Opinion
Civil Action 17-cv-1894-WJM-SKC
06-09-2022
HAMPDEN AUTO BODY CO. Plaintiff, v. OWNERS INSURANCE COMPANY Defendant.
ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE ADDITIONAL DISPUTED JURY INSTRUCTION
William J. Martinez United States District Judge
Currently before the Court is Defendant Owners Insurance Company's Motion for Leave to File Additional Disputed Jury Instruction (“Motion”) (ECF No. 153), which is opposed by Plaintiff Hampden Auto Body Co. For the following reasons, the Motion is granted.
All citations to docketed materials are to the page number in the CM/ECF header, which sometimes differs from a document's internal pagination.
In accordance with the Court's Revised Practice Standards, the parties submitted a proposed statement of the case, stipulated jury instructions, disputed jury instructions, and disputed verdict forms on October 16, 2020. (ECF Nos. 95-100.) During the October 30, 2020 Final Trial Preparation Conference, the Court ordered Defendant to file amended disputed instructions by November 10, 2020 and permitted Plaintiff to do the same, if it so chose. (ECF No. 145 at 31:13-23.) On November 5, 2020, the Court vacated the November 16, 2020 trial date, reset trial for August 30, 2021, and extended all deadlines set at the Final Trial Preparation Conference by 90 days. (ECF No. 133.) On February 8, 2021, Defendant filed its Amended Disputed Jury Instructions. (ECF No. 134.) Subsequently, the August 30, 2021 trial date was vacated and reset for August 22, 2022, and a status conference was set for August 5, 2022. (ECF Nos. 150 & 151.)
In its orders resetting the trial date, the Court also ordered that: (1) “[n]o further, supplemental, or updated version of any documents required under the Court's Revised Practice Standards to be filed prior to the Final Trial Preparation Conference will be accepted without prior leave or order of Court”; and (2) “[t]o the extent good cause may exist to supplement [filings required by Revise Practices Standards Part IV.B], the parties may raise these issues at the Status Conference.” (ECF Nos. 133 & 151.)
II. ANALYSIS
Defendant requests leave to file Additional Disputed Jury Instruction AA (ECF No. 153-1) on the basis that the source and authority for the instruction, Hall v. Allstate Fire & Casualty Company, 20 F.4th 1319 (10th Cir. 2021), is relevant to Defendant's affirmative defenses of noncompliance and noncooperation and was issued after the deadline to file disputed jury instructions. (ECF No. 153 at 2.) Defendant contends these facts constitute good cause.
Plaintiff opposes Defendant's Motion for three reasons: (1) the Motion is clearly prohibited by the Court's previous orders (ECF Nos. 150 & 151); (2) Hall does not establish new law and therefore does not constitute good cause; and (3) the substance of Additional Disputed Jury Instruction AA is already covered by Defendant's previously submitted Amended Disputed Jury Instructions (ECF No. 134). (ECF No. 156 at 1.)
The Court first acknowledges that, for reasons beyond the parties' control, the trial date in this case has been delayed for more than a year-and-a-half after the Final Trial Preparation Conference was held in October 2020. This delay, combined with the issuance of a published decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit deciding legal issues relevant to Defendant's affirmative defenses, satisfies the Court that Defendant has shown good cause to file Additional Disputed Jury Instruction AA. The Court also finds it appropriate to permit Plaintiff to file an objection, if any, conforming with the requirements of WJM Revised Practice Standards VI.E.
The Court emphasizes that this is not a decision on the appropriateness of giving Additional Disputed Jury Instruction AA to the jury, and it will at a later time fully consider the merits of this instruction, along with all other disputed jury instructions and timely objections thereto filed by the parties.
III. CONCLUSION
For the reasons set forth above, the Court ORDERS as follows:
1. Defendant's Motion for Leave to File Additional Disputed Jury Instruction (ECF No. 153) is GRANTED;
2. Defendant shall e-mail a Word version to Chambers and refile Additional Disputed Jury Instruction AA as a separate docket entry on CM/ECF by June 10, 2022; and
3. Plaintiff shall file its objection, if any, by June 17, 2022.