Hamblen v. Hartford Financial Services Group

1 WRIGHT, FINLAY & ZAK, LLP Darren T. Brenner, Esq.

2 Nevada Bar No. 8386 Stephanie A. Garabedian, Esq.

Nevada Bar No. 9612 8337 W. Sunset Rd., Suite 220 Las Vegas, NV 89113 (949)477-5050; Fax: (702) 946-1345 [email protected] [email protected] Attorneys for Defendant, Hartford Insurance Company of the Midwest DAVID R. SIDRAN, ESQ.

Nevada Bar No. 7517 SIDRAN LAW CORP 7251 West Lake Mead Boulevard, Suite 300 Las Vegas, Nevada 89128 Phone/Facsimile: (702) 551-2015 [email protected] [email protected] Attorneys for Plaintiff, Leslie R. Bakke 16 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 17 DISTRICT OF NEVADA LESLIE R. BAKKE, an individual, ROBERT Case No.: 2:23-cv-01098-GMN-EJY HANBLEN, an individual STIPULATION AND ORDER TO 21 Plaintiff, EXTEND THE CLOSE OF v. DISCOVERY, DISPOSITIVE 22 MOTIONS DEADLINE, AND JOINT HARTFORD INSURANCE COMPANY OF PRETRIAL ORDER DEADLINE THE MIDWEST, Does 1 through 10, inclusive, 24 Defendant. SEVENTH REQUEST 27 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED AND AGREED, by and between Plaintiff Leslie R. Bakke, through her counsel of record, the law firm of Sidran Law Corp and Defendant Hartford Insurance Company of the Midwest, through its counsel of record, the law firm of WRIGHT, FINLAY & ZAK, LLP, that the discovery deadlines in this matter shall be extended ninety-one (91) days pursuant to LR 26-3. This is the Parties’ seventh request for an extension of the discovery deadlines. The Parties set forth the following information in support of their stipulation.

I.

