Opinion
2:23-cv-00137-CDS-BNW
07-12-2023
JOYCE VICKERY, an individual, Plaintiff, v. DEMETRIC DANARD SOLOMON, an individual; DOES 1-20 and ROE BUSINESS ENTITIES 1-20, inclusive, Defendants.
PRINCE LAW GROUP Andrew R. Brown DENNIS M. PRINCE Nevada Bar No. 5092 ANGELA M. LEE Nevada Bar No. 14905 ANDREW R. BROWN Nevada Bar No. 15875 Attorneys for Plaintiff LEWIS BRISBOIS BISGAARD & SMITH, LLP Michael R. Smith Darrell D. Dennis, Esq. Nevada Bar No. 6618 Michael R. Smith, Esq. Nevada Bar No. 12641 Attorneys for Defendants
PRINCE LAW GROUP Andrew R. Brown DENNIS M. PRINCE Nevada Bar No. 5092 ANGELA M. LEE Nevada Bar No. 14905 ANDREW R. BROWN Nevada Bar No. 15875 Attorneys for Plaintiff
LEWIS BRISBOIS BISGAARD & SMITH, LLP Michael R. Smith Darrell D. Dennis, Esq. Nevada Bar No. 6618 Michael R. Smith, Esq. Nevada Bar No. 12641 Attorneys for Defendants
STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER TO EXTEND DISCOVERY DEADLINES (First Request)
BRENDA WEKSLER, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED AND AGREED, by and between Plaintiff JOYCE VICKERY (“Plaintiff”), through her counsel of record, Dennis M. Prince, Angela M. Lee and Andrew R. Brown of PRINCE LAW GROUP and Alex J. De Castroverde and Orlando De Castroverde of DE CASTROVERDE LAW GROUP; and Defendant DEMETRIC DANARD SOLOMON (“Defendant”), through his counsel of record, Darrell D. Dennis and Michael R. Smith of LEWIS BRISBOIS BISGAARD & SMITH, LLP, that the discovery deadlines shall be extended ninety (90) days pursuant to LR 26-3. This is the parties' first request for an extension of the discovery deadlines. The parties set forth the following information in support of their stipulation.
I.
DISCOVERY COMPLETED TO DATE
A. FRCP 26(a) Disclosures and Supplements
Title
Date Served
Plaintiff's Initial Disclosure of Documents and Witnesses Pursuant to FRCP 26(a)(1)
March 29, 2023
Defendant's Initial List of Witnesses and Disclosure of Documents Pursuant to FRCP 26(F)
April 11, 2023
Plaintiff's First Supplement to her Initial Disclosure of Documents and Witnesses Pursuant to FRCP 26(a)(1)
July 7, 2023
B. Written Discovery
Title
Date Served
Plaintiff's First Set of Requests for Production of Documents to Defendant Demetric Danard Solomon
June 21, 2023
Plaintiff's First Set of Interrogatories to Defendant Demetric Danard Solomon
June 21, 2023
II. DISCOVERY TO BE COMPLETED
1. Depositions of the parties and witnesses.
2. The parties will retain and disclose initial expert witnesses and rebuttal expert witnesses.
3. The parties will depose their respective expert witnesses.
4. The parties will engage in additional written discovery and notice any additional depositions.
The parties anticipate that they may need to conduct other forms of discovery not specifically delineated herein on an as-needed basis. Therefore, the list outlined above is in no way intended to be a comprehensive list of the outstanding discovery that remains to be completed.
III.
REASONS DISCOVERY WAS NOT COMPLETED WITHIN THE TIME LIMITS AND NEEDS TO BE EXTENDED
The parties respectfully request an extension of the discovery deadlines in this matter for a myriad of reasons. The parties submitted their Joint Discovery Plan and Scheduling Order at the start of April 2023. The Court rejected this order on April 13, 2023. The parties amended and resubmitted their Joint Discovery Plan and Scheduling order in May 2023. On June 13, 2023, the Court again rejected this order. The parties re-amended and resubmitted the Joint Discovery Plan and Scheduling Order (ECF 13) which was accepted and filed on June 21, 2023. However, due to the passage of time between the various resubmissions of this order, various deadlines had already passed or were quickly approaching by the time the order was filed. Most specifically, the last day to disclose expert witnesses pursuant to FRCP 26(a)(2) is July 13, 2023, which only provided the parties three weeks between the signing of the order and the disclosure of experts. It is also important to note that July 21, 2023 was 22 days before the expert disclosure deadline, which supports that there is excusable neglect for not asking for a continuance of the expert disclosure deadlines within 21 days of the deadline pursuant to LR 26-3.
Although the parties have been diligently and cohesively working to get their expert disclosures made and meet all discovery deadlines, a 90 day extension of these deadlines would provide the parties additional time to ensure that their disclosures are timely. An extension would also provide the parties more time to ensure their disclosures are well pled and meet disclosure requirements. Additionally, an extension of the discovery deadlines help to ensure the parties have time to appropriately and fully litigate this matter during the discovery phase. While the parties are engaged in good faith efforts to coordinate depositions the parties and various witnesses, they have been unable to notice the depositions in advance of the current initial expert disclosure deadline of July 13, 2023 and are having difficulty ensuring these depositions can be set before the close of discovery due to various scheduling conflicts. In addition, while the parties are actively engaged in serving and responding to written discovery requests, there is insufficient time since the start of discovery for the parties to serve responses prior to the initial expert disclosure deadline.
For these reasons, the parties believe there is good cause to extend the discovery deadlines and excusable neglect to do the same. See LR 26-3. “[D]istrict courts . . . retain broad discretion to control their dockets ....” Shahrokhi v. Harter, No. 2:21-cv-01126-RFB-NJK, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 247936, at *4 (D. Nev. Dec. 30, 2021). To prevail on a request to extend discovery deadlines, the parties must establish good cause. Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 608-09 (9th Cir. 1992). For the reasons set forth above, the parties respectfully submit that good cause and excusable neglect supports their requested stipulation for a ninety (90) day extension of the discovery deadlines. The parties' requested extension of the discovery deadlines is not made in bad faith or to cause any unnecessary delays in the resolution of this matter, but rather to facilitate cohesive resolution of this case.
IV.
PROPOSED SCHEDULE FOR COMPLETING DISCOVERY
Current Date
Proposed Date
Amend Pleadings and Add Parties:
June 13, 2023
Closed
Initial Expert Disclosures:
July 13, 2023
October 11, 2023
Rebuttal Expert Disclosures:
August 14, 2023
Close of Discovery:
September 11, 2023
Dispositive Motions:
October 11, 2023
January 9, 2024
Joint Pretrial Order:
November 10, 2023
February 8, 2024
The actual date falls on Sunday, November 12, 2023.
The actual date falls on Sunday, December 10, 2023.
Based on the foregoing, the parties respectfully request this Court grant their Stipulation and Order to Extend Discovery Deadlines (First Request).
ORDER
IT IS ORDERED that ECF No. 16 is GRANTED.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, if dispositive motions are filed, the Joint Pretrial Order shall be due 30 days after a decision is issued on the dispositive motions.
IT IS SO ORDERED.