Opinion
20-cv-01765-GPC-BGS
02-15-2022
JEROME'S FURNITURE WAREHOUSE, Plaintiff, v. ASHLEY FURNITURE INDUSTRIES, INC., et al., Defendants.
MINUTE ORDER
Hon. Bernard G. Skomal, United States Magistrate Judge.
I. TWO REMAINING ISSUES (ECF Nos. 66, 67)
On January 21, 2022, Judge Skomal held a Telephonic Discovery Conference to discuss the remaining discovery issues. (ECF No. 67.) Two disputed issues remained. (Id.) “The parties agreed to meet and confer to see if they can compromise on these issues, which would resolve the issues in ECF No. 66.” (Id.) (See also ECF No. 66 [Joint Brief as to discovery disputes regarding Plaintiff's Comparable Products and the Regular Price as to Stoneledge's Sales Invoices].) Judge Skomal indicated that the deadline to resolve these issues through meeting and conferring was January 28, 2022. (ECF No. 67.)
The parties jointly contacted the Chambers of Judge Skomal on January 28, 2022 and updated the Court as to the status of these two outstanding discovery issues. (ECF No. 70.) Judge Skomal then granted the parties request to continue the deadline to resolve these two issues until Friday, February 4, 2022, to allow them to continue to meet and confer. (Id.)
The parties jointly contacted the chambers of Judge Skomal on February 4, 2022. (ECF No. 71.) The parties requested to continue the deadline to resolve these two issues until the following week to provide the parties with enough time to review the documents produced. (Id.) Judge Skomal granted this request and indicated that the deadline to resolve these two issues through meeting and conferring was now February 11, 2022. (Id.)
On February 11, 2022, the parties contacted the Chambers of Judge Skomal. During this conference, the parties represented to the Court that these two outstanding discovery issues had been resolved. Accordingly, the Court deems the ‘Regular Price' and ‘Comparable Product' disputes resolved.
II. APEX WITNESS DISPUTE
On December 13, 2021, an additional dispute was raised at the discovery conference that involved Plaintiff's request for an Apex Witness deposition. (ECF No. 62 at 5-6.) The parties advised the Court on December 22, 2021 that although the issue had not been resolved, they were deferring the issue until after the Stoneledge (30)(b)(6) deposition. (Id. at 6.) Judge Skomal than ordered the parties to notify the Court within 3 days after that deposition as to whether this dispute has been resolved. (Id.)
On February 11, 2022, the parties also discussed the ‘Apex Witness' dispute with the Chambers of Judge Skomal. The parties represented that Defendant agreed to provide a verified statement explaining the structure of the licensing agreement, which was the reason behind the request for the Apex Witness deposition. Defendant indicated that it can provide this statement during the week of February 14, 2022. Plaintiff requested to continue the deadline to resolve the Apex Witness dispute until approximately one week after receiving Defendant's statement to provide Plaintiff's counsel with enough time to review the documents provided.
Accordingly, this request is GRANTED. The deadline to resolve the Apex Witness dispute is February 23, 2022. If this possible disputes is not resolved, the parties are to JOINTLY contact chambers on February 23, 2022 at 10:00 AM. If the parties do not call on February 23, 2022 at 10:00 AM, the Court will deem the Apex Witness dispute resolved and any future disputes as to this discovery dispute will be waived.
III. ADDITIONAL DISPUTE
The parties also raised an additional dispute on February 9, 2022 which involved the deposition of Plaintiff s CFO Reynolds and Defendant's Request for Production (“RFP”) Nos. 12 and 13. Defendant was seeking computer folders that contained files as to Plaintiffs Board of Director financial presentations. The Plaintiff objected.
The parties are to address these additional disputes in a Joint Brief, with THREE pages as the maximum number per party. The Joint Brief must be filed by Tuesday, March 1, 2022 at 12:00 PM The Court expects the parties to exchange arguments beforehand and address each other's arguments in the brief. To the extent the briefing relies on exhibits, the exhibits must be either quoted or summarized within the briefing.
IT IS SO ORDERED.