Filed: Jul. 16, 2014
Latest Update: Jul. 16, 2014
Summary: ORDER CAROL MIRANDO, Magistrate Judge. Before the Court is the parties' Joint Motion to Further Extend Deadlines to Permit Parties to Finalize Settlement Agreement (Doc. 131), filed on July 11, 2014. By the motion, the parties request a three-week extension of all remaining case management deadlines in order to finalize settlement and in support state that "[w]ithout an additional extension of time, the Parties would have to expend additional resources conducting discovery that would ultimate
Summary: ORDER CAROL MIRANDO, Magistrate Judge. Before the Court is the parties' Joint Motion to Further Extend Deadlines to Permit Parties to Finalize Settlement Agreement (Doc. 131), filed on July 11, 2014. By the motion, the parties request a three-week extension of all remaining case management deadlines in order to finalize settlement and in support state that "[w]ithout an additional extension of time, the Parties would have to expend additional resources conducting discovery that would ultimatel..
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ORDER
CAROL MIRANDO, Magistrate Judge.
Before the Court is the parties' Joint Motion to Further Extend Deadlines to Permit Parties to Finalize Settlement Agreement (Doc. 131), filed on July 11, 2014. By the motion, the parties request a three-week extension of all remaining case management deadlines in order to finalize settlement and in support state that "[w]ithout an additional extension of time, the Parties would have to expend additional resources conducting discovery that would ultimately likely be needless." Doc. 131 at 3.
As the Court's Case Management and Scheduling Order points out, motions for extensions of deadlines are disfavored. Doc. 25 at 4; Doc. 79 at 3. The instant motion is now the fourth request for extension of the case management deadlines to allow the parties to finalize the settlement.1 See Docs. 124, 126, 128, 131. The Middle District of Florida Local Rules explain that it is the goal of the Court that the trial will be conducted in all Track Two cases within two years after the filing of the complaint and that most Track Two cases will be tried within one year. M.D. Fla. R. 3.05(c)(2)(E); see Related Case Order and Track Two Notice (Doc. 3). The Complaint in this case was filed on March 15, 2013 (Doc. 1) and the instant motion requests that the case be reset to the trial term beginning February 2, 2015. Doc. 131 at 1. Therefore, continuing to extend the deadlines will extend the trial in this case beyond two years from the filing of the Complaint.
Nevertheless, the Court is sympathetic to the parties' desire to avoid additional expenditures that may ultimately prove unnecessary in light of a finalized settlement and recognizes that the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Local Rules are to be administered to secure just and inexpensive determination of proceedings. Fed. R. Civ. P. 1; M.D. Fla. R. 1.01(b). The Court will therefore grant the requested extension, but may not be inclined to extend the deadlines any further beyond those set forth in this Order absent the parties providing additional information establishing that they have diligently been working to finalize the settlement and informing the Court of the settlement's progression.
ACCORDINGLY, it is hereby
ORDERED:
1. The Joint Motion to Further Extend Deadlines to Permit Parties to
Finalize Settlement Agreement (Doc. 131) is GRANTED. The case management deadlines are extended as follows:
Disclosure of Expert Reports
Plaintiff: August 1, 2014
Defendant: September 2, 2014
Discovery Deadline2 October 2, 2014
Dispositive Motions, {Daubert} and October 10, 2014
Markman Motions
Meeting In Person to Prepare Joint Final November 21, 2014
Pretrial Statement
Joint Final Pretrial Statement (Including December 5, 2014
a Single Set of Jointly Proposed Jury
Instructions and Verdict Form (a Word or
WordPerfect version should also be e-mailed
to the Chambers e-mail address),
Voir Dire Questions, Witnesses Lists, and
Exhibit Lists on Approved Form)
All Other Motions Including Motions In December 5, 2014
Limine, Trial Briefs
Final Pretrial Conference Date: January 9, 2015
Time: 9:30 AM
Judge: Honorable Sheri Polster Chappell
Trial Term Begins February 2, 2015
Estimated Length of Trial 10-15 days
Jury/Non Jury Jury
2. All other directives set forth in the Amended Case Management and Scheduling Order (Doc. 79) remain in effect.
DONE and ORDERED.
