Opinion
2:22-cv-01598-CDS-BNW
10-20-2022
ROBERT LEUENBERGER, Plaintiff, v. WALMART, INC., a foreign corporation; and DOES I-V, Defendants.
KILPATRICK BULLENTINI WOODRUM ADAM L. WOODRUM, ESQ. ATTORNEY FOR PLAINTIFF ALVERSON TAYLOR & SANDERS PATRICE STEPHENSON-JOHNSON, ESQ. ATTORNEY FOR DEFENDANT
KILPATRICK BULLENTINI WOODRUM ADAM L. WOODRUM, ESQ. ATTORNEY FOR PLAINTIFF
ALVERSON TAYLOR & SANDERS PATRICE STEPHENSON-JOHNSON, ESQ. ATTORNEY FOR DEFENDANT
DISCOVERY PLAN AND PROPOSED SCHEDULING ORDER L.R. 26.1(B)
BRENDA WEKSLER, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
Plaintiff and Defendant, by and through counsel, KILPATRICK BULLENTINI WOODRUM and ALVERSON TAYLOR & SANDERS, respectively hereby submit the following Stipulated Discovery Plan and Scheduling Order pursuant to L.R. 26-1(d) and Fed.R.Civ.P 26(f).
PROPOSED SCHEDULE
1. Meeting: Pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(f) a telephonic meeting was held on October 12, 2022 and was attended by attorney for Plaintiff, Adam L. Woodrum, Esq., of Kilpatrick Bullentini and attorney for Defendant Patrice Stephenson-Johnson, Esq., of Alverson Taylor & Sanders.
2. Initial Disclosures: No changes are necessary to the form or requirement for the disclosures under Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(a). Initial disclosures were served by Plaintiff on or about July 13, 2020 and it was agreed that Defendant would provide initial disclosures within 20 days of the conference, to wit: Tuesday, November 1, 2022.
3. Areas of Discovery: (a) the allegations in Plaintiffs Complaint and (b) Defendant's defenses.
4. Discovery Plan: The parties propose the following discovery Plan:
A. Discovery Cut-off Date(s): L.R. 26(e) provides that “unless otherwise ordered discovery periods longer than 180 days from the date the first defendant answers or appears will require special scheduling review.” The parties agree that there is no need for a special scheduling review. The parties further agree that discovery will take 180 from September 29,2022 which is the date of Defendant's Statement of Removal. All discovery will be completed by no later than Tuesday, March 28,2023
B. Amending Pleadings or Adding Parties: Unless otherwise stated herein or ordered by the Court, the date for filing motions to amend pleadings or to add parties shall not be later than 90 days prior to the discovery cut-off date. Any such motion shall be filed no later than Wednesday, December 28,2022.
C. Disclosure of Expert Witnesses: In accordance with Fed.R.Civ.P 26(a)(2) and L.R. 26-1(3), disclosures identifying experts shall be made 60 days prior to the discovery cut-off date. Such disclosures shall be made no later than Friday, January 27, 2023. Disclosures identifying rebuttal experts shall be made 30 days after the initial disclosure of experts, to wit: Monday, February 27, 2023.
D. Interim Status Report: The parties shall file an Interim Status report 60 days prior to the close of discovery as required by L.R. 26-3, stating the time estimated for trial, three alternative dates for trial and whether or not trial will be proceeding or affected by substantive motions. The Interim Status Report shall be filed no later than Friday, January 27, 2023.
E. Dispositive Motions: Dispositive motions must be filed within 30 days after the close of discovery. Dispositive motions shall be filed not later than Thursday, April 27,2023.
F. Pre-Trial Order: The parties will prepare a Joint Pre-Trial Order 30 days after the date set for filing dispositive motions, to wit: Tuesday, May 30, 2025. The deadline will be suspended if dispositive motions are timely filed until 30 days after the decision of the dispositive motions or until further order of the court. The disclosure required by Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(a)(3) and objections thereto, shall be made in the pre-trial order.
G. Pre-Trial Disclosures: L.R. 26-1 (6) requires that pre-trial disclosures pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(a)(3), and any objections thereto shall be included in the Pre-trial order. However, the parties wish to deviate from that rule so as to permit a reasonable opportunity to evaluate a party's pre-trial disclosures and make well-reasoned objections thereto. The parties do not feel they can adequately do so under the modified schedule of L.R. 26-1(6). Therefore, the parties propose the following the schedule in the Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(a)(3)(B) which requires the parties make pre-trial disclosure not later than 30 days before trial, and submit any objections thereto not later than 14 days before trial.
H. Court Conference: If the court has questions regarding the dates proposed by the parties, the parties request a conference with the Court before entry of the Scheduling Order. If the Court does not have questions, the parties do not request a conference with the Court.
5. Other orders that should be entered the Court under Rule 26(c) or under Rules 16(b) and (c)): The parties are not aware at this time of any other orders that should be entered by the Court under Rule 26(c) or Rules 16(b) and (c).
6. E-discovery: The parties agree that disclosure and discovery of electronically stored information should be produced in Portable Document Format (PDF) to allow for proper and consistent Bates numbering. The PDF documents are also to be produced in a recognize text Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Format. If in good faith a party questions the authenticity of an electronically stored document, or for other good faith reason, the party may request the PDF document to be produced in its native format.
7. Extensions or Modifications of the Discovery Plan and Scheduling Order: In Accordance with L.R. 26-4, any stipulation or motion for modification or extension of this discovery plan and scheduling order must be made no later than 21 days before the discovery cut-off date.
Therefore any such stipulations or motions shall be made not later than Tuesday, March 7,2023.
ORDER
IT IS ORDERED that ECF No. 7 is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. It is granted in all respects except that the proposed Joint Pretrial Order shall be due May 30, 2023.
IT IS SO ORDERED