Opinion
Civil Action No. 05-cv-01374-MSK-BNB.
October 31, 2006
ORDER
This matter is before me on the parties' Stipulation Regarding Fourth Joint Motion to Amend Scheduling Order [Doc. # 66, filed 10/27/2006] (the "Motion"). As the title to the Motion indicates, this is the parties' fourth request to extend deadlines. Here, the parties ask to extend the dispositive motion deadline to November 30, 2006, and the discovery cut-off to January 15, 2007.
The final pretrial conference before the district judge is set to occur on March 13, 2007, and the trial is scheduled to begin on June 11, 2007. The district judge has instructed me that the dispositive motion deadline should be not less than 90 days before the pretrial conference — in this case, not later than December 3, 2006. The rationale for this deadline is to assure that the district judge has adequate time before the trial date to rule on any pending motions for summary judgment.
Ordinarily, the discovery cut-off precedes the dispositive motion deadline. Here, by contrast, the parties ask that the discovery cut-off follow the dispositive motion deadline by 45 days. This troubles me, particularly in view of the availability of Rule 56(f), Fed.R.Civ.P., which may be invoked to postpone briefing on a motion for summary judgment until the completion of discovery. Were that to occur, the district judge might not have adequate time after the briefing to decide any pending motions.
More to the point, however, is that a scheduling order was entered in this case on January 19, 2006, more than nine months ago. The parties have failed to explain why, in the exercise of reasonable diligence, they could not have completed discovery by the current cut-off of November 30, 2006.
IT IS ORDERED that the Motion is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART as follows:
GRANTED to extend the dispositive motion deadline to November 30, 2006; and DENIED in all other respects.
NO FURTHER EXTENSIONS OF THE CASE SCHEDULE WILL BE GRANTED.