NOTICE: Judge Laplante’s Standing Order on Rrule 26(f)
Planning Meeting and LR 16.1 Pretrial Conference

As part of the Standing Order, the parties are directed to file a Joint Written Report of the Rule 26(f) Meeting and a Joint Proposed Discovery Plan. The required format for both of these submissions is available on the Frequently Used Forms page on the court’s website.

Please note that at the present time persons involved in civil cases before the other judges in this district need not submit the Rule 26(f) Meeting Report. Also please note that the format for the discovery plan used in Judge Laplante’s cases differs somewhat from the Civil Form 2 - Discovery Plan used by the other judges in this district. Attorneys and pro se litigants involved in a civil case assigned to Judge Laplante should review the Standing Order referenced above and begin using these new forms in the future.

As a rule, Judge Laplante will also be requiring attendance at, and personally presiding over, Preliminary Pretrial Conferences in cases assigned to him; even in those cases in which the parties have agreed to a discovery plan. These Preliminary Pretrial Conferences will most frequently be held in Judge Laplante’s chambers, without a record. It is not Judge Laplante’s intent to increase anyone’s workload or to unduly burden counsel and litigants at the outset of a new civil case. His purpose is for the court to engage counsel, and for counsel to engage each other, more frequently and in greater depth during the course of a civil case.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Judge Laplante’s Deputy Clerks, Debbie Eastman Proulx (225-1474) and Charli Pappas (225-1488).