Church Mutual Insurance Company v. Copenhaver et al

Filing 57

ORDER denying 50 Motion to Compel; granting 55 Motion to Quash and finding the motion for protective order moot. Signed by Judge James M. Moody on 3/29/10. (bkp)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS WESTERN DIVISION CHURCH MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY V. 4:09CV00487 JMM PLAINTIFF

HAROLD R. COPENHAVER, JEFF W. O'DONNELL, and UNITED INSURANCE AGENCY INC.

DEFENDANTS

ORDER Pending is Defendants' Motion for Partial Summary Judgment, Plaintiff's Motion to Compel, and Defendants' Motion to Quash. The Court has previously extended the discovery deadline in this case for two months until April 24, 2010. Upon the Plaintiff's request, the Court is holding the Motion for Partial Summary Judgment in abeyance until the new discovery deadline has passed. The summary judgment motion deals solely with the validity of the noncompetition clause between the parties. In the Motion to Compel, Plaintiff seeks extensive information from the Defendants about their sales attempts or planned sales contacts, any written communications between the Defendants or clients, including the hard drive from any computer, Blackberry, or PDA to which they have access, and allegedly confidential information regarding other sales agents of UIA. None of these items appear to be relevant to the issue of whether the noncompetion clause is enforceable in Arkansas. Therefore, the Plaintiff's Motion to Compel (Docket # 50) is DENIED without prejudice. The Defendants' Motion to Quash (Docket # 55) is GRANTED. The subpoenas for phone records from E. Ritter Communications and AT&T Cellular Services are quashed. The motion for protective order is MOOT.

IT IS SO ORDERED this 29th day of March, 2010.

______________________________ James M. Moody United States District Judge