Fiddler's Creek, LLC v. Naples Lending Group LC

Filing 77

ORDER denying without prejudice 55 Plaintiffs' Renewed and Amended Motion to Compel Production of Documents from Non-Party MMA Realty Capital; denying without prejudice 58 Defendants' Motion for Leave to File Motion to Compel in Excess of Twenty-Five Pages; denying without prejudice 65 Plaintiff's Motion to Compel Mirror Images of Defendants' ESI Systems. Signed by Magistrate Judge Carol Mirando on 1/22/2015. (BLW)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
FORT MYERS DIVISION
FIDDLER’S CREEK, LLC,
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No: 2:14-cv-379-FtM-29CM

NAPLES LENDING GROUP LC,
DANIEL CARTER and MMA
REALTY CAPITAL LLC,
Respondent,
Defendants.
ORDER
This matter comes before the Court upon assignment of the case and referral
of three pending discovery motions (Docs. 55, 58, 65) to the undersigned on January
16, 2015. Discovery in this case has been stayed since August 8, 2014, pending a
determination of the Court’s jurisdiction. Doc. 69. On January 13, 2015, the Court
determined that it had jurisdiction; lifted the stay to the extent that the Clerk shall
issue the standard standing order, track two notice, and interested persons order so
that the case may proceed; and directed the parties to file a case management report
within the time provided by the track two notice and the local rule. Doc. 74. The
discovery motions were filed prior to the stay, in June and July 2014, and as a result
one of the motions has not yet been fully briefed. Doc. 65.
Upon review of the filings and the history of this case, the Court finds it
appropriate to deny the discovery motions without prejudice at this time to allow the
parties to meet and confer and refile the motions, if necessary, once discovery re-

commences. 1 The Court reaches this conclusion for several reasons. First, with
regard to Defendants’ Motion for Leave to File Motion to Compel in Excess of TwentyFive Pages (Doc. 58), at the time that Defendants sought leave to file such a motion
to compel, Plaintiff stated that it had not yet responded to the discovery requests at
issue. Doc. 59 at 2. Thus, the motion to compel was premature.

Second, with

respect to Plaintiff’s Renewed and Amended Motion to Compel Production of
Documents from Non-Party MMA Realty Capital (“MMA”) (Doc. 55), MMA’s response
states that MMA is willing to work with Plaintiff and has offered to produce a
privilege log in an effort to reach a resolution of the issues raised. Doc. 66. Finally,
Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel Mirror Images of Defendants’ ESI Systems (Doc. 65) is
not yet fully briefed, although filed six months ago. The parties should meet and
confer again regarding the issues raised, as they will be conducting the case
management conference to discuss the discovery deadline and discovery plan. 2
ACCORDINGLY, it is hereby
ORDERED:
1.

Plaintiffs’ Renewed and Amended Motion to Compel Production of

Documents from Non-Party MMA Realty Capital (Doc. 55) is DENIED WITHOUT
PREJUDICE.

Pursuant to Local Rule 3.05(c)(2)(B), unless otherwise ordered by the Court, a party
may not seek discovery from any source prior to the case management conference.
1

Moreover, the Joint Mediation Status Report (Doc. 51) states that the mediator in
this matter has not yet declared an impasse and the parties continue settlement discussions.
2

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2.

Defendants’ Motion for Leave to File Motion to Compel in Excess of

Twenty-Five Pages (Doc. 58) is DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.
3.

Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel Mirror Images of Defendants’ ESI Systems

(Doc. 65) is DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.
DONE and ORDERED in Fort Myers, Florida on this 22nd day of January, 2015.

Copies:
Counsel of record

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