JOINT REQUEST TO EXTEND MEDIATION COMPLETION DEADLINE BY 60 DAYS; ORDER

HAYWOOD S. GILLIAM, JR., District Judge.

Plaintiffs and Defendant RBE Construction, Inc. dba Slingshot Drywall, by and through their respective counsel of record, hereby respectfully request to extend the deadline to hold the mediation session by 60 days. Good cause exists for the continuance, as follows:

1. On October 26, 2017, the Court ordered the Parties to participate in mediation within the presumptive deadline of ninety days, (Dkt. No. 24), as stipulated. The deadline for the Parties to participate in mediation was January 24, 2018.

2. On November 13, 2017, the Court issued a Notice of Appointment of Mediator James H. Fleming (Dkt. No. 25).

3. The Parties participated in a pre-mediation phone conference on November 29, 2017 with Mr. Fleming, and scheduled a mediation hearing for January 22, 2018.

4. In late December 2017, Defendant provided documents necessary to complete the pending audit to Plaintiffs' auditor, Lindquist, LLP ("Lindquist").

5. Lindquist initially advised Plaintiffs' counsel that a draft audit report would be completed in early February.

6. On January 28, 2018, the Parties submitted a joint request to extend the mediation completion deadline by 60 days. The Court granted that request and extended the mediation completion deadline to March 23, 2018 (Dkt. No. 29).

7. Plaintiffs' auditor Lindquist was unable to complete the draft audit in the timeframe initially estimated due to the number of documents reflecting work performed over a period of two years. The draft audit was not completed until March 7, 2018. On March 12, 2018, the Court granted a request to extend the mediation completion deadline to June 10, 2018 (Dkt. No. 31). The Court has subsequently granted further extensions (Dkt. No. 34, Dkt. No. 37, and Dkt. No. 39) through November 19, 2018.

8. Defendant has been working to review the audit and respond to the specific findings. Plaintiffs have been cooperative in informally providing additional information requested by Defendant. Because the period at issue spans over 18 months and multiple projects, it has taken longer than anticipated for Defendant to review and respond to the audit. Defendant RBE has a new bookkeeper and requires additional time to respond to the audit. The Parties continue to informally exchange documents to ensure each side has full access to materials needed to reconcile Defendant's disagreement over the audit findings.

9. The Parties believe that mediation will be most effective once the Plaintiffs and Defendant have had the chance to complete the audit dispute process leaving the only remaining issue to mediate being the amounts owed to Plaintiffs.

10. Counsel has discussed the current status of the matter with Mr. Fleming, the appointed mediator. He is unable to continue acting as mediator if the Defendant cannot commit to completing its review of additional documents before December 19, 2018. Defendant believes an in-person meeting with its staff and Plaintiffs' auditor may be necessary to resolve the audit dispute. Defendant cannot complete its review of documents and meet to discuss resolution of the audit dispute in sufficient time to schedule a mediation session before December 19, 2018. Therefore, a new mediator will have to be selected.

11. The Parties request that the Court extend the November 19, 2018 deadline to hold the mediation session by 60 days (January 18, 2019) to allow the Parties to complete the audit dispute process prior to mediating. The Parties further request that the matter be referred back to the Court's ADR department for the appointment of a new mediator.

CERTIFICATION RE: SIGNATURES

I attest that concurrence in the filing has been obtained from the other Signatory.

ORDER

IT IS SO ORDERED.

The deadline to hold the mediation session is extended by 60 days to January 18, 2019. The matter shall be referred back to the ADR department for appointment of a new mediator for this matter.