Safeco Insurance Company of Illinois et al v. Tremblay et al

Filing 88

ORDER granting in part and denying in part 87 Plaintiffs' Unopposed Motion for Enlargement of the Mediation Deadline and to Change the Mediator. The parties shall have up to and including April 13, 2018 to mediate. Plaintiffs' request to designate Richard Marchewka as their mediator is DENIED. Signed by Magistrate Judge Carol Mirando on 3/6/2018. (HJ)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
FORT MYERS DIVISION
SAFECO INSURANCE COMPANY
OF ILLINOIS and SAFECO
INSURANCE COMPANY OF
AMERICA,
Plaintiffs,
v.

Case No: 2:16-cv-837-FtM-38CM

JOSEPH A. TREMBLAY, CODY
JAMES MORRISON, ROMARRIO
ANTHONY SCOTT, RAQUEL
MARIA NUNEZ, JULIE LIPPSON
and STEVEN LIPPSON,
Defendants.
ORDER
This matter comes before the Court upon review of Plaintiffs’ Unopposed
Motion for Enlargement of the Mediation Deadline and to Change the Mediator (Doc.
87) filed on March 5, 2018.

On March 9, 2017, the Court entered a Case

Management and Scheduling Order (“CMSO”), setting the discovery deadline to
March 6, 2018, the mediation deadline to March 6, 2018, the deadline for dispositive
motions to April 6, 2018 and a trial term to commence on August 6, 2018.

Doc. 49

at 1-2.

Id. at 2.

The CMSO also designated Gary Larsen as the parties’ mediator.

Plaintiffs state they and Defendant Cody James Morrison agreed to participate in a
global mediation with other parties and counsel.

Doc. 87 at 1-2. Plaintiffs seek to

extend the mediation deadline to April 13, 2018 and change their mediator to Richard
Marchewka because the parties have scheduling conflicts, and the parties’ current

mediator is not available between now and April 13, 2018.
Morrison does not oppose the requested relief.

Id. at 2. Counsel for

Id. at 3.

Because Plaintiffs represent the requested extension will not affect other
remaining deadlines or prejudice any party, the Court finds good cause to grant the
requested extension.

Id. at 2. Nonetheless, the Court will not allow the parties to

substitute their mediator to Richard Marchewka because Marchewka does not appear
on the district’s list of certified mediators.

As the Case Management Report

indicates, the parties “have agreed on a mediator from the Court’s approved list of
mediators as set forth in the table above. . . . The list of mediators is available from the
Clerk, and is posted on the Court’s web site at http://www.flmd.uscourts.gov.” Doc. 39
at 12.

Local Rule 9.01(a) further provides a mediator must be an attorney who is

certified by the chief judge in accordance with the Local Rules. M.D. Fla. R. 9.01(a).

Accordingly, the Court will direct the parties to select a mediator from the Court’s
approved list of mediators.
ACCORDINGLY, it is hereby
ORDERED:
1.

Plaintiffs’ Unopposed Motion for Enlargement of the Mediation Deadline

and to Change the Mediator (Doc. 87) is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.
2.

The parties shall have up to and including April 13, 2018 to mediate.

3.

Plaintiffs’ request to designate Richard Marchewka as their mediator is

DENIED.

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DONE and ORDERED in Fort Myers, Florida on this 6th day of March, 2018.

Copies:
Counsel of record

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