Parties must adhere to scheduling orders unless good cause exists; trial date extensions require extraordinary circumstances.

Source text: Unless there is demonstrated good cause in writing to justify a change, the parties are expected to adhere to the schedule contained in Orders setting obligations or, absent an Order, the default dates in the Federal or Local Rules. A request for an extension or continuance of the trial date will not be granted absent extraordinary circumstances.

For contested continuances opposed by a non-incarcerated party, the movant must state the basis, detail other parties' positions, and include a proposed order.

Source text: Contested scheduling. If a non-incarcerated party opposes a continuance or extension, the movant may move under Section IIIA. below identifying the basis for the continuance or extension and detail the positions of other parties with a proposed order.

Continuance requests in criminal cases must be filed 14 calendar days before trial, state reasons for request, include defendant-signed consent form and proposed order compliant with Speedy Trial Act; multiple requests may require in-person argument.

Source text: Any request for a continuance must be filed no later than fourteen (14) days in advance of the scheduled trial date. Requests for a continuance must be filed as a motion stating the reasons for the request. Any such motion must be accompanied by the form of consent to continuance signed by the defendant, as provided by Judge Kearney after receipt of the motion and proposed order which, if approved by Judge Kearney, would grant the relief sought by the motion. The proposed form of order must be consistent with the requirements of the Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(8), and must include a proposed finding explaining in reasonable detail why the ends of justice served by granting the requested continuance outweigh the best interest of the public and the defendant in a speedy trial. Continuances are strongly discouraged, and, if multiple continuances are sought, counsel may be required to appear in person to argue the matter.

Sentencing continuances are only granted for good cause.

Source text: Sentencing will be continued for good cause only.

If Daubert motion is denied and party doesn't cross-examine expert, trial time will be reduced.

Source text: If the Court denies a Daubert motion and the party that brought the motion does not cross examine the expert witness at trial about the matters raised in the Daubert motion, the Court will reduce by an appropriate amount the time allotted to that party at trial.

Either party may request a change to the presumptive response/reply schedule upon a showing of good cause.

Source text: For good cause shown, the United States or the Defendant may request an alteration to the presumptive schedule;

Good cause allows alteration of the presumptive motion schedule.

Source text: For good cause shown, the United States or the Defendant may request an alteration to the presumptive schedule;

Discovery-related extension requests for case dispositive motions must follow the discovery dispute letter procedure.

Source text: Disputes or issues regarding protective orders, or motions for extension of time for briefing case dispositive motions which are related to discovery matters are to be addressed in accordance with this paragraph.

Objections to expert reports must be raised within one week of submission.

Source text: If any party believes that an expert report does not comply with the rules relating to timely disclosure or exceeds the scope of what is permitted in that expert report, the complaining party must notify the offending party within one week of the submission of the expert report.

United States may request extension for good cause

Source text: For good cause shown, the United States may request an alteration to the presumptive schedule;

Stipulated continuances or extensions may be approved if they do not affect the trial date.

Source text: Stipulations. Judge Kearney may approve a stipulation for a continuance or extension if the continuance or extension does not affect the trial date.