Russell v. GEICO Casualty Company ( 2021 )

MINUTE ENTRY CURRAULT, M. J. JANUARY 20, 2021 MJSTAR: 0:40 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA DEVIN RUSSELL * CIVIL ACTION VERSUS * NO. 20-2327 GEICO CASUALTY COMPANY * SECTION “E” (2) HEARING AND ORDER ON MOTION Oral Argument was conducted by video conference on this date on Defendant’s Motion for Protective Order and Motion to Quash 30(b)(6) Corporate Deposition. ECF No. 20. Plaintiff filed an untimely Memorandum in Opposition. ECF No. 24; see E.D. La. L.R. 7.5. Defendant requested leave and filed a Reply Memorandum. ECF Nos. 27, 29, 30. Participating were: Dwayne Burrell for Plaintiff; Kathleen Marksbury for Defendant. The Court heard arguments from both parties. For reasons stated on the record, the deposition of Plaintiff Devin Russell will proceed first, followed by the Rule 30(b)(6) deposition of Geico. 1 The parties must meet and confer within two weeks from today to address any dispute over the areas of inquiry for the Rule 30(b)(6) deposition, in accordance with the recent amendments to that Rule. The parties agreed to videoconference depositions on the following deposition dates: Plaintiff Devin Russell on Monday, March 15, 2021; 1 See Blackmon v. Bracken Constr. Co., No. 18-142-BAJ-SDJ, 2020 WL 665520, at *3–5 (M.D. La. Oct. 14, 2020) (discussing the necessary good cause analysis applicable to requests to sequence discovery). Geico Casualty Company’s Rule 30(b)(6) on Thursday, March 18, 2021. The court previously denied Defendant leave to serve additional discovery requests on Plaintiff as duplicative of original Interrogatory No. 28. ECF Nos. 16, 23. In its Reply Memorandum, Defendant demonstrated that Plaintiff had not answered Interrogatory No. 28. ECF No. 30, at 2. Plaintiff is directed to fully and completely respond to Defendant’s Interrogatory No. 28 of its First Set of Interrogatories (ECF No. 16-4, at 13). Accordingly, for reasons stated on the record and considering the oral and written arguments and representations of counsel, the record, and the applicable law, IT IS ORDERED that Defendant’s Motion for Protective Order and Motion to Quash a 30(b)(6) Corporate Deposition (ECF No. 20) is GRANTED and the depositions will proceed as stated herein; IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that parties meet and confer within two weeks to address any outstanding objections to the areas of inquiry for the Rule 30(b)(6) deposition of Geico Casualty Company; IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff mustrespond fully to Interrogatory No. 28 from Defendant’s First Set of Interrogatories by Friday, January 29, 2021. New Orleans, Louisiana this 21st day of January, 2021. UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE