Lavrentyev v. Geico Advantage Insurance Company ( 2021 )

1 THE HONORABLE RICARDO S. MARTINEZ 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 8 ANDREY LAVRENTYEV and TATYANA ? LAVRENTYEYV, a married couple, No. 2:21-cv-00726-RSM 10 Plaintiffs, | STIPULATED MOTION TO CONTINUE TRIAL AND AMEND CASE SCHEDULE vs. AND ORDER 13 || GEICO ADVANTAGE INSURANCE COMPANY, a foreign insurer, ote on Motion Calendar: 14 December 2, 2021 15 Defendant. 16 17 I. AGREED MOTION 18 Plaintiffs Andrey and Tatyana Lavrentyev and Defendant Geico Advantage Insurance Company (collectively “the parties”) bring this joint motion pursuant to LCR 10(g) and 20 || respectfully request that this Court modify its July 27, 2021 Order (Dkt. No. 10) by rescheduling 21 || the July 11, 2022 jury trial date by approximately 60 days and similarly adjusting all discovery 92 || and trial-related deadlines as set forth below in Section III of this motion. 23 This matter was originally filed on removal from King County Superior Court on June 34 || 2, 2021 (Dkt. No. 1). The parties’ joint status report and discovery plan was filed July 9, 2021 25 || (Dkt. No. 9) and the Order setting trial date and related dates (Dkt. No. 10) was entered July 26||27, 2021. Since that time, the parties have diligently exchanged initial disclosures and have JOINT MOTION TO CONTINUE TRIAL AND WILSON __ 901 Fra AVENUE. SurTE 1700 DISCOVERY DEADLINES AND ORDER 4 SMITH SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98164 (Cause No. 2:21-cv-00726-RSM) — 1 (COCHRAN _ TELEPHONE: (206) 623-4100 sw/KW6710.532/4043479x VA DICKERSON FAX! 208) 623-9273 1 || conducted extensive written discovery, with GEICO Advantage producing nearly 1,000 pages 2 || of documents, which consist of its claim file and non-privileged communications pertaining to 3 || this matter. 4 The parties have been working to complete outstanding discovery, but with Plaintiff's 5 {illness and the number of witnesses for GEICO Advantage still to be deposed, depositions 6 || cannot be completed with sufficient time for the parties to provide complete information to their 7|| experts to complete expert reports by the January 12, 2022 deadline. To that end, the parties g || have agreed, subject to the court moving the trial and related dates, to conduct depositions of 9|| GEICO Advantage’s corporate designee and GEICO employees in late January. The parties 10 || have also agreed to conduct a mediation in January in an attempt to resolve this matter before 1] expending additional time and resources completing discovery. Good cause exists for a 12 || continuance of the trial date and related deadlines as outlined below. 13 II. GOOD CAUSE IS ESTABLISHED 14 Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b) provides that “a schedule shall not be modified except upon a 15 || showing of good cause and by leave of the district judge .. ..”. A party moving to amend a 16 schedule should show that the deadlines presented cannot reasonably be met despite the diligence of the party seeking an extension. Pfeiffer v. Eagle Mfg. Co., 137 F.R.D. 352, 355 (D. Kan. 1991); Sithon Maritime Co. v. Holiday Mansion, 177 F.R.D. 504, 508 (D. Kan. 1998); 20 Wright & Miller, 64 Federal Practice & Procedure, § 1522.1, p. 230-31 (citing Advisory 1 Committee notes to 1983 Amendment to Rule 16); JCU Med., Inc. v. Rvmed Tech., Inc., 674 F. 22 || Supp. 2d 574, 577 (D. Del. 2009). Courts should grant extensions when the moving party can 23 || show that it has worked diligently to position the case for trial or for disposition by motion, but unforeseeable circumstances or events beyond its control denied the moving party a fair 2 opportunity to develop the evidence it needs under the existing scheduling order. See, 3 James 26 JOINT MOTION TO CONTINUE TRIAL AND WILSON 901 FIFTH AVENUE, SUITE 1700 DISCOVERY DEADLINES AND ORDER 4 SMITH SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98164 (Cause No. 2:21-0v-00726-RSM) 2 Yes. AR 200) 23-9273 1)| Wm. Moore et al., Moore’s Federal Practice § 16.14. “Good cause” exists when the moving 2 party has been generally diligent, the need for more time was neither foreseeable nor its fault, ; and refusing to grant the continuance would create a substantial risk of unfairness to that party. ICU Med., Inc., 674 F. Supp. 2d at 577. To establish “good cause,” parties seeking modification 6 of a scheduling order must generally show that, even with the exercise of due diligence, they 7 cannot meet the order’s timetable. Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 609 8 || (9th Cir. 1992). 9 Here, the parties have been diligent in conducting discovery but unforeseen events and the parties’ discovery needs warrant an extension of the trial date and discovery and trial-related deadlines. Under the current case deadlines, the parties will be unable to complete depositions "2 of witnesses, including GEICO Advantage’s corporate designee(s) and employees, before the expert disclosure cut off. 15 A. Plaintiff’s illness and recent return to the United States 16 Both Plaintiffs have been dealing with Ms. Lavrentyev’s serious health issues which has required them to travel to outside of the United States for medical treatment. Plaintiffs only 18 || recently arrived back in the states and treatment will likely continue. As a result of Plaintiffs 19 illness, the parties postponed Mr. Lavrentyev’s deposition to December of 2021 and Ms. 20 Lavrentyev’s deposition has not yet been scheduled. Continuing the discovery cutoff will allow the parties to schedule Ms. Lavrentyev’s deposition so it does not interfere with her health and medical treatment. 