Lane v. Sanofi US Services Inc. ( 2024 )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA WESTERN DIVISION No. 5:23-CV-00644-M MILDRED LANE, ) □ ye , Plaintiff, yy v. ORDER SANOFI-AVENTIS U.S. LLC, et al., Defendants. This matter comes before the court on the parties’ joint motion to stay this matter pending finalization of a Master Settlement Agreement, which will include this case as well as others involved in multi-district litigation [DE-18]. The court has not entered a scheduling order in this case, nor have either of the parties filed potentially dispositive motions. The parties request a stay of all pending deadlines through and including May 24, 2024, at which time the parties will file a status report informing the court of the settlement status or file a motion for appropriate relief. Id. Rule 26(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure authorizes a court to issue an order limiting or staying discovery. Specifically, a court has discretion to stay discovery until pending dispositive motions are resolved. See Yongo v. Nationwide Affinity Ins. Co. of Am., No. 5:07-CV- 94-D, 2008 WL 516744, at *2 (E.D.N.C. Feb. 25, 2008), In certain cases, a stay of discovery may be appropriate to prevent a waste of time and resources by the parties and to make efficient use of judicial resources. United States v. A.T. Massey Coal Co., No. 2:07-0299, 2007 WL 3051449, at *2 (S.D. W. Va. Oct. 18, 2007). “Factors favoring issuance of a stay include the potential for the dispositive motion to terminate all the claims in the case or all the claims against particular defendants, strong support for the dispositive motion on the merits, and irrelevancy of the discovery at issue to the dispositive motion.” Yongo, 2008 WL 516744, at *2 (quoting Tilley v. United States, 270 F. Supp. 2d 731, 735 (M.D.N.C. 2003)). Here, the balance of factors weighs in favor of allowing a stay. The parties have reached an agreement in principle for the complete resolution of this matter, and a Master Settlement Agreement, once finalized, will terminate the litigation. Neither party has asserted that discovery is necessary to complete the Master Settlement Agreement. Moreover, no discovery or dispositive motions deadlines have been set in this case. Accordingly, for good cause shown, the motion is allowed as follows: 1. Case deadlines are stayed up to and including Friday, May 24, 2024; and 2. The parties shall file a status report or appropriate motion for relief on or before Friday, May 24, 2024. SO ORDERED, the 2nd day of January, 2024. United States Magistrate Judge