Judge Dale A. Kimball

Regular Motion Practice:

• Shortly after dispositive motions are fully briefed, they will be set for oral argument. Try to be as brief and to the point as possible both in your briefs and in your oral arguments. Please be on time. Unless there are extremely unique or complex issues, you can expect a ruling within a week. There is the occasional opinion that takes 60-90 days.

Motions To Suppress Evidence:

• An evidentiary hearing on a motion to suppress evidence will be scheduled as soon as the parties are ready. At the conclusion of the evidentiary hearing, a determination is made as to when the transcript will be available. Approximately 10 days after the transcript is available, the parties will file cross-briefs on the evidence and the law. Two or three days after that closing arguments will be heard. Except in a very unusual case, findings of fact and conclusions of law will be issued on a motion to suppress within a day or two.

Non-dispositive Motions - Discovery Disputes:

• Except for a handful of cases, I refer non-dispositive motions and discovery disputes to the magistrate judges. They are very experienced and able and somehow seem to be more patient than I am with respect to discovery matters.

Temporary Restraining Orders and Preliminary Injunction:

• These matters will be scheduled when requested as soon as possible. Every effort should be made to give notice with respect to the opposing party on a hearing for a temporary restraining order. I have found that in most preliminary hearings, some live testimony is required or useful. The parties should be as efficient as possible in paring down the live testimony in preliminary injunction hearings. I have found that I am able to rule on almost all preliminary injunctions within a few days.

Final Pretrial Conferences:

• Final pretrial conferences are usually held ten days to two weeks before the trial. At the conferences, I set dates for counsel to propose voir dire, jury instructions and verdict forms if the trial is a jury trial. If the trial is a bench trial, I set dates for counsel’s proposed findings of fact, conclusions of law and judgment. We also talk about pre-marking exhibits. I expect counsel to agree insofar as reasonably possible on exhibits so that the objections thereto will be relatively few. I also expect counsel to agree insofar as possible on jury instructions so that our instruction conferences will not be endless. I also expect to obtain at the final pretrial conferences reliable estimates on the length of trial.

Trials:

• I run a trial schedule from approximately 8:30 a.m. to approximately 1:30 p.m. with two breaks and no lunch. This allows time early in the morning or in the afternoon for instruction conferences and for other items that must be argued and taken up out of the presence of the jury. In addition, this allows me time to keep up with my other calendar matters including civil motions, changes of pleas in criminal matters and sentencings. It allows counsel more sensible time to prepare witnesses and deal with other matters relating to the trial. I expect counsel to obtain permission from the court to approach a witness. I expect counsel to be seated at counsel table when not examining witnesses. I do not tolerate counsel when not examining witnesses to wander about the room creating distractions. I will, of course, permit all counsel to move from counsel table when necessary to view videos, exhibits on easels, etc.

General Comments:

• All scheduling matters for me are handled by my case manager, Kim Jones (524-6114);
• My law clerks are Cody Zumwalt (524-6611) and Wendy Lewis (524-6612);
• My secretary is Arline Rubin (524-6610);
• Counsel should try to be as civil to each other and to witnesses as possible, however, I know it can be a stressful profession.

Judge Kimball's resume:
http://www.utd.uscourts.gov/judges/kimball.html

Judge Kimball's courtroom practices:
http://www.utd.uscourts.gov/judges/kimball_prac.html

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