Gabbard v. Electric Insurance Company

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA TAMPA DIVISION CHRISTOPHER GABBARD, Plaintiff, v. Case No. 8:22-cv-384-TPB-AAS ELECTRIC INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant. ________________________________________/ ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO CONSOLIDATE This matter is before the Court on “Defendant’s Motion to Consolidate Cases,” filed on February 16, 2022. (Doc. 6). The Court addressed this matter at an initial case management conference held on April 27, 2022, and the parties indicated that they wish to consolidate the actions for the purposes of discovery.

When actions involve a common question of law or fact, “the court may (1) join for hearing or trial any or all matters at issue in the actions; (2) consolidate the actions; or (3) issue any orders to avoid unnecessary cost or delay. Fed. R. Civ. P. 42. The decision to consolidate similar cases is discretionary. Hendrix v. Raybestos-Manhattan, Inc., 776 F.2d 1492, 1495 (11th Cir. 2010).

Plaintiffs – members of the same family – have each filed an action involving a singular car accident that occurred on September 4, 2020. It would appear to be an exceedingly inefficient use of judicial and party resources to allow essentially the same dispute to be litigated concurrently in three separate lawsuits in the same Court before the same judge. The Court finds that consolidation would therefore promote the interests of judicial economy and convenience, and that consolidation would not appear likely to yield any substantial inconvenience, delay, or expense for the Court or the parties. Moreover, the Court finds that consolidation would not lead to prejudice or possible confusion, unfair burdens on the parties or witnesses, or undue delay to resolve the consolidated case. For these reasons, and given the parties’ consent to consolidation, the Court will exercise its discretion to consolidate the actions pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 42(a) for the purposes of discovery. The Court reserves the right to consolidate for the purposes of trial.

Accordingly, it is ORDERED, ADJUDGED, and DECREED: 1. The motion to consolidate (Doc. 6) is GRANTED.

2. The Clerk is directed to consolidate cases 8:22-cv-384, 8:22-cv-385, and 8:22-cv-386 under MASTER CASE NUMBER 8:22-cv-384 (the “Consolidated Case”) for the purposes of discovery. This action shall proceed under the Consolidated Case, and all subsequent filings shall be made in the Consolidated Case.

3. Pursuant to Local Rule 1.07(b), the Clerk is directed to assign United States Magistrate Judge Amanda A. Sansone as the magistrate judge in 8:22-cv-385 and 8:22-cv-386.

4. The Clerk shall promptly docket notice of the entry of this Order in Case No. 8:22-ev-385 and 8:22-cv-386.

DONE and ORDERED in Chambers in Tampa, Florida, on this 4th day of May, 2022.

a A /) oe / ‘| i (2 1, | / | ff A a — ki TOM BARBER UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE Page 3 of 3