Barrows et al v. Bank of America, NA

Filing 21

ORDER: The relief requested in Defendant's Unopposed Motion to Stay Discovery 18 is DENIED. Signed by Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington on 11/7/2014. (AKH)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TAMPA DIVISION
SCOTT O. BARROWS and
JUDY L. BARROWS,
Plaintiffs,
v.

Case No. 8:14-cv-2121-T-33TGW

BANK OF AMERICA, N.A.,
Defendant.
_____________________________/
ORDER
This matter is before the Court pursuant to Defendant
Bank of America, N.A.’s (BANA) Unopposed Motion for a Stay of
Discovery filed on November 6, 2014. (Doc. # 33). To the
extent the Motion moves this Court to stay discovery in this
case until such time as the Court enters an Order denying
BANA's Motion to Dismiss and directing BANA to answer an
amended pleading, that request is denied for the reasons that
follow.
Discussion
The Court “must take an active role in managing cases on
[its] docket.” Chudasama v. Mazda Motor Corp., 123 F.3d 1353,
1366 (11th Cir. 1997). The requested stay of discovery pending
a future responsive pleading from BANA would not advance this
case toward its final resolution. Furthermore, the Court

notes that BANA there is no pending Motion to Dismiss at this
time and the parties have not submitted a Case Management
Report to this Court. Therefore, pursuant to Federal Rules of
Civil Procedure 16 and 26, discovery should not occur until
such time as this Court has entered a Case Management and
Scheduling Order. As stated in Chudasama, this Court enjoys
broad discretion “in deciding how best to manage the cases
before [it]” and, under the circumstances of this case, the
Court determines that it is appropriate to deny the requested
relief. 123 F.3d at 1366.
Accordingly, it is hereby
ORDERED, ADJUDGED, and DECREED:
The relief requested in Defendant’s Unopposed Motion to
Stay Discovery (Doc. # 18) is DENIED.
DONE and ORDERED in Chambers, in Tampa, Florida, this
7th day of November, 2014.

Copies to: All Counsel and Parties of Record

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