Filed: Mar. 18, 2019
Latest Update: Mar. 18, 2019
Summary: STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER TO EXTEND CASE MANAGEMENT DEADLINES (Third Request) GEORGE FOLEY, JR. , Magistrate Judge . Pursuant to Local Rules 7-1 and 26-4, Plaintiff Cirrus Aviation Services, LLC ("Cirrus Aviation") and Defendant Cirrus Design Corporation d/b/a Cirrus Aircraft ("Cirrus Aircraft"), by and through their respective counsel, hereby agree and stipulate to extend certain case management deadlines set forth in the Court's Scheduling Order (ECF No. 30) and Order Granting Sti
Summary: STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER TO EXTEND CASE MANAGEMENT DEADLINES (Third Request) GEORGE FOLEY, JR. , Magistrate Judge . Pursuant to Local Rules 7-1 and 26-4, Plaintiff Cirrus Aviation Services, LLC ("Cirrus Aviation") and Defendant Cirrus Design Corporation d/b/a Cirrus Aircraft ("Cirrus Aircraft"), by and through their respective counsel, hereby agree and stipulate to extend certain case management deadlines set forth in the Court's Scheduling Order (ECF No. 30) and Order Granting Stip..
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STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER TO EXTEND CASE MANAGEMENT DEADLINES
(Third Request)
GEORGE FOLEY, JR., Magistrate Judge.
Pursuant to Local Rules 7-1 and 26-4, Plaintiff Cirrus Aviation Services, LLC ("Cirrus Aviation") and Defendant Cirrus Design Corporation d/b/a Cirrus Aircraft ("Cirrus Aircraft"), by and through their respective counsel, hereby agree and stipulate to extend certain case management deadlines set forth in the Court's Scheduling Order (ECF No. 30) and Order Granting Stipulation to Extend Discovery Deadlines (ECF No. 35) for a period of 45 days. This is the parties' third request for an extension of time. Two prior extensions have been granted. The parties' stipulation is supported by the following:
I. Good Cause.
Good cause for the requested extensions of time exists. The Parties have worked diligently to meet the Court-ordered fact discovery deadline of May 18, 2019. Both parties have exchanged and requested document production, and are currently discussing dates to complete depositions of lay and expert witnesses. The parties have encountered significant deposition scheduling challenges on both sides, but are continuing to communicate and attempting to cooperate in scheduling depositions.
Shortly after the second extension was granted by this Court on January 30, 2019, Defendant Cirrus Aircraft began trying to find available dates for the 30(b)(6) corporate deposition of Cirrus Design noticed by Plaintiff Cirrus Aviation. Cirrus Aircraft's efforts to find dates for that deposition was complicated by several factors, including the following:
• The list of topics identified by Cirrus Aviation for the 30(b)(6) deposition was lengthy and detailed, encompassing 29 separate topics. Cirrus Aircraft determined that the most appropriate witnesses to represent it were three highranking executives, including its President of Customer Experience and SVP of Sales and Marketing, all of whom maintain extremely busy travel schedules;
• Cirrus Aircraft sought back-to-back dates when all three corporate designees could be available in the same city, assuming that the deposition would take two days to complete;
• Many of the most time-consuming and important events on Cirrus Aircraft's 2019 calendar occur during the first four months of the year and require extensive preparation and travel, including widely-attended air shows in Florida and Germany and Cirrus Aircraft's own board meeting in China, among other business commitments. The business responsibilities of the proposed 30(b)(6) corporate designees require their attendance at these events;
• Cirrus Aircraft determined that the three corporate designees could first be available on consecutive dates on April 30 and May 1, 2019. Cirrus Aircraft proposed that Cirrus Aviation hold the deposition on those dates in Knoxville, Tennessee, where two of the designees are based;
• Counsel for Cirrus Aviation was unavailable on April 30 and May 1, so Cirrus Aircraft cleared and proposed alternate dates, May 9 and 10, and cooperatively agreed to conduct the deposition in Las Vegas, Nevada, where Cirrus Aviation's counsel is based. Cirrus Aviation expressed concerns that all of these proposed dates would result in the deposition occurring shortly before discovery currently closes on May 19, 2019 and would not provide adequate time for any follow-up discovery after the 30(b)(6) deposition. While Cirrus Aviation is potentially amenable to taking the depositions on May 9 and 10 in Las Vegas, agreement to do so is contingent on the extensions contemplated in this stipulation being granted.
