Barrett Financial Group LLC et al v. Bank of England et al

Filing 33

ORDER granting in part and denying in part 33 motion to amend the final scheduling order; denying the request for a stay; and continuing the trial date and setting new pretrial deadlines in accordance with the Court's standard scheduling practices. An amended scheduling order will be issued separately. Signed by Judge Susan Webber Wright on 1/9/2018. (jak)

Before the Court in these consolidated cases is a motion by Trevor Barrett and Barrett
Financial Group LLC, the defendants in No. 4:15CV00683 SWW and the plaintiffs in
No. 4:15CV00546 SWW, asking the Court to amend the scheduling order [ECF No. 33]. Bank
of England has filed a response [ECF No. 34]. After careful consideration, and for reasons that

follow, the motion is granted in part and denied in part as provided in this order.
Movants report that their attorney will be out of the country from January 1, 2018
through March 4, 2018, hiking the Te Araroa Trail in New Zealand. They state that counsel will
be “in very remote back-country, with only a backpack, [and he] will have extremely limited
internet and telephone access and will be unavailable for all purposes.”1 In light of counsel’s
absence, movants ask the Court to maintain the same trial date but extend the deadlines for
discovery and dispositive motions by approximately three months.2 Additionally, movants ask
the Court to stay all litigation in this case until counsel returns. Bank of England responds that it
does not object to the proposed extensions, but it will not agree to stop all litigation during
counsel’s sixty-day vacation.
As explained in the initial scheduling order, as a matter of course, the Court sets the
deadline for dispositive motions to fall at least four months before the scheduled trial date, and
the discovery deadline expires five months before trial. This practice provides time for a
response and a reply to motions for summary judgment, and it allows the Court enough time to
carefully consider and decide dispositive motions prior to trial.
The motion to amend the final scheduling order [ECF No. 33] is GRANTED IN PART
AND DENIED IN PART. The request for a stay is denied. 3 Because counsel for Trevor Barrett
and Barrett Financial Group LLC is out of the country and unavailable for all purposes until
March 4, 2018, the Court will continue the trial date and set new pretrial deadlines in accordance

1

ECF No. 33, at 2.
Trial is currently set for August 20, 2018, and the proposed amended deadlines would extend the discovery and
dispositive motions deadline to May 15, 2018, which falls approximately 3 months before the trial date.
3
Bank of England states that it will not conduct depositions during the sixty-day period, but it does plan to serve
written discovery requests on third parties. Bank of England also states that in the event that it files a motion during
the sixty-day period, it would agree to extend the response time.
2

2

with the Court’s standard scheduling practices. An amended scheduling order will be issued
separately.

IT IS SO ORDERED THIS 9th DAY OF JANUARY, 2018.
/s/Susan Webber Wright
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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