DISCOVERY COMPLETED TO DATE A.FRCP 26(a) Disclosures and Supplements Title Date Served Plaintiff’s Initial Disclosure of Documents and Witnesses Pursuant to September 28, 2023 FRCP 26(a)(1) Hartford Insurance Company of the Midwest’s Initial Disclosure of September 14, 2023 Witnesses and Documents Pursuant to FED. R. CIV. P. RULE 26.1(a)(1) Hartford Insurance Company of the Midwest’s First Supplemental January 30, 2024 Disclosure of Witnesses and Documents Pursuant to FED. R. CIV. P. RULE 26.1(a)(1) Hartford Insurance Company of the Midwest’s Second Supplemental May 23, 2024 Disclosure of Witnesses and Documents Pursuant to FED. R. CIV. P. RULE 26.1(a)(1) Hartford Insurance Company of the Midwest’s Third Supplemental September 11, 2024 Disclosure of Witnesses and Documents Pursuant to FED. R. CIV. P. RULE 26.1(a)(1) Hartford Insurance Company of the Midwest’s Fourth Supplemental November 15, 2024 Disclosure of Witnesses and Documents Pursuant to FED. R. CIV. P. RULE 26.1(a)(1) Hartford Insurance Company of the Midwest’s Fifth Supplemental November 7, 2024 Disclosure of Witnesses and Documents Pursuant to FED. R. CIV. P. RULE 26.1(a)(1) Hartford Insurance Company of the Midwest’s Initial Disclosure of November 8, 2024 Expert Witnesses Plaintiff Leslie Bakke’s Initial Disclosure of Expert Witnesses November 8, 2024 Hartford Insurance Company of the Midwest’s Rebuttal Expert December 18, 2024 Witnesses and Reports Plaintiff Leslie Bakke’s Rebuttal Disclosure of Expert Witnesses December 20, 2024 Hartford Insurance Company of the Midwest’s Sixth Supplemental January 29, 2025 Disclosure of Witnesses and Documents Pursuant to FED. R. CIV. P. RULE 26.1(a)(1) Plaintiff’s First Supplemental Disclosure of Documents and Witnesses February 21, 2025 Pursuant to FRCP 26(a)(1) Plaintiff’s Second Supplemental Disclosure of Documents and March 3, 2025 Witnesses Pursuant to FRCP 26(a)(1) 1 B. Written Discovery Title Date Served Hartford Insurance Company of the Midwest’s First Set of October 6, 2023 Interrogatories to Plaintiff Hartford Insurance Company of the Midwest’s First Set of Requests October 6, 2023 for Admissions to Plaintiff Hartford Insurance Company of the Midwest’s First Set of Requests October 6, 2023 for Production of Documents to Plaintiff Plaintiff’s Responses to Hartford Insurance Company of the Midwest’s December 22, 2023 First Set of Requests for Production of Documents to Plaintiff Plaintiff’s Responses to Hartford Insurance Company of the Midwest’s December 22, 2023 First Set of Requests for Admissions to Plaintiff Plaintiff’s Responses to Hartford Insurance Company of the Midwest’s December 22, 2023 First Set of Interrogatories to Plaintiff Plaintiff’s First Set of Requests for Production of Documents to August 26, 2024 Defendant Plaintiff’s First Set of Requests for Admissions to Defendant August 26, 2024 Plaintiff’s First Set of Interrogatories to Defendant August 26, 2024 Defendant’s Response to Plaintiff’s First Set of Requests for October 15, 2024 Production of Documents to Defendant Defendant’s Response to Plaintiff’s First Set of Requests for October 15, 2024 Admissions to Defendant Defendant’s Response to Plaintiff’s First Set of Interrogatories to October 15, 2024 Defendant Defendant’s Second Set of Requests for Admissions to Plaintiff November 20, 2024 Defendant’s Second Set of Interrogatories to Plaintiff November 20, 2024 Defendant’s Third Set of Requests for Admissions to Plaintiff December 5, 2024 Defendant’s Third Set of Interrogatories to Plaintiff December 5, 2024 Bakke’s Responses to Defendant’s Second Set of Requests for January 10, 2025 Admissions Bakke’s Responses to Defendant’s Third Set of Interrogatories January 10, 2025 Bakke’s Responses to Defendant’s Third Set of Requests for January 10, 2025 Production of Documents 23 C.Depositions Deponent Date Plaintiff Leslie Bakke January 31, 2024 Robert Hamblen January 27, 2025 Hartford employee Michelle Burruel January 30, 2025 Hartford employee Will Shade January 31, 2025 1 D.Subpoenas Issued Subpoena Date Stanford Healthcare January 4, 2024 Chiropractic Physicians Board of Nevada May 1, 2025 Nevada Highway Patrol May 29, 2025 Elite Customs & Collision LLC May 31, 2025 Sudden Impact Auto Body Collision Repair, Inc. May 31, 2025 E. Expert Disclosure Initial Expert Disclosure Date Both Sides Served Initial Expert Disclosures November 8, 2024 Hartford Insurance Company of the Midwest’s Rebuttal Expert December 18, 2024 Witnesses and Reports Plaintiff Leslie Bakke’s Rebuttal Disclosure of Expert Witnesses December 20, 2024 Plaintiff’s First Supplemental Disclosure of Documents and Witnesses February 21, 2025 Pursuant to FRCP 26(a)(1) 12 II.

13 DISCOVERY TO BE COMPLETED 1. Plaintiff will take the deposition of the FRCP 30(b)(6) witness for Defendant.

2. Plaintiff expects to take the depositions of at least four employees for Defendant that worked on the subject claim.

3. Defendant will take the deposition of Plaintiff’s medical expert, Dr. Oliveri.

4. Defendant will take the deposition of Plaintiff’s liability expert, Mr. Zalma.

5. Defendant will take the deposition of Plaintiff’s treating physicians.

6. The parties will engage in additional written discovery and notice any additional depositions.

The parties anticipate that they may need to conduct other forms of discovery not specifically delineated herein on an as-needed basis. Therefore, the list outlined above is in no way intended to be a comprehensive list of the outstanding discovery that remains to be completed.

