Opinion
Civil Action No. 12-cv-02752-PAB-KLM
02-07-2013
AURORA BANK FSB, a Federal Saving Bank, Plaintiff, v. SHEA MORTGAGE INC., a California Corporation, Defendant.
MINUTE ORDER
ENTERED BY MAGISTRATE JUDGE KRISTEN L. MIX
This matter is before the Court on Plaintiff's Motion for Protective Order [Docket No. 17; Filed February 6, 2013] (the "Motion"). Pursuant to its Local Rule 7.1A. conferral obligation, Plaintiff states that Defendant "intends to oppose certain categories of documents as being treated as confidential under the Protective Order (e.g., [Plaintiff's] business records), but does not oppose the applicability of a Protective Order for other documents (e.g., borrowers' private loan information)." Motion [#17] at 1. It is unclear to the Court that both parties seek entry of the proposed Protective Order tendered with the Motion.
Although a Scheduling Conference in this matter will not be held until April 22, 2013, the Court made the parties aware of its procedure for handling contested discovery motions in the Order Setting Scheduling/Planning Conference. See Order [#7] § E.1. The parties have not followed this procedure in connection with the present dispute. Accordingly,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Motion [#17] is DENIED without prejudice.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that neither party shall file a contested discovery motion until after complying with the steps for following the Magistrate Judge's discovery dispute procedure, as stated below:
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ ¦ ¦Counsel meaningfully confer regarding one or more discovery ¦ ¦Step 1: ¦disputes pursuant to Local Rule 7.1A. Counsel may choose to confer ¦ ¦ ¦about only one dispute at a time or several disputes at once. This ¦ ¦ ¦decision is up to counsel, not the Court. ¦ +---------+-------------------------------------------------------------------¦ ¦Step 2: ¦If discovery disputes are not resolved, counsel then agree on a ¦ ¦ ¦mutually ¦ +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ ¦ ¦convenient time to call the Court for a discovery hearing ¦ ¦ ¦regarding all disputes about which they have fully conferred but ¦ ¦ ¦failed to reach agreement. Call 303-335-2770. ¦ +----------+------------------------------------------------------------------¦ ¦ ¦No attorney can insist on contacting the Court for a discovery ¦ ¦ ¦hearing at a time when another attorney is not available. If an ¦ ¦ ¦attorney is not available for a conference call to the Court for a¦ ¦ ¦discovery hearing when contacted by ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦opposing counsel, s/he must provide opposing counsel with ¦ ¦ ¦alternate dates ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦and times to contact the Court. This eliminates the possibility ¦ ¦ ¦that one party ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦will have an unfair advantage over another in preparation for a ¦ ¦ ¦discovery ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦hearing. ¦ +----------+------------------------------------------------------------------¦ ¦ ¦The Court is not responsible for assuring that multiple counsel ¦ ¦ ¦for the same ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦party are on the line for a telephone hearing. The Court requires ¦ ¦ ¦only one ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦attorney of record on the line for each party involved in the ¦ ¦ ¦dispute. If counsel ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦for a party want co-counsel for the same party to participate in ¦ ¦ ¦the telephone ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦hearing, they are responsible for ensuring that co-counsel are ¦ ¦ ¦available to ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦participate on the date and time chosen by them for the hearing. ¦ +----------+------------------------------------------------------------------¦ ¦ ¦The Court will not continue hearings based on the sudden ¦ ¦ ¦unavailability of ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦co-counsel for a party. As long as each party involved in the ¦ ¦ ¦dispute is ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦represented by at least one attorney of record, the hearing will ¦ ¦ ¦proceed. ¦ +----------+------------------------------------------------------------------¦ ¦ ¦When counsel call the Court for the discovery hearing, the judge's¦ ¦ ¦law clerks will ask counsel questions relating to the nature of ¦ ¦ ¦the dispute. The law clerks will consult with the judge as ¦ ¦Step 3: ¦necessary. If the judge determines that any documents are required¦ ¦ ¦for review prior to the hearing, counsel will be instructed to ¦ ¦ ¦email such documents to the Court's chambers, and the hearing will¦ ¦ ¦be set at a mutually convenient date and time in the future. ¦ +----------+------------------------------------------------------------------¦ ¦ ¦If no documents are necessary for review and the judge is ¦ ¦ ¦immediately available, the call will be transferred to the ¦ ¦ ¦courtroom and the hearing will be conducted. If the judge ¦ ¦Step 4: ¦determines that the matter is complex and briefing is required, ¦ ¦ ¦the judge will set a briefing schedule. If the judge is not ¦ ¦ ¦immediately available, the hearing will be set at a mutually ¦ ¦ ¦convenient date and time in the future. ¦ +----------+------------------------------------------------------------------¦ ¦ ¦Filing a disputed discovery motion without permission from the ¦ ¦ ¦court will result in the motion being stricken, and may result¦ ¦Warning :¦in the imposition of sanctions. To the extent that these ¦ ¦ ¦procedures conflict with the Local Rules of the Court, these ¦ ¦ ¦procedures take priority over the Local Rules. ¦ +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+