Opinion
22-cv-05061-RS
09-26-2023
JON-PIERRE RATTIE, Plaintiff, v. BALFOUR BEATTY INFRASTRUCTURE, INC., Defendant.
ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART MOTION TO EXTEND DEADLINES
RICHARD SEEBORG CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Defendant has filed a motion to extend the Rule 26(a)(2) rebuttal disclosure deadline, the expert discovery cutoff, and the dispositive motion deadline by thirty days. Defendant argues Plaintiff did not inform Defendant until August 16, 2023, that Plaintiff “now planned to designate [Irene] Mendelsohn as an expert.” Dkt. 58, at 2 (emphasis omitted). Defendant represents it has “diligently sought an expert witness to rebut [Mendelsohn's] testimony” since August 16 but was unable to obtain an expert report by September 19-the Rule 26(a)(2) rebuttal disclosure deadline. Id. Plaintiff opposes Defendant's motion to extend on several grounds, including that Defendant has failed to establish good cause for an extension, Mendelsohn's report is only eight pages long, and Defendant recently cancelled a deposition the day before it was scheduled. Dkt. 59, at 3-4. Plaintiff further contends Defendant's proposed extensions would “prejudice Plaintiff's trial preparation.” Id. at 4.
Defendant disputes this last contention (and several other of Plaintiff's claims) in its reply. Dkt. 60, at 1-2.
The motion to extend is granted in part and denied in part. Defendant has shown good cause to extend all three deadlines, but extending each deadline by thirty days would bring the latter deadline too close to the date scheduled for the pretrial conference. Accordingly, the Court will select the following deadlines:
1) Defendant's Rule 26(a)(2) rebuttal disclosure deadline is extended to 21 days from the date of this Order.
2) The expert discovery cutoff is extended 14 days to October 24, 2023.
3) The last hearing date on dispositive motions is extended 7 days to November 16, 2023.
IT IS SO ORDERED.