Opinion
CAUSE NO.: 2:19-CV-89-JPK
08-01-2019
ANGELA Y. GAINES, Plaintiff, v. STATE FARM FIRE & CASUALTY COMPANY, Defendant.
OPINION AND ORDER
This matter is before the Court on Defendant State Farm Fire and Casualty Company's Motion to Compel [DE 15], filed on July 17, 2019. No response has been filed, and the time do so has passed.
Per the Report of Parties' Planning Meeting, approved and adopted by the Court on April 18, 2019, initial disclosures were to be exchanged by June 1, 2019, and all discovery is to be completed by February 28, 2020. Defendant represents that, on April 19, 2019, it served interrogatories and requests for production of documents on Plaintiff. Defendant states that on July 3, 2019, it left a voicemail for Plaintiff's counsel to inquire as to the whereabouts of Plaintiff's answers to the discovery requests. That same date, Defendant forwarded a letter to Plaintiff's counsel inquiring the same. Defendant represents that, as of the date of the filing of the instant Motion, Plaintiff had yet to answer the interrogatories and requests for production of documents. Absent an agreement or leave of Court, the responses to interrogatories and requests for production of documents are due within thirty days of service. Fed. R. Civ. P. 33(b)(2), 34(b)(2).
The Court notes that Defendant complied with the spirit of Northern District of Indiana Local Rule 37-1(a) by detailing the efforts made to contact Plaintiff. In light of this, the Court excuses the failure to file a separate certification as required by that rule. --------
Defendant asks the Court to issue an order compelling Plaintiff to provide a complete and comprehensive response to the discovery requests within ten days. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(a)(3)(B) allows a party to move for an order compelling discovery responses if a party fails to respond to interrogatories or requests for production of documents. Rule 37(a)(5) further provides that, if a motion to compel is granted, the Court must, after giving an opportunity to be heard, require the party whose conduct necessitated the motion, the party's attorney, or both to pay the moving party's reasonable expenses in bringing the motion unless certain exceptions apply.
Finding the motion well taken and noting the lack of response, the Court hereby GRANTS Defendant State Farm Fire and Casualty Company's Motion to Compel [DE 15] and ORDERS Plaintiff Angela Y. Gaines to serve Defendant with her responses to the interrogatories and requests for production of documents by August 12 , 2019 . The Court SETS a deadline of August 16 , 2019 , for Plaintiff to file a brief on the issue of an award of reasonable expenses under Rule 37(a)(5)(A).
So ORDERED this 1st day of August, 2019.
s/ Joshua P. Kolar
MAGISTRATE JUDGE JOSHUA P. KOLAR
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT