Opinion
Case No. 2:17-cv-00776-MMD-NJK
05-02-2017
BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON, Plaintiff(s), v. VEGAS PROPERTY SERVICES, INC., et al., Defendant(s).
ORDER (Docket No. 16)
Pending before the Court is Plaintiff's motion to stay discovery pending resolution of its motion for summary judgment. See Docket No. 16; see also Docket No. 15 (motion for summary judgment). Defendant filed a response in opposition. Docket No. 20. No reply was filed. The Court finds the motion properly resolved without a hearing. See Local Rule 78-1. For the reasons discussed below, the Court DENIES the motion to stay discovery.
The Court has broad discretionary power to control discovery. See, e.g., Little v. City of Seattle, 863 F.2d 681, 685 (9th Cir. 1988). "The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure do not provide for automatic or blanket stays of discovery when a potentially dispositive motion is pending." Tradebay, LLC v. eBay, Inc., 278 F.R.D. 597, 601 (D. Nev. 2011). The party seeking a stay carries the heavy burden of making a strong showing why discovery should be denied. See, e.g., Turner Broadcasting Sys., Inc. v. Tracinda Corp., 175 F.R.D. 554, 556 (D. Nev. 1997). The case law in this District makes clear that requests to stay all discovery may be granted when: (1) the pending motion is potentially dispositive; (2) the potentially dispositive motion can be decided without additional discovery; and (3) the Court has taken a "preliminary peek" at the merits of the potentially dispositive motion and is convinced that the plaintiff will be unable to state a claim for relief. See Kor Media Group, LLC v. Green, 294 F.R.D. 579, 581 (D. Nev. 2013).
As the briefing acknowledges, various judges in this District have found it appropriate to stay proceedings pending resolution of petitions for certiorari in the United States Supreme Court. Docket No. 20 at 5. That issue is not presently before the Court, but rather the motion seeks a stay of discovery pending resolution of Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment.
The pending motion is somewhat unusual in that it is the plaintiff seeking a stay of discovery pending resolution of its dispositive motion. As such, the Court modifies the applicable standards in that it is taking a preliminary peek to determine whether it is convinced that dispositive relief will be granted to Plaintiff vis-a-vis its motion for summary judgment.
The Court finds that a stay of discovery is not appropriate in this case. Most significantly, the Court has taken a preliminary peek at the motion for summary judgment and is not convinced that it will be granted. It bears repeating that the filing of a non-frivolous dispositive motion, standing alone, is simply not enough to warrant staying discovery. See, e.g., Tradebay, 278 F.R.D. at 603. Instead, the Court must be "convinced" that the dispositive motion will be granted. See, e.g., id. "That standard is not easily met." Kor Media, 294 F.R.D. at 583. "[T]here must be no question in the court's mind that the dispositive motion will prevail, and therefore, discovery is a waste of effort." Id. (quoting Trazska v. Int'l Game Tech., 2011 WL 1233298, *3 (D. Nev. Mar. 29, 2011)) (emphasis in original). The Court requires this robust showing that the dispositive motion will succeed because applying a lower standard would likely result in unnecessary delay in many cases. Id. (quoting Trazska, 2011 WL 1233298, at *4).
Conducting this preliminary peek puts the undersigned in an awkward position because the assigned district judge who will decide the motion to dismiss may have a different view of its merits. See Tradebay, 278 F.R.D. at 603. The undersigned's "preliminary peek" at the merits of that motion is not intended to prejudice its outcome. See id.
The Court has carefully reviewed the arguments presented in the motion for summary judgment, as well as the arguments made in the briefing on the motion to stay discovery. The Court is simply not convinced that the motion for summary judgment will be granted, such that conducting discovery will be a waste of effort. See, e.g., Bayview Loan Serv., LLC v. SFR Investments Pool 1, LLC, 2017 WL 1100955, at *4-5 (D. Nev. Mar. 22, 2017) (rejecting arguments similar to those presented by Plaintiff here).
Briefing on the motion for summary judgment has not been completed. --------
Accordingly, the Court DENIES Plaintiff's motion to stay discovery. Docket No. 16.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED: May 2, 2017
/s/_________
NANCY J. KOPPE
United States Magistrate Judge