Cirrus Aviation has also encountered challenges in scheduling dates for the depositions that Cirrus Aircraft wants to take of Cirrus Aviation's current and past executives:
• Cirrus Aircraft has requested that that Cirrus Aviation provide available dates for the depositions of Mark Woods, Greg Woods, and Milt Woods, all of whom are identified in Cirrus Aviation's Initial Disclosures and/or in documents produced in discovery as potential witnesses;
• On March 8, 2019, Cirrus Aircraft served a notice of FRCP 30(b)(6) deposition on Cirrus Aviation. The notice identified 21 topics of inquiry plus subparts. Cirrus Aviation anticipates that some combination of Mark Woods, Greg Woods, Milt Woods, and potentially others will be designated to testify on its behalf. Mark Woods and Milt Woods are pilots with variable work schedules, while Greg Woods is generally available on Tuesday and Wednesdays. Before pinning down dates for the individual depositions of Mark, Greg, and Milt Woods, and before setting the Rule 30(b)(6) deposition for Cirrus Aviation, Cirrus Aviation sought to establish the dates of Cirrus Aircraft's deposition, which was noticed first.
• Because the parties anticipate the distinct possibility of needing to take other depositions, based on the testimony obtained during the initial depositions identified above, the parties determined that taking these initial depositions near the end of the existing discovery period would likely lead to difficulties in completing discovery under the current deadlines.
In addition, counsel for both parties, including lead counsel, have been extremely busy with other matters in early 2019, including lengthy jury trials for both Defendant's lead counsel and Plaintiff's lead counsel.
The parties now jointly seek to extend the deadline for the close of discovery by 45 days, from May 18, 2019 to July 2, 2019, and to adjust all case deadlines accordingly.
II. Statement Specifying the Discovery Completed to Date.
The parties have completed the following phases of discovery:
• The parties held their Rule 26(f) conference on May 22, 2018.
• The parties exchanged their Rule 26(a)(1) disclosures on June 16, 2018.
• The parties have exchanged and requested written discovery and relevant documents, and supplemented these documents where necessary throughout the discovery period.
• The parties submitted their Interim Status Report on December 19, 2018.
• Cirrus Aviation has submitted its Initial Expert Disclosure.
• Cirrus Aircraft has submitted a Rebuttal Expert Disclosure.
III. A Specific Description of the Discovery that Remains to be Completed.
The parties must still take lay witness and expert witness depositions. It is possible that additional document discovery (via FRCP 34 or FRCP 45) may be required after depositions are taken.
The parties are still engaged in discussions regarding written discovery, and each party has raised issues about the other party's discovery responses and document production, which they are attempting to resolve.
IV. A Proposed Schedule for Completing all Remaining Discovery.
The parties propose the following extensions of deadlines set forth in the Order Granting Stipulation to Extend Discovery Deadlines:
Event Current Date Parties' Stipulated
Proposal
Close of fact discovery (LR 26-2) May 18, 2019 July 2, 2019
Last day to file dispositive motions June 16, 2019 August 2, 2019
(Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(b); LR 7-2(e);
LR 26-1(e)(4))
Motions in limine due (LR 16-3) 30 days prior to trial 30 days prior to trial
Joint Pretrial Order due (LR 26-1) July 16, 2019 September 6, 2019
IT IS SO AGREED AND STIPULATED this 15th day of March, 2019:
