Chambers Practices of
The Honorable Thomas P. Smith
United States Magistrate Judge

Magistrate Judge Smith is paired with District Judges Bryant, Covello, Droney, and Squatrito, and occasionally receives referrals from other District Judges.

PRETRIAL PREFERENCES

Oral Argument on Motions
Magistrate Judge Smith normally does not hold oral argument on any motions (except motions for preliminary injunctions). He notes: "If the papers are good, I don't need it; if the papers are not good, I don't want it." In those rare instances where oral argument is permitted, it is scheduled at a time convenient to all counsel.

Referral to Magistrate Judges/Special Master
On occasion, in extraordinarily large or highly technical cases, Magistrate Judge Smith has appointed special masters (their compensation to be paid by the parties) to review allegedly privileged documents or to prepare reports or recommendations to the court. Magistrate Judge Smith will sometimes request that another judge conduct a settlement conference for him.

Rulings from the Bench
Where appropriate, Magistrate Judge Smith will rule from the bench or at the conclusion of a discussion during a chambers conference.

Resolution by Conference Call
Magistrate Judge Smith is rarely available to solve discovery problems that arise during depositions. He encourages counsel to attempt to resolve their disagreements in keeping with the spirit of the Local Rules. If they are unable to do so, they are free to file the appropriate motion.

Sur-reply Briefs
Sur-reply briefs will be received and read.

Letter Briefs
Magistrate Judge Smith strongly discourages the mailing of letter briefs unless they are specifically invited by the court. Anything said in a letter brief can just as easily be set forth in a properly certified and filed motion or memorandum.

Chambers' Copies
Courtesy copies of complicated, substantive motions will be received and read.

Motions for Reconsideration
Motions for reconsideration must comply with LoSacco v. City Middletown, 822 FSupp. 870 (D.Conn. 1993).

Special Proceedings
Motions for preliminary injunctions, applications for prejudgment remedies, and motions to examine judgment debtors are the three types of special proceedings likely to come before Magistrate Judge Smith. In each instance, the court issues an order that establishes the date of the hearing and the date and manner in which service of the order must be made. Moving counsel must then cause the signed order to be served timely and properly. Moving counsel should ascertain from chambers when to pick up the signed papers.

Joint Trial Memoranda
It is expected that counsel will comply with the applicable Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Local Rules as well as the joint trial memorandum requirements of the U.S. District Judge who has referred the case for trial.

Dispositive Motions
Dispositive motions are handled in accordance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and federal statutes.

Discovery
When conducting discovery, or moving with respect thereto, it is essential that counsel comply with the letter and spirit of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Local Rules of Civil Procedure for the District of Connecticut, particularly Local Rule 7, which governs motion practice, since failure to comply can remove a case from the flow of litigation and create problems later with the use or enforcement of an earlier discovery order. Occasionally, Magistrate Judge Smith will conduct informal chambers conferences where necessary to prevent future misunderstandings among counsel.

Settlement Conferences
Magistrate Judge Smith is paired with Judges Covello, Squatrito, and Droney and regularly conducts settlement conferences in cases assigned to them. Occasionally, Magistrate Judge Smith conducts conference in cases that are referred by district judges with whom he is not paired. The objective of such conferences is to settle a lawsuit and, to that end, Magistrate Judge Smith normally conducts facilitative conferences that are as evaluative as necessary. It is essential that the conference be attended by a person with decision-making authority, as provided for in Magistrate Judge Smith's settlement conference order. Such a representative will not be permitted to participate by telephone for the reasons specified in Nick v. Morgan's Foods, Inc., 99 FSupp.2d 1056, 1062-63 (E.D. Mo. 2000).

TRIAL PREFERENCES

Hours of Day for Trial
Trials are scheduled from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with fifteen-minute breaks at 11:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. and a one-hour lunch break from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Days of Week for Trial
Trials are held Monday through Friday.

Time Limitations for Trial
Magistrate Judge Smith generally does not impose time limitations, but he will look at the trial memorandum and, if it appears that counsel are asking for too much time, he will talk about it with them during the pretrial conference.

Time Limitations for Individual Examinations of Witnesses
Magistrate Judge Smith does not impose time limits for witnesses.

Opening Statements
Magistrate Judge Smith strongly discourages opening statements, but he does not prohibit counsel from making them. Issues involving opening statements, including the time allowed, are addressed in the pretrial conference.

Closing Arguments
Magistrate Judge Smith favors brevity in closing arguments, but he does not place any time limitations on counsel.

Demonstrative Exhibits
Demonstrative exhibits must be pre-marked for identification along with all other exhibits. Magistrate Judge Smith expects that by the time of trial counsel will have made a good faith effort to resolve any objections to these exhibits or that, failing a resolution, objections are brought to his attention at the pretrial conference. In any event, the use of any demonstrative exhibit 'at trial will be governed by the Rules of Evidence.

