Opinion
2:21-cv-01416-JCM-BNW
02-15-2023
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION, Plaintiff, v. MICHAEL V. SHUSTEK and VESTIN MORTGAGE, LLC, Defendants.
SHEILA E. O'CALLAGHAN JOHN K. HAN DAVID ZHOU RUTH L. HAWLEY ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFF SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION MANUEL A. ABASCAL LATHAM & WATKINS LLP HUTCHISON & STEFFEN MARK A. HUTCHISON ATTORNEYS FOR DEFENDANTS MICHAEL V. SHUSTEK AND VESTIN MORTGAGE LLC
SHEILA E. O'CALLAGHAN
JOHN K. HAN
DAVID ZHOU
RUTH L. HAWLEY ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFF
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
MANUEL A. ABASCAL
LATHAM & WATKINS LLP HUTCHISON & STEFFEN MARK A. HUTCHISON
ATTORNEYS FOR DEFENDANTS MICHAEL V. SHUSTEK AND VESTIN MORTGAGE LLC
JOINT STIPULATION TO STAY DISCOVERY AND ORDER MODIFYING CASE SCHEDULE AND [PROPOSED] ORDER
BRENDA WEKSLER UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
Plaintiff Securities and Exchange Commission (“Plaintiff” or “SEC”) and Michael V. Shustek (“Mr. Shustek”) and Vestin Mortgage LLC (“Vestin Mortgage”, collectively “Defendants”) hereby stipulate and agree as follows:
WHEREAS, on December 16, 2021, the Court entered an Order (ECF No. 12) setting deadlines for, inter alia, the disclosure of experts (August 8, 2022), disclosure of rebuttal experts (September 7, 2022), deadline to mediate (September 14, 2022), the close of fact discovery (October 7, 2022), the last day to file dispositive motions (November 7, 2022), and the pretrial order (January 27, 2023);
WHEREAS, on August 1, 2022, at the request of the SEC, the Court entered an Order (ECF No. 34) extending the deadlines for, inter alia, the disclosure of experts (February 6, 2023), disclosure of rebuttal experts (March 6, 2023), deadline to mediate (March 13, 2023), the close of fact discovery (April 5, 2023), the last day to file dispositive motions May 8, 2023), and the pretrial order (July 26, 2023);
WHEREAS, the Court has set the case for a settlement conference on March 7, 2023 (ECF Nos. 42 and 43);
WHEREAS, the parties believe it is in their best interests, and in the interest of efficiency and judicial economy, to permit sufficient time for the settlement discussions without simultaneously engaging in discovery, document productions or logging, and trial preparation; and potentially unnecessarily utilizing judicial resources;
WHEREAS, because the parties want to focus their efforts on settlement, they therefore request that the Court extend current deadlines for discovery to March 28, 2023, three weeks past the date of the settlement conference, and to re-set the other deadlines to take into account the proposed discovery stay;
WHEREAS, the parties propose that there be no changes to the current deadlines applicable to third parties governing the production of documents and the currently scheduled deadline for mediation of March 13, 2023;
WHEREAS, there is no trial date currently set in this case.
WHEREAS, this is the first joint request by the parties to adjust the discovery schedule and only the second overall request;
WHEREAS, the parties agree that good cause exists to stay discovery and continue the pretrial dates as follows:
Event
Current Date
Proposed New Date
Expert Disclosure Deadline
February 6, 2023
April 3, 2023
Expert Rebuttal Reports
March 6, 2023
May 1, 2023
Discovery Cut-Off
April 5, 2023
May 31,2023
Dispositive Motion Cut-Off
May 8, 2023
July 3, 2023
Filing of Pre-Trial Order
July 26, 2023
September 25, 2023
NOW THEREFORE, the parties hereby stipulate and agree as follows:
1. Subject to the Court's approval, the parties agree to stay discovery and continue the currently scheduled pretrial dates as follows:
Event
Current Date
Proposed New Date
Expert Disclosure Deadline
February 6, 2023
April 3, 2023
Expert Rebuttal Reports
March 6, 2023
May 1, 2023
Discovery Cut-Off
April 5, 2023
May 31,2023
Dispositive Motion Cut-Off
May 8, 2023
July 3, 2023
Filing of Pre-Trial Order
July 26, 2023
September 25, 2023
2. The parties agree that the currently scheduled deadline for mediation of March 13, 2023 shall remain unchanged and is not impacted by this stipulation and proposed order.
ORDER
IT IS ORDERED that ECF No. 44 is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part without prejudice. ECF No. 44 is granted to the extent the Court will stay discovery until March 28, 2023. ECF No. 44 is denied to the extent the Court will not extend discovery deadlines at this time, as the initial expert disclosure deadline ran and the parties have not shown excusable neglect for the late filing of this stipulation. See LR IA 6-1(a). The parties may refile their stipulation to extend discovery deadlines if they can show excusable neglect for the late filing.
Because discovery is stayed, ECF No. 21 is DENIED without prejudice to Plaintiff refiling this motion if the parties do not settle this case.
IT IS SO ORDERED