Identity Stronghold, LLC v. Zeidner et al

Filing 153

ORDER granting in part 150 Motion for Enlargement of Time to File Expert Reports. Identity Stronghold must disclose its complete expert report by April 20, 2018. Signed by Magistrate Judge Amanda Arnold Sansone on 4/13/2018. (DMP)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TAMPA DIVISION
IDENTITY STRONGHOLD, LLC,
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No: 8:16-cv-868-T-35AAS

MICHAEL ZEIDNER, et al.,
Defendants.
_____________________________________/
ORDER
Identity Stronghold requests an enlargement of time to disclose its expert reports. (Doc.
150). The defendants object. (Doc. 152).
Under the Amended Case Management and Scheduling Order, Identity Stronghold’s
deadline to disclose its expert report was April 4, 2018. (Doc. 146). On the day its expert report
was due, Identity Stronghold submitted this current motion requesting the deadline to disclose its
expert report be extended by thirty days. (Doc. 150). In response, the defendants claim Identity
Stronghold’s request would prejudice the defendants because a thirty-day extