PEGGY A. LEEN, Magistrate Judge.
Plaintiff Rick Erdmann and Defendant The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company ("Lincoln National"), by and through their respective counsel, hereby stipulate and agree:
1. This is an action under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 as amended, 29 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq. ("ERISA").
2. Pursuant to the July Joint Status Report (Doc. 35), the Parties agreed to file their motions for summary judgment by October 31, 2018.
3. In an attempt to resolve the case before incurring substantial fees associated with motions for summary judgment, the Parties unsuccessfully mediated on May 9, 2018. Since then, the Parties have continued to explore multiple settlement options. However, after months of exhaustive settlement negotiations, the Parties remain at an impasse. As this is an ERISA action, the Parties agree that it should be resolved on summary judgment.
4. To date, the Parties avoided the time and expense associated with drafting dispositive motions (both to the Parties and the Court) as they continued their settlement discussions. Because the Parties cannot settle, they now agree that dispositive motions are necessary and appropriate. As such, the Parties request a two-week extension to file their respective motions for summary judgment, and propose the following deadlines: dispositive motions will be filed by
5. This is the first stipulation for an extension of the dispositive motion deadline. The Parties do not presently anticipate any further extensions of this deadline will be necessary. This extension is sought in good faith after the Parties continuously negotiated to reduce the additional expenses associated with filing dispositive motions while they continued their extensive settlement discussions. It is not requested for any improper purpose.