Opinion
CASE NO. 4:11cv206/RS-WCS.
September 22, 2011
ORDER
Before me is the Joint Motion For Continuance (Doc. 20). The attorneys filed their joint report (Doc. 14) on June 13, 2011, which proposed September 16, 2011, for completion of all discovery and trial in November 2011. Defendants' counsel now raises the specter of discovery of two and half decades of over fifty health care providers and a truly astounding number of possible other accidents. Surely, this prospect of seemingly endless discovery has not now just been discovered. This should have been apparent within the first days after Plaintiff's deposition and other initial discovery responses. It is unlikely that it will be necessary to conduct discovery of Plaintiff's medical history for decades in the past. Discovery of Plaintiff's medical history over recent years immediately preceding and after the accident in question is likely to be more relevant and provide an accurate picture of Plaintiff's physical condition immediately before and since the accident. This is a motor vehicle case; it is not rocket science. An apt description of the difference between a real trial lawyer and a litigator is if a litigator is told to fetch a rock from the middle of the field, the litigator will plow every furrow in the field before retrieving the rock. A real trial lawyer will walk the most immediate route across the field to the rock and return directly with it. The attorneys have provided no explanation of what they have done to date to diligently and efficiently prepare this case and no prediction when this case could ever be ready for trial with the odyssey of discovery they propose.
IT IS ORDERED:
1. All discovery shall be completed not later that December 2, 2011.
2. This case is scheduled for jury trial in Panama City on March 12, 2012, at 8:30 a.m.
3. Counsel shall file not later than September 30, 2011, an amended joint report with deadlines consistent with this Order.