4 /I/ 25 || /// 26 B. Extensive discovery needs JOINT MOTION TO CONTINUE TRIAL AND WILSON 901 FIFTH AVENUE, SUITE 1700 DISCOVERY DEADLINES AND ORDER 4 SMITH SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98164 eas None D3 Yes. reece 1 GEICO Advantage has produced nearly 1,000 pages of claim file documents and email 2 communications which pertain to Plaintiffs’ claim(s) with Geico and which are related to the ; basis of Plaintiffs’ Complaint against GEICO Advantage. The parties are currently working to reach an agreement on the production of additional records from GEICO Advantage. Extending 6 the expert disclosure deadline will allow the parties to complete the exchange of documents. 7 C, Plaintiffs’ depositions of GEICO Advantage’s corporate designee and employees. 8 Plaintiffs have noted depositions of GEICO Advantage’s corporate designee and GEICO Advantages employees, but with the number of witnesses, the prep time involved for 1 those depositions, and the holidays in the month of December, the witnesses will not all be 12 available for their depositions with sufficient time for Plaintiffs to provide information to their 13 || experts by the January 12, 2022 expert disclosure deadline. In addition, the parties hope to mediate in January of 2022, prior to conducting additional discovery and incurring related costs. 15 D. No prior continuances 16 Lastly, this is the parties’ first request for a continuance of the trial date or related deadlines and the parties do not anticipate requesting any future continuances. In order to effectuate the parties’ discovery needs outlined above, the parties have 20 agreed to conduct depositions of GEICO Advantage in January of 2022, subject to the Court 91 || granting a 60-day extension of the trial deadline and discovery deadlines. 22 23 24 25 26 JOINT MOTION TO CONTINUE TRIAL AND WILSON 901 FIFTH AVENUE, SUITE 1700 DISCOVERY DEADLINES AND ORDER 4 SMITH SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98164 NO eee ROM 4 Yes. reece 1 Ill. PROPOSED REVISED CASE SCHEDULE 2 The parties request that the Court revise the case schedule as follows: 3 Activity Current Deadline Proposed 4 Deadline 5 July 11,2002 August 29,2022 6 Deadline for amending pleadings and August 24, 2021 October 25, 2021 7 joining additional parties 8 Reports from expert witnesses under FRCP 26(a)(2) due January 12, 2022 March 14, 2022 9 Deadline for filing motions related to 10 discovery. Any such motions shall be noted | February 11, 2022 April 12, 2022 for consideration pursuant to LCR 7(d)(3) 12 Discovery completed by March 14, 2022 May 13, 2022 13 All dispositive motions must be filed by and noted on the motion calendar no later March 17, 2022 May 16, 2022 14 than the fourth Friday thereafter (see LCR 7(d)) 15 Mediation, per LCR 39.1(c)(3), if requested 16 by the parties, held no later than May 27, 2022 July 26, 2022 17 —_____. All motions in limine must be filed by and | noted on the motion calendar no later than | June 13, 2022 August 1, 2022 the THIRD Friday thereafter. 19 20 Agreed pretrial order due June 29, 2022 August 17, 2022 1 Pretrial conference to be scheduled by the Court. TBD TBD 22 Trial briefs, proposed voir dire questions, August 24, 2022 23 proposed jury instructions, and trial exhibits | July 6, 2022 due 24 25 // 96 || // JOINT MOTION TO CONTINUE TRIAL AND WILSON __ 901 Fra AVENUE. SurTE 1700 DISCOVERY DEADLINES AND ORDER 4 SMITH SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98164 (Cause No. 2:21-cv-00726-RSM) — 5 (COCHRAN _ TELEPHONE: (206) 623-4100 sw/KW6710.532/4043479x VA DICKERSON FAX! 208) 623-9273 1 DATED this 2°¢ day of December, 2021. 2 WILSON SMITH COCHRAN DICKERSON 3 By:_s/Alfred E. Donohue 4 5 By:_s/Katherine B. White Alfred E. Donohue, WSBA No. 32774 6 Katherine B. White, WSBA No. 46649 901 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1700 7 Seattle, WA 98164-2050 g P: (206) 623-4100 / F: (206) 623-9273 Email: donohue@wscd.com / white@wscd.com 9 Of Attorneys for Defendant GEICO Advantage 10 DATED this 2"¢ day of December, 2021. 12 3 MOORE LAW GROUP PLLC 14 By: _s/ Joseph Moore Joseph W. Moore, WSBA No. 44061 15 1604 Hewitt Ave., Suite 515 6 Everett, WA 98201 P: 425-998-8999 / F: 425-903-3638 17 Email: joseph@moore.law Attorney for Plaintiff 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 JOINT MOTION TO CONTINUE TRIAL AND WILSON __ 901 Fra AVENUE. SurTE 1700 DISCOVERY DEADLINES AND ORDER 4 SMITH SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98164 (Cause No. 2:21-cv-00726-RSM) — 6 (COCHRAN _ TELEPHONE: (206) 623-4100 sw/KW6710.532/4043479x VA DICKERSON FAX! 208) 623-9273 ] ORDER 2 IT IS SO ORDERED. 3 DATED this 17" day of December, 2021. 5 6 (ws 8 RICARDO S. MARTINEZ 9 CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 JOINT MOTION TO CONTINUE TRIAL AND WILSON 901 FIFTH AVENUE, SUITE 1700 DISCOVERY DEADLINES AND ORDER A SMITH SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98164 (Cause No. 2:21-0v-00726-RSM) ~ 7 Yes. AR 200) 23-9273