Moving Exhibits into Evidence
All exhibits must be pre-marked prior to commencement of the trial. Magistrate Judge Smith expects counsel, at the appropriate time in the course of the trial, to move for the admission into evidence of the exhibits.

Pre-marking of Exhibits
Magistrate Judge Smith requires that counsel pre-mark all exhibits and submit them to him in binders at least three days before trial. If the parties need assistance in pre-marking exhibits, they are urged to contact the judge's Courtroom Deputy, Ms. Barbara Sundbury.

Procedural Motions and Arguments
Magistrate Judge Smith is very conscious of the imposition on the jury brought about by delays in the presentation of evidence. He expects that all foreseeable issues will be addressed by the parties in the trial memorandum and at the pretrial conference. He is loath to interrupt the jury's time and therefore prefers to handle all motions or arguments at the beginning or end of the day or during one of the breaks. Magistrate Judge Smith does not like speaking objections. He expects counsel to state their objections succinctly by reference to the particular Rule of Evidence relied upon (either by number or subject-matter topic).

Jury Profiles
Magistrate Judge Smith believes that adequate information can be obtained about the jurors during the jury selection process but he will not chastise anyone for using other lawful means to obtain information about potential jurors.

Jury Selection
The parties submit proposed questions to be asked of the jury panel and Magistrate Judge Smith uses these questions, together with his own, to assemble a list of questions for the panel. First, the judge reads a short list of questions intended to qualify the entire pool with respect to general matters, such as the scheduling and length of the trial. The judge then fills the jury box with enough potential jurors for the final jury (accounting for alternates and the total number of peremptory challenges), and asks those jurors the case-specific questions, with appropriate follow up. He then allows counsel to engage in a brief individual voir dire, if counsel desire to do so.

At the conclusion of the voir dire, Magistrate Judge Smith confers with counsel at the sidebar to determine whether there are any for-cause challenges. Once Magistrate Judge Smith has ruled on these requests, he generally gives counsel time to decide how they want to exercise their peremptory challenges. Magistrate Judge Smith then goes through the peremptory challenges with counsel and the final panel is struck.

Jurors in a Civil Case
Magistrate Judge Smith typically seats a jury of six with two alternates. At the conclusion of the evidence, the judge inquires whether the parties wish to keep all of the jurors and remaining alternates as the jury.

Juror Notebooks
Magistrate Judge Smith does not allow counsel to provide the jurors with notebooks of exhibits.

Juror Notes
Magistrate Judge Smith allows jurors to take notes in every case and provides each juror with a notebook.

Jury Charge
Magistrate Judge Smith expects counsel to submit their proposed requests to charge with the joint trial memorandum. He also encourages counsel to submit more detailed, supplemental requests to charge as the evidence is developed. At the conclusion of the evidence, Magistrate Judge Smith holds a charging conference on the record and rules on the requests that have been submitted. He then provides a copy of his charge in writing to counsel and asks them to review the charge and state any final objections. The charge is then given to the jury, and a copy of the charge is provided to the jury to consult during its deliberations.

Post-verdict Communications with Jurors
Magistrate Judge Smith does not have any post-verdict communications with the jury other than communication in court and on the record. Magistrate Judge Smith has never had an instance where counsel have asked to communicate with the jury. He would not recommend that jurors speak with the attorneys in a case, and discourages attorneys from attempting to contact jurors.

Motions in limine
Magistrate Judge Smith recognizes that some evidentiary issues cannot be addressed until they arise in context at the trial. However, he expects that all issues that can be ruled on in advance of trial are briefed by the parties in connection with the submission of the trial memorandum and that the parties identify in the trial memorandum all evidentiary issues that they anticipate. All matters that can be resolved prior to trial (e.g., Daubert motions) will be resolved before the commencement of the trial.

Technology
Magistrate Judge Smith allows the parties to use whatever technology they want in the courtroom--with the caveat that the overuse of such technology often is detrimental to the offering Party.

Counsel Placement in Court
Magistrate Judge Smith allows counsel to move freely around the courtroom.

Miscellaneous
Magistrate Judge Smith believes that civility is the key to efficiency in court proceedings. The judge understands that trial can be a frustrating process for the lawyers, but he expects counsel to remain civil at all times.

Magistrate Judge Smith does not appreciate speaking objections or offers to stipulate made in front of the jury. He also does not appreciate colloquy between counsel at any stage of the trial or pretrial proceedings.

During bench trials, Magistrate Judge Smith routinely asks questions after counsel have finished their questioning if there is additional information he feels he needs. He rarely asks questions in jury cases.