Theiss v. San Juan Construction Inc

The Honorable Ricardo S. Martinez 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 9 AT SEATTLE JOHN THEISS, No. 2:19-cv-01682 RSM 11 Plaintiff, STIPULATED MOTION TO CONTINUE TRIAL DATE AND RELATED PRETRIAL 12 vs. DATES SAN JUAN CONSTRUCTION, INC., a NOTE ON MOTION CALENDAR: Colorado corporation, 14 September 29, 2020 Defendant.

I. INTRODUCTION AND RELIEF REQUESTED 19 The Parties, by and through their attorneys of record, hereby submit this Stipulated Motion to Continue Trial Date and Related Pretrial Deadlines. The Parties jointly request an Order continuing the current April 19, 2021 trial date until July 19, 2021, or as close a date thereto as the Court’s schedule permits. The Parties additionally request that all pretrial deadlines be extended as set forth below. This is the first request for a continuance of trial in this case, and is requested for good cause as set forth below.

1 II. STATEMENT OF FACTS 1. Basis for Continuance After the Court denied Defendant’s motion to transfer venue, the Parties engaged in extended settlement discussions and scheduled a mediation to be conducted in early Spring 2020 in Seattle. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the mediation was postponed by Defendant with the hope that the pandemic would be sufficiently brief to allow an in-person mediation and related travel. The Parties have now returned to the negotiating table, and have rescheduled their mediation, which is to be conducted by Judge William Downing (Ret.) in October or November.

Both Parties believe the prospects for settlement will be enhanced if neither side is first compelled to incur the expense and other burdens associated with discovery. The Parties have therefore provisionally agreed to delay conducting discovery until after the mediation has been conducted.

However, if the mediation is not successful, the Parties believe that each will be unable to timely complete discovery and prepare for the trial that is currently scheduled for April 2021. Moreover, the Parties are mindful that the Court is itself challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic, and that it is unlikely a civil trial can be conducted in April 2021 in any event. The Parties therefore believe the interests of justice and judicial economy are best served by delaying the trial date by approximately 90 days, and by otherwise facilitating the Parties’ efforts to resolve their dispute by mediation and without further burdening the Court. The Parties therefore join in respectfully asking the Court to postpone the April 2021 bench trial date and all associated litigation calendar deadlines by approximately 90 days as set forth in the proposed schedule below. The parties believe and ask the Court to find that such a delay is in the interest of justice and is being sought for good cause.

The Parties have not previously asked the Court for any extension or modification to the STIPULATED MOTION TO CONTINUE OGLETREE, DEAKINS, NASH, SMOAK & STEWART, P.C.

1 trial calendar in this matter, and are confident that no further delay will be required or requested.

2. Request for Continuance Based on the facts and circumstances described above, the Parties, through their respective counsel of record, hereby move the Court for an order as follows: The trial date and related pre-trial deadlines shall be extended as set forth below: Deadline Current Date Proposed New Date Disclosure of expert testimony October 21, 2020 January 19, 2021 Deadline for filing motions related to November 20, 2020 February 18, 2021 10 discovery Discovery completed by December 21, 2020 March 21, 2021 Dispositive motions deadline January 19, 2021 April 19, 2021 Mediation per LCR 39.1 March 5, 2021 June 3, 2021 Motion in limine deadline March 22, 2021 June 20, 2021 Agreed pretrial order due April 7, 2021 July 6, 2021 April 14, 2021 July 13, 2021 16 Trial briefs/proposed findings and conclusions/trial exhibits Trial Date April 19, 2021 July19, 2021 19 I. LEGAL AUTHORITY Under Fed.R.Civ.P. 16, the case schedule may be extended where good cause exists and the delay is not caused by the carelessness or less than reasonably diligent action by moving counsel. Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604 (9th Cir. 1992). Here, the Parties were actively litigating this matter until they mutually agreed to a time-out solely as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. If not for the pandemic, the parties would either have settled this case in April 2020 or would immediately have conducted discovery if the mediation did not result in a STIPULATED MOTION TO CONTINUE OGLETREE, DEAKINS, NASH, SMOAK & STEWART, P.C.

1 settlement. The Parties are now ready to return their attentions to this matter, but desire additional time in which to determine whether a negotiated settlement may relieve the Parties and the Court from further expense and burdens associated with continued litigation.

II. CONCLUSION For the above reasons, the Parties jointly request that the Court continue the trial date to July 19, 2021 or as soon thereafter as the Court has available, and to continue the related pre-trial deadlines as set forth above.

9 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.

ARETE LAW GROUP PLLC OGLETREE, DEAKINS, NASH, SMOAK & 12 STEWART, P.C.

13 /s/ Denise L. Ashbaugh ____ /s/ Laurence A. Shapero________________ Denise L. Ashbaugh, WSBA No. 28512 Laurence A. Shapero, WSBA No. 31301 Jonah O. Harrison, WSBA No. 34576 Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, 15 Arete Law Group PLLC P.C.

1218 Third Avenue, Suite 2100 1201 Third Avenue, Suite 5150 16 Seattle, WA 98101 Seattle, WA 98101 Phone: 206-428-3250 Phone: 206-693-7057 17 Fax: 206-428-3251 Fax: 206-693-7058 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] [email protected] 19 Michelle B. Muhleisen, Pro Hac Vice Attorneys for Plaintiff Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart 20 2000 South Colorado Boulevard Tower Three, Suite 900 21 Denver, CO 80222 Phone: 303-764-6825 Email: [email protected] Attorneys for Defendant STIPULATED MOTION TO CONTINUE OGLETREE, DEAKINS, NASH, SMOAK & STEWART, P.C.

1 ORDER 2 Pursuant to the above stipulation, it is hereby ORDERED that: 1. The Stipulation for a trial continuance is GRANTED.

5 2. The trial in this matter shall be set for July19, 2021.

6 3. The following case schedule deadlines are continued as follows: g Deadline Current Date Proposed New Date 9 Disclosure of expert testimony October 21, 2020 January 19, 2021 10 Deadline for filing motions related to November 20, 2020 February 18, 2021 discovery 1] Discovery completed by December 21,2020 March 21, 2021 Dispositive motions deadline January 19, 2021 April 19, 2021 Mediation per LCR 39.1 March 5, 2021 June 3, 2021 Motion in limine deadline March 22, 2021 June 20, 2021 Agreed pretrial order due April 7, 2021 July 6, 2021 Trial briefs/proposed findings and April 14, 2021 July 13, 2021 17 . . conclusions/trial exhibits 18 Trial Date April 19, 2021 July19, 2021 IT IS SO ORDERED DATED this 30" day of September, 2020.

RICARDO S. MARTINEZ 26 CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE STIPULATED MOTION TO CONTINUE OGLETREE, DEAKINS, NASH, SMOAK & STEWART, P.C.

TRIAL DATE AND RELATED PRETRIAL 1201 Third Avenue, Suite 5150 | Seattle, WA 98101 DATES - 5 Phone: 206-693-7057 | Fax: 206-693-7058 (No. 2:19-cv-01622 RSM) CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that on September 29, 2020 I caused to be electronically filed the foregoing with the Clerk of the Court using the CM/ECF system which will send notification of such filing to all parties registered on the CM/ECF system. All other parties (if any) shall be served in accordance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

7 /s/Denise A. Campbell Denise A. Campbell, Practice Assistant

11 44344983.1

44400980.1 STIPULATED MOTION TO CONTINUE OGLETREE, DEAKINS, NASH, SMOAK & STEWART, P.C.