California Earthquake Authority v. Metropolitan West Securities LLC, et al

Filing 51

ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Gregory G. Hollows on 4/27/2012 GRANTING in part 41 Motion to Compel; SETTING a Discovery Conference for 6/14/2012 at 01:30 PM in Courtroom 9 (GGH) before Magistrate Judge Gregory G. Hollows. Joint Status Report due by 6/11/2012. (Michel, G)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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CALIFORNIA EARTHQUAKE
AUTHORITY,

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Plaintiff,

No. CIV S-10-291 MCE GGH

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v.
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METROPOLITAN WEST
SECURITIES, LLC et al.,

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Defendants.

ORDER
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Presently before the court is plaintiff California Earthquake Authority’s (“CEA”)

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motion to compel production of documents, which was originally filed on February 17, 2012 and,

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after a joint request to continue the hearing, came on for hearing on April 26, 2012. (Dkt. Nos.

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41, 44, 45.) The parties filed a joint statement regarding their discovery agreement pursuant to

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E.D. Cal. L.R. 251, with accompanying declarations, on April 19, 2012. (Dkt. Nos. 47-49.)

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At the hearing, Michael Strumwasser and Patricia Pei appeared on behalf of CEA,

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and Jesse Miller and Christopher Foster appeared on behalf of defendants Metropolitan West

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Securities, LLC (“MetWest”) and Wachovia Bank, National Association (“Wachovia Bank”)

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(collectively, “Wachovia”).1 After considering the parties’ joint statement and conferring with

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Wachovia has actually been acquired by Wells Fargo.
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counsel on the record at the hearing, the court finds it appropriate to issue an interim order

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granting CEA’s motion in part, setting appropriate deadlines for document production and a Rule

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30(b)(6) deposition of Wachovia’s custodian of records, and scheduling a further discovery

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conference to determine whether additional relief is warranted in light of facts revealed by the

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document production and Rule 30(b)(6) deposition.

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For the foregoing reasons, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT:

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1. CEA’s motion to compel (dkt. no. 41) is granted in part along the terms

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outlined in this order.

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2. Wachovia shall make its first good faith production of electronically stored

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information (“ESI”) responsive to CEA’s requests for production of documents, pursuant to the

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ESI protocol agreed upon by the parties, no later than April 30, 2012.

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3. No later than April 30, 2012, Wachovia shall also provide CEA with a

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description of its search methodology utilized to compile the above-mentioned document

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production, including a description of the custodians and document repositories searched; the

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specific search terms utilized; and what custodians and document repositories remain left to be

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searched in order to complete the production.

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4. Wachovia shall produce its custodian of records pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P.

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30(b)(6) for deposition in California during the week of June 4, 2012, on a date to be mutually

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agreed upon by the parties.

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5. A further discovery conference in this matter is scheduled for June 14, 2012 at

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1:30 p.m. in Courtroom 9 before the undersigned. The parties shall file a joint statement

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regarding issues to be addressed at the discovery conference no later than June 11, 2012. If the

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parties have resolved all discovery issues, the parties may file a request to take the discovery

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conference off calendar.

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DATED: April 27, 2012

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/s/ Gregory G. Hollows
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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GGH/wvr
CEA.291.mtc.wpd

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