A case management order fixes the deadlines that structure everything else, and it is far easier to negotiate than to modify.

Content. Amendment of pleadings; joinder of parties; fact discovery close; expert disclosures and rebuttal; expert discovery close; dispositive and expert challenge motions; pretrial conference; and trial. Many orders also address ESI, privilege logs, and limits on discovery.

Negotiate realistically. Build the schedule backwards from trial, allowing for third-party discovery, for scheduling depositions of busy witnesses, and for the fact that expert reports depend on completed fact discovery.

Modification requires good cause focused on the diligence of the party seeking it, plus the court’s consent. A party that waited until the last month to notice depositions will not establish diligence.

Interim deadlines for exchanging custodian lists, search terms and preliminary damages computations are worth proposing, since they surface disputes while there is time to resolve them.

Trial date. Whether it is firm matters more than any other term. A firm date drives settlement and discipline; a placeholder produces drift.

Stipulations extending deadlines that do not move the trial date are routinely approved; those that do are not.