Opinion
Civil Action No. 06-cv-01960-PSF-BNB.
May 18, 2007
ORDER
This matter is before me on the following:
(1) Plaintiff's Motion for Sanctions and to Compel Discovery [Doc. # 36, filed 4/14/2007] (the "Motion to Compel"); and
(2) Motion to Withdraw [Doc. # 40, filed 5/1/2007] (the "Motion to Withdraw") by Deanna L. Westfall and Brian J. Berardini of the law firm of Brown, Berardini Dunning, P.C.
I held a hearing on the motions on May 17, 2007, and made rulings on the record, which are incorporated here. In summary and for the reasons stated on the record:
IT IS ORDERED that the Motion to Compel is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART, as follows:
GRANTED to require the defendants to provide complete discovery responses on or before May 29, 2007;
GRANTED to impose as a sanction a determination that the defendants have waived all objections to the discovery requests by their failure timely to provide responses or to seek a protective order or extension of time to respond, see Pham v. Hartford Fire Ins. Co., 193 F.R.D. 659, 662 (D. Colo. 2000);
GRANTED to require the defendants to produce all of the more than 100 boxes of documents for inspection and copying in Denver, Colorado, or alternatively to require the defendants to pay the reasonable transportation costs for coach class airfare for the plaintiff's lawyer to travel to and from Ohio to inspect the documents located there;
GRANTED to impose as a sanction for the defendants' failure timely to provide responses or to seek a protective order or extension of time to respond the reasonable costs and attorneys' fees incurred by the plaintiff in bringing the Motion to Compel. This sanction of costs and attorneys' fees is awarded jointly and severally against the defendants and their former counsel, Brown, Berardini Dunning, P.C. The plaintiff shall submit a fee application to the defendants and their former counsel on or before June 4, 2007. Thereafter, the parties shall confer concerning the amount of the application. The plaintiff shall file, on or before June 15, 2007, either a statement that the fee application has been resolved by agreement, or if not resolved, the fee application for judicial determination;
GRANTED to modify the case schedule to the following extent: Discovery Cut-Off: September 17, 2007
(All discovery must be completed by the discovery cut-off. All written discovery must be served so that responses are due on or before the discovery cut-off.)Dispositive Motion Deadline: October 17, 2007
Expert Disclosures:
(a) The parties shall designate all experts and provide opposing counsel with all information specified in Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(a)(2) on or before July 17, 2007
(b) The parties shall designate all rebuttal experts and provide opposing counsel with all information specified in Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(a)(2) on or before August 17, 2007
Settlement Conference: The settlement conference set for May 31, 2007, at 10:00 a.m., is VACATED. The parties shall contact the court at an appropriate time to request that the settlement conference be reset.
Final Pretrial Conference: The final pretrial conference set for July 31, 2007, at 9:00 a.m., is VACATED and RESET to December 3, 2007, at 8:30 a.m. The parties shall prepare a proposed final pretrial order and submit it to the court on or before November 26, 2007; and
DENIED in all other respects.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Motion to Withdraw is GRANTED.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that defendants Avbase Flight Services, LLC, and Jet Partners, LLC, shall cause substitute counsel to enter an appearance on their behalf on or before May 28, 2007.