JOINT STIPULATION AND ORDER TO AMEND SCHEDULING ORDER

(FIRST REQUEST)

TROY L. NUNLEY, District Judge.

Plaintiff CAROL GAONA and defendants/cross-defendants J.C. PENNEY COMPANY, INC. fka J.C. PENNEY CORPORATION ("JCP"), DOW ROOFING SYSTEMS, LLC fka JPS ELASTOMERICS CORPORATION dba STEVENS ROOFING SYSTEMS ("DOW"), and JOHNSON CONTROLS, INC. ("JOHNSON"), by and through their attorneys of record, respectfully submit this joint stipulation and proposed order to extend the dates in connection with the completion of discovery. Pursuant to Local Rule 144 and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16(b), the parties hereby stipulate and agree as follows:

On May 10, 2016, this Court issued its Amended Pretrial Scheduling Order. (Doc. 41.) The Order requires all fact discovery completed by June 15, 2017, and specified that "completed" means that all depositions shall have been taken and any discovery disputes resolved. (Doc. 41 at p.2). The Order also stated, "Counsel are instructed to complete all discovery of expert witnesses in a timely manner in order to comply with the Court's deadline for filing dispositive motions." (Doc. 41 at p. 4.) The deadline to designate expert witnesses, including any expert witnesses' written reports, is August 18, 2017. (Doc. 41 at p.2) The deadline to file a dispositive motion is December 14, 2017. (Doc. 41 at p. 4.)

After receiving the Order, the parties met and conferred and mutually agreed to complete all expert discovery by November 9, 2017. On July 14, 2016, the parties submitted a Stipulation and Order for Deadline to Complete All Expert Discovery specifying that "all expert discovery will be completed by November 9, 2017." On July 28, 2016, this Court issued its Order that all expert discovery was to be completed by November 9, 2017. (Doc. 47).

The parties have worked diligently toward completing discovery, have completed initial written discovery and document production. The parties have also scheduled and taken the depositions of multiple parties and third-party witnesses, and are working to schedule the depositions of additional third-party witnesses.

The parties require additional time to complete discovery and the interests of all parties are best served by continuing all current dates related to discovery in this action by approximately 30 days.

The Pretrial Scheduling Order may be modified by leave of court upon a showing of good cause. (Doc. 41 at 11). The parties agree that good cause exists to extend the discovery deadlines in this case. Over the course of this litigation, the parties have taken over a dozen depositions of the parties and witnesses. As a result of these depositions and other discovery efforts, the parties have identified approximately four or five additional witnesses who must be deposed in order to uncover necessary facts relevant to this case. For example, counsel for Plaintiff indicated that the depositions of only three particular physicians were necessary to depose about the Plaintiff's medical condition. In the spirit of cooperation, the Defendants agreed to proceed with those depositions and then consider whether additional depositions are necessary. Those depositions were taken recently, and the Defendants have determined that additional depositions are necessary. In addition, counsel for JC Penney has recently identified non-party witnesses that it wishes to depose. Those witnesses could not have been located and served earlier, despite diligent efforts to find them, and the parties do not have availability to schedule the depositions before the current deadline. For these reasons, the parties are unable to complete necessary additional depositions before the current June 15, 2017 deadline. Additionally, a short extension to the fact discovery deadline will necessarily require a corresponding extension of the deadlines related to expert discovery to allow the parties adequate time to prepare. For these reasons, good cause exists to modify the Pretrial Scheduling Order.

The parties agree to the amended schedule, and agree that no party will be prejudiced if the requested relief is granted.

STIPULATION

NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS STIPULATED AND AGREED that good cause exists to modify the current scheduling deadlines as follows:

IT IS FURTHER STIPULATED AND AGREED by and among the Parties that all other provisions of the Scheduling Orders (Doc. 41, 47) shall remain in effect, including the Final Pretrial Conference scheduled on March 8, 2018 and the Trial scheduled to begin on May 14, 2018.

IT IS SO ORDERED.