JOINT REQUEST TO EXTEND MEDIATION COMPLETION DEADLINE BY 70 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 70 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).

8. The Parties have been working together to review the audit and respond to the specific findings. Because the period at issue spans over 18 months and multiple projects, it has taken longer than anticipated to review and respond to the audit.

9. The Parties believe that mediation will be most effective once the Plaintiffs and Defendant have had the chance to complete discussion of the audit and the dispute process has been completed.

10. Counsel has discussed this with Mr. Fleming, the mediator, and he has expressed his support for the requested extension.

11. The Parties therefore request that the Court extend the June 10, 2018 deadline to hold the mediation session by 70 days (August 20, 2018) to allow the Parties to complete the audit dispute process prior to mediating.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

The deadline to hold the mediation session is extended by 70 days to August 20, 2018.