Lopez et al v. OneWest Bank, FSB et al
Filing
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Order by Magistrate Judge Howard R. Lloyd granting 55 motion to permit depositions by remote means. (hrllc1, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 12/18/2015)
E-Filed 12/18/15
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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ALEX LOPEZ, et al.,
Plaintiffs,
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v.
CIT BANK, N.A., et al.,
Defendants.
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
Case No. 15-cv-00759-BLF (HRL)
ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO
PERMIT DEPOSITIONS BY REMOTE
MEANS
Re: Dkt. No. 55
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Plaintiffs in this Fair Credit Reporting Act case filed an ex parte administrative motion for
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an order that permits all depositions in this case to be taken by remote means. Plaintiffs argue that
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future depositions are likely to take place in Texas and Michigan, that remote depositions are
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effective and efficient in counsel’s experience, and that Defendants have violated the
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undersigned’s standing order regarding civil discovery disputes by refusing to discuss this dispute
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in person. Dkt. No. 55. Defendants raise three arguments in an opposition brief: (1) Plaintiffs’
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motion is mislabeled because it is not truly administrative and it is not truly ex parte, Dkt. No. 58
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at 2; (2) the dispute is not ripe, because this dispute should be resolved on a deposition-by-
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deposition basis and there is no particular pending deposition for which a phonecall or
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videoconference would be appropriate, Dkt. No. 58 at 2-3; and (3) Federal Rule of Civil Procedure
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(“FRCP”) 37(a)(2) requires Plaintiffs to file their motion in the district where they seek the
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deposition. Defendants also assert that remote depositions may be ineffective if the selected
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technology performs poorly and that remote depositions tend to be more burdensome than
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physical travel when the deposition involves the analysis of several complicated exhibits. Dkt.
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No. 58 at 2-3.
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The court has read Plaintiffs’ motion, Defendants’ opposition brief, and the declaration
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filed by Defendants’ counsel in support of the opposition brief. The motion to permit depositions
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by remote means is granted.
Discussion
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The court, as a preliminary matter, rejects the argument that this motion is in the wrong
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court. FRCP 37(a)(2) requires that motions to compel production from a non-party be filed “in the
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court where discovery is or will be taken” but Plaintiffs’ motion is not a motion to compel
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production.
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The court also rejects the argument that the dispute is not ripe. All discovery disputes have
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been referred to the undersigned. The presiding district judge did not, upon referral, rule on any
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outstanding discovery disputes. Dkt. No. 45 at 2. Plaintiffs ask to conduct all future depositions
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remotely and Defendants refuse to stipulate to that request. The dispute is ripe.
United States District Court
Northern District of California
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The court agrees that Plaintiffs have misclassified their motion. A proper ex parte motion
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under Civil Local Rule 7-10 cites to the law or rule that would justify the ex parte designation, but
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Plaintiffs’ motion includes no such citation. Similarly, the motion is not an administrative motion.
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Civil Local Rule 7-11 defines an administrative motion as one that deals with miscellaneous
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administrative issues which are not governed by a federal law, federal rule, local rule, or standing
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order. FRCP 30(b)(4) allows for remote depositions pursuant to stipulations or court orders, and
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Plaintiffs have therefore filed a substantive discovery motion under FRCP 30(b)(4) rather than an
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administrative motion under Civil Local Rule 7-11.
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The undersigned’s standing order regarding civil discovery disputes directs parties to file
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discovery dispute joint reports instead of discovery motions. On the other hand, the standing order
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also directs parties to hold face-to-face conversations about outstanding discovery disputes before
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they file joint reports, and the standing order warns that undue delay in arranging a requested face-
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to-face meeting may justify the entry of an order against the dilatory party. Plaintiffs assert that
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the filing of their motion became necessary because Defendants, in violation of the standing order,
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repeatedly refused to discuss this discovery dispute in person. Defendants do not squarely refute
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that assertion; rather, at best, Defendants appear to imply that they have complied with the spirit of
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the standing order because they are willing to discuss the dispute on a “narrow” deposition-by-
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deposition basis. Dkt. No. 58-1 at 2-3; see also Dkt. No. 58 at 3-4. The court rejects that
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argument—the dispute is whether to permit all future depositions by remote means, and refusal to
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timely discuss that particular dispute face-to-face does not comply with either the letter or spirit of
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the undersigned’s standing order. The court is persuaded that Defendants have violated the
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undersigned’s standing order by rejecting Plaintiffs’ requests for a face-to-face conversation about
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this discovery dispute. Defendants’ violation of the standing order weighs heavily in favor of
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granting Plaintiffs’ motion.
The court is also persuaded by the merits of Plaintiffs’ motion. This court has repeatedly
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observed that remote videoconference depositions conducted through software like Skype tend to
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be an effective and efficient means of reducing costs. Guillen v. Bank of America Corp., Civ. No.
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10-5825-EJD (PSG), Dkt. No. 78 at 1-2; see also Trejo v. Macy’s Inc. et al., Civ. No. 13-2064-
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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LHK, Dkt. No. 52 at 2-3. Likewise, this court has noted that leave to conduct depositions by
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telephone should be liberally granted and that a desire to save money constitutes good cause to
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depose out-of-state witnesses through remote means. Guillen, supra at 1; Trejo, supra at 3.
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Defendants’ counsel has argued that technical problems might make remote depositions
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ineffective, Dkt. No. 58 at 2-3, but the court rejects that argument as speculative. Plaintiffs’
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counsel asserts that he has conducted “more than” eight remote depositions within the last year
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and that those depositions were “effective, efficient and cost effective.”
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Plaintiffs’ counsel has experience with conducting remote depositions, and the parties can work
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together to select a reliable and effective means for taking remote depositions in this case.
Dkt. No. 55 at 2.
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Defendants also argue that reviewing several complicated exhibits remotely would be
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impracticable and that, in contrast, traveling between California and Florida for depositions would
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be less burdensome. Dkt. No. 58 at 3-4. The court disagrees. Modern videoconference software
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permits participants to quickly and conveniently share documents and images with each other. For
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instance, Google’s Hangouts software permits a conference call participant to broadcast a live
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video feed of a digital document while she reviews that document on her computer, which allows
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for the convenient joint review of specific pages contained within complicated documents.
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Similarly, the court is not persuaded that it would be burdensome to discuss complicated
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documents through a phone call if each phone-call participant has received Bates-stamped copies
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of the documents. The court therefore believes that the burden of flying out of town for a
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deposition outweighs the minimal burden of remotely reviewing documents.
Conclusion
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Defendants were not prejudiced when Plaintiffs misclassified their motion and the court
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shall not deny Plaintiffs’ motion on the basis of the misclassification. The court is persuaded that
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Defendants have violated the undersigned’s standing order by refusing Plaintiffs’ request to hold a
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face-to-face discussion about whether all future depositions should be taken by remote means.
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The court is also persuaded that remote depositions would be effective, efficient, and cost-
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effective in this case. The motion for permission to conduct depositions by remote means is
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granted, both due to Defendants’ violation of the undersigned’s standing order and due to the
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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merits of Plaintiffs’ request.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: 12/18/15
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________________________
HOWARD R. LLOYD
United States Magistrate Judge
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