Opinion
Civil Action No. 07-cv-01267-REB-KMT.
April 4, 2008
ORDER
This matter is before the court on Defendant United States' "Unopposed Motion to Stay Dates in Scheduling Order" ("Motion" [Doc. No. 79, filed March 7, 2008]). The court set this matter for hearing on April 4, 2008 at 9:30 a.m. [Doc. No. 81] The plaintiff filed a Motion to appear by telephone on March 21, 2008 which was granted. On April 1, 2008 the defendant also filed a motion to appear telephonically, which request was also granted. [Doc. No. 85].
On April 4, 2008 at 9:30 a.m. the plaintiff appeared by telephoning the court as directed. The defendant did not appear nor did the defendant coordinate a conference call with the plaintiff as directed in the court's order. Efforts were made to locate counsel for defendant, Chad D. Nardiello of the U.S. Department of Justice, Tax Division to no avail. Therefore, this court will not entertain requests of the defendant to appear telephonically at any further hearings.
The Motion requests a stay of proceedings pending the court ruling on defendants' Motion to Dismiss or, alternatively, for a continuance of the discovery dates set forth in the Scheduling Order [Doc. No. 38].
Both parties in this case have pending dispositive motions before the court. (Defendant's Motion to Dismiss, Doc. No. 32, filed September 10, 2007; Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment, Doc. 72, filed January 2, 2008). This matter has been set before District Judge Robert Blackburn for a two day bench trial beginning on September 15, 2008. The request to extend the discovery deadlines will not interfere with the trial setting. A stay of proceedings, however, would likely interfere with the ability of the parties to proceed to trial as scheduled.
Therefore, it is ORDERED
United States' Unopposed Motion to Stay Dates in Scheduling Order [Doc. No. 79] is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. The following dates currently appearing in the Scheduling Order in Section 8, Case Plan and Schedule are extended as follows:
1. The Discovery cut-off date is June 29, 2008.
2. The Dispositive Motion Deadline date is July 29, 2008.
3. The Final Pretrial Conference previously scheduled for June 30, 2008 at 8:30 a.m. is VACATED and rescheduled to August 6, 2008 at 9:30 a.m. The parties are instructed to file a proposed Final Pretrial Order on or before July 31, 2008 in accord with the court's published instructions located atwww.cod.uscourts.gov.