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1 III.

REASONS DISCOVERY WAS NOT COMPLETED WITHIN THE TIME LIMITS 2 AND NEEDS TO BE EXTENDED “[D]istrict courts . . . retain broad discretion to control their dockets . . . .” Shahrokhi v. Harter, No. 2:21-cv-01126-RFB-NJK, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 247936, at *4 (D. Nev. Dec. 30, 2021). To prevail on a request to extend discovery deadlines, the parties must establish good cause. Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 608-09 (9th Cir. 1992).

8 “Good cause to extend a discovery deadline exists if it cannot reasonably be met despite the diligence of the party seeking the extension.” Las Vegas Skydiving Adventures LLC v. Groupon, Inc., No. 2:18-cv-02342-APG-VCF, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 166073, at *6 (D. Nev. Sep. 10, 2020) (internal quotations omitted). For the reasons set forth below, the parties respectfully submit that good cause supports their request for an extension of the close of discovery, dispositive motions deadline and joint pretrial order deadline.

14 The parties scheduled a June 30th 2025 mediation in March of 2025. During the time period between March 2025 through June 2025, the parties postponed conducting expensive discovery (ie, expert depositions, etc.) until after the mediation with hopes of resolving the matter at the mediation without incurring additional significant discovery expenses this case entails. The Parties attended mediation on June 30, 2025. While the parties remain hopeful informal resolution is eventually achievable, the parties, having now gone through the mediation and informal resolution process, recognize that settlement may not be attainable at this time.

The extension requested herein allows the parties additional time to schedule and conduct the proposed depositions of fact witnesses, expert witnesses and treating physicians, of which there are at least eleven depositions to be held, as well as complete any other discovery deemed necessary. Moreover, Hartford’s lead counsel, Darren Brenner, is moving to another firm effective the week August 18, 2025. It is expected that Mr. Brenner’s new firm will be substituting as counsel. While Mr. Brenner is familiar with the case, the parties have generally agreed to push deposition discovery into September in order to allow for the substitution a smooth transition while accommodating sensible scheduling. The parties acknowledged and mindful of this Court’s instructions and intentions to keep discovery on a steady pace going forward. The parties respectfully submit that their cooperation and mutual desire to avoid expense of significant discovery until settlement could be explored, and the fact that Mr. Brenner is moving firms, are an appropriate reasons to grant the requested extension, IV.

PROPOSED SCHEDULE FOR COMPLETING DISCOVERY Current Date Proposed Date Amend Pleadings and Add Parties: Closed Closed Initial Expert Disclosures: Completed Completed Rebuttal Expert Disclosures: Completed Completed Close of Discovery: September 29, 2025 December 29, 2025 Dispositive Motions October 29, 2025 January 28, 2026 Joint Pretrial Order December 1, 2025 February 27, 2026 /// /// /// /// /// /// /// /// /// /// /// 1 Based on the foregoing, the parties respectfully request this Court grant their Stipulation and Order to Extend the Close of Discovery, Dispositive Motions Deadline, and Joint Pretrial Order Deadline (Seventh Request).

4 DATED this 13th day of August, 2025. DATED this 13th day of August, 2025.

6 /s/ David R. Sidran /s/ Darren T. Brenner DAVID R. SIDRAN, ESQ. DARREN T. BRENNER, ESQ.

7 Nevada Bar No. 7517 Nevada Bar No. 8387 SIDRAN LAW CORP WRIGHT, FINLAY & ZAK, LLP 7251 West Lake Mead Boulevard, #300 8337 West Sunset Rd., #220 Las Vegas, Nevada 89128 Las Vegas, NV 89113 Attorney for Plaintiff, LESLIE R. BAKKE Attorney for Defendant HARTFORD 10 INSURANCE COMPANY OF THE 11 MIDWEST 12 ORDER 13 IT IS SO ORDERED; provided, however, no further extension of discovery will be granted.

15 Dated this 13th day of August, 2025.

18 _______________________________________ UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE