Vision Service Plan v. Nouveau Vision, Inc. et al.

Filing 12

STIPULATION and ORDER signed by District Judge Troy L. Nunley on 6/15/2017 ORDERING that the discovery cutoff date is CONTINUED to 11/30/2017. The expert witness disclosure date is CONTINUED to 1/31/2018. No other dates are being continued by this Order. (Zignago, K.)

1 STERN & GOLDBERG

ALAN N. GOLDBERG (SBN 112836)
[e-mail]
PETER TRAN (SBN 280016)
[e-mail]
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6345 Balboa Boulevard, Suite 200
4 Encino, California 91316
Telephone: [phone]
5 Facsimile: [phone]
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6 Attorneys for Plaintiff

Vision Service Plan, a California

7 corporation

8 BENBROOK LAW GROUP, PC

BRADLEY A. BENBROOK (SBN 177786)
[e-mail]
STEPHEN M. DUVERNAY (SBN 250957)
[e-mail]
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400 Capitol Mall, Suite 2530
11 Sacramento, California 95814
Telephone: [phone]
12 Facsimile: [phone]
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13 Attorneys for Defendants

Nouveau Vision, Inc., a Washington

14 corporation, and Timothy J. Sutich, an

individual

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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18 VISION SERVICE PLAN, a California

not-for-profit corporation,

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Plaintiff,
v.
NOUVEAU VISION, INC., a

22 Washington corporation, TIMOTHY J.

SUTICH, an individual and DOES 1

CASE NO.: 2:16-CV-01049-TLN-KJN
STIPULATED ORDER
CONTINUING DISCOVERY
CUTOFF AND EXPERT WITNESS
DISCLOSURE DATES SET FORTH
IN SECTIONS IV AND V OF THE
PRETRIAL SCHEDULING ORDER

23 through 50, inclusive,
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Defendants.

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The parties hereby submit this proposed stipulated order to request a ninety

28 (90) day extension of the discovery cutoff and expert witness disclosure dates
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STIPULATED ORDER CONTINUING DISCOVERY CUTOFF AND EXPERT DISCLOSURE DATES

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1 contained in Sections IV and V of the Pretrial Scheduling Order, dated August 25,
2 2016, in the above-entitled action:
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This Stipulation is submitted by Plaintiff Vision Service Plan (“VSP”

4 herein) and Defendants Nouveau Vision, Inc. (“Nouveau” herein) and Timothy J.
5 Sutich (“Sutich” herein) (collectively referred to as “Defendants”), through their
6 respective counsel of record, for approval of an approximate ninety (90) day
7 extension to the discovery cutoff and expert witness disclosure dates. This request
8 for an extension is made with reference to the following:
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1.

WHEREAS, the present discovery cutoff date in this Action is

10 scheduled for August 28, 2017 and the expert witness disclosure date is October
11 26, 2017. The parties are not seeking by this Stipulation to extend the motion
12 cutoff date, the Pretrial Conference, or the Trial dates.

The extension sought

13 herein will not impact these other dates.
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2.

WHEREAS, the parties have been diligently working together to

15 complete discovery, including attempting to meet and confer to limit and resolve
16 discovery issues.

However, several factors have contributed to it being

17 impractical to complete discovery by the scheduled discovery cutoff and expert
18 witness disclosure dates. The parties therefore believe that good cause exists for a
19 ninety (90) day extension to continue the discovery cutoff and expert witness
20 disclosure dates contained in the Pretrial Scheduling Order.
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3.

Given the issues in this action, Plaintiff VSP has essentially

22 approached discovery in three (3) phases: (1) obtain the records from Defendants;
23 (2) to the extent Defendants do not have certain records, obtain the records from
24 third parties; and (3) take the depositions of necessary parties and third parties.
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4.

WHEREAS, Plaintiff VSP served its initial discovery requests,

26 containing interrogatories, requests for admissions, and document demands, upon
27 Defendants Nouveau and Sutich on September 9, 2016, seeking information and
28 records regarding, inter alia, Defendants’ dealings with various third parties,
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STIPULATED ORDER CONTINUING DISCOVERY CUTOFF AND EXPERT DISCLOSURE DATES

C:\Users\DMORRI~1\AppData\Local\Temp\notesA2D13D\2017-06-12 [Proposed] Stipulated Order Continuing Discovery Cut Off.docx

1 including various out-of-state optical laboratories.
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5.

WHEREAS, Defendants served their initial discovery responses on

3 December 5, 2016 and their amended responses on February 27, 2017 and are still
4 in the process of gathering additional information which had been requested by
5 Plaintiff VSP in its First Set of Requests for Production. In connection therewith,
6 Defendants asserted they did not have or were having a difficult time obtaining
7 certain records relating to billing and payment information with third parties.
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6.

WHEREAS, Plaintiff VSP has issued various third party subpoenas

9 to seek billing and payment information regarding their dealings with Defendants.
10 Many of the third parties are located in Texas and Pennsylvania and there have
11 been delays. For example, various delays have been encountered due to their out
12 of state locations or their business having closed down. The delays include, but
13 are not limited to, the following:
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(a)

Dr. Gordon Epstein, O.D., has since moved to Magnolia, Texas.

15 Service was effectuated on May 2, 2017, but there has been a delay in him
16 producing the relevant records which Plaintiff believes will be resolved shortly.
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(b)

Subpoenas were issued to Joseph Kasyan, Sue Kasyan, and Gary

18 Burkett, who operated third party optical laboratories in Pennsylvania. However,
19 there have been complications in effectuating service and amended Subpoenas
20 were served.
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(c)

Salvatore Deluca, a principal of Opti-Rex, Inc., has claimed the

22 business closed down and all of the medical records were removed and destroyed
23 and that a new optical business was operating at that location. As such, Plaintiff
24 will be issuing a deposition subpoena to Mr. Deluca. However, he has indicated
25 he will not be cooperative.
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7.

WHEREAS, the parties have been cooperating to address these

27 issues, and other discovery issues which have arisen.
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8.

WHEREAS, the parties are also exploring settlement possibilities.
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STIPULATED ORDER CONTINUING DISCOVERY CUTOFF AND EXPERT DISCLOSURE DATES

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1

9.

WHEREAS, no previous continuance has been requested and the

2 parties believe that the interests of justice will be served, and no parties will be
3 prejudiced, by the granting of this continuance.
4

IT IS THEREFORE STIPULATED by and between Plaintiff VSP and

5 Defendants Nouveau and Sutich, through their attorneys of record, that the
6 discovery cutoff date be continued from August 28, 2017 to November 30, 2017
7 and the expert witness disclosure date be continued from October 26, 2017 to
8 January 31, 2018.
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IT IS SO STIPULATED.

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11

Respectfully submitted,

12 Dated: June 13, 2017

STERN & GOLDBERG

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By:

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s/ Alan N. Goldberg
ALAN N. GOLDBERG
PETER TRAN
Attorneys for Plaintiff
Vision Service Plan, a California not-forprofit corporation

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Dated: June 13, 2017

BENBROOK LAW GROUP, PC

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By:

s/ Stephen M. Duvernay
BRADLEY A. BENBROOK
STEPHEN M. DUVERNAY
Attorneys for Defendants
Nouveau Vision, Inc., a Washington
corporation, and Timothy J. Sutich, an
individual

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STIPULATED ORDER CONTINUING DISCOVERY CUTOFF AND EXPERT DISCLOSURE DATES

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ORDER

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The Court accepts the foregoing Stipulation. The discovery cutoff and
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expert witness disclosure dates set forth in Sections IV and V of the Pretrial
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Scheduling Order, dated August 25, 2016, shall be continued as follows:
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1.

The discovery cutoff date shall be continued from August 28, 2017 to

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November 30, 2017.
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2.

The expert witness disclosure date shall be continued from October

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26, 2017 to January 31, 2018.
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3.

No other dates are being continued by this Order.

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12 Dated: June 15, 2017
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Troy L. Nunley
United States District Judge

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STIPULATED ORDER CONTINUING DISCOVERY CUTOFF AND EXPERT DISCLOSURE DATES

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