DOUGLAS N. FRAZIER, Magistrate Judge.
This matter comes before the Court upon review of Defendant's Motion to for Leave to File a Unilateral Stipulation for Selection of Mediator filed on February 7, 2019; Plaintiff's Response to Motion for Enlargement of Time, construed as a Motion to Extend the Mediation Deadline, filed on February 8, 2019; Plaintiff's Demand for Discovery Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26 & 34 filed on February 14, 2019; and Defendant's Motion for Court to Order Mediation Date filed on February 19, 2019. Docs. 75, 76, 77, 78. For the reasons stated below, Defendant's motions are denied without prejudice, Plaintiff's motion is granted, and Plaintiff's Demand for Discovery is stricken.
On January 30, 2018, the Court entered a Case Management and Scheduling Order ("CMSO") setting the discovery deadline for December 31, 2018, the mediation deadline for January 18, 2019, and a trial term beginning May 6, 2019. Doc. 40 at 1-2. On December 26, 2018, Plaintiff filed a motion to compel discovery and on January 22, 2019, Defendant filed a motion to extend the mediation deadline. Docs. 68, 70. In the motion to extend mediation, Defendant stated that Plaintiff, due largely to his incarceration, had not responded to its attempts to schedule mediation and had not responded when Defendant requested his position on the deadline extension. Doc. 70 at 1-2. On January 24, 2019, the Court denied Plaintiff's motion to compel and granted the motion to extend the mediation deadline,
Defendant's first motion states that Plaintiff has not responded to its letters in which it included lists of mediators and asked Plaintiff to select an acceptable mediator so the parties could comply with the February 7, 2019 deadline to file a stipulation. Doc. 75 at 1-2. Defendant states that mediator Robert Schweitzer is available prior to the February 28, 2019 deadline to mediate and requests the Court allow it to file a unilateral stipulation considering Plaintiff's lack of cooperation. Id. at 2. Plaintiff's Motion to Extend the Mediation Deadline
Rule 16 requires a showing of good cause for modification of a court's scheduling order. Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b)(4). "The diligence of the moving party should be considered in determining whether there is good cause to extend a deadline." Jozwiak v. Stryker Corp., No. 6:09-cv-1985-Orl-19GJK, 2010 WL 743834, at *2 (M.D. Fla. Feb. 26, 2010). In other words, the moving party must demonstrate it could not meet the deadline despite its diligent efforts. Sosa v. Airprint Sys., Inc., 133 F.3d 1417, 1418 (11th Cir. 1998); Idearc Media Corp. v. Kimsey & Assocs., P.A., No. 807-CV-1024-T-17EAJ, 2009 WL 413531, at *2 (M.D. Fla. Feb. 18, 2009). District courts have broad discretion (1) when managing their cases, including discovery and scheduling; and (2) in applying their local rules. Johnson v. Bd. of Regents of Univ. of Ga., 263 F.3d 1234, 1269 (11th Cir. 2001); see Reese v. Herbert, 527 F.3d 1253, 1267-68 (11th Cir. 2008); Johnson v. England, 350 F. App'x 314, 315-16 (11th Cir. 2009).
Here, the Court finds good cause to extend the mediation deadline further in response to Plaintiff's request, due to Plaintiff's incarceration, the difficulty in communication between the parties, and because the extension will not require an extension of other deadlines in the CMSO. Thus, the Court will extend the mediation deadline to March 19, 2019, and Plaintiff may attend the mediation by telephone due to his incarceration. The parties shall have up to and including March 8, 2019 to file a joint stipulation selecting a mediator. The Court will deny Defendant's request to file a unilateral stipulation selecting a mediator and Defendant's request that the Court order a specific mediation date at this time, without prejudice to re-filing if Plaintiff does not cooperate and confer with Defendant to file the joint stipulation by March 8. Plaintiff will be given one last opportunity to
ACCORDINGLY, it is
1. Defendant's Motion to for Leave to File a Unilateral Stipulation for Selection of Mediator (Doc. 75) is
2. Plaintiff's Response to Motion for Enlargement of Time, construed as a Motion to Extend the Mediation Deadline (Doc. 76) is
3. Plaintiff's Demand for Discovery Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26 & 34 (Doc. 77) is
4. Defendant's Motion for Court to Order Mediation Date (Doc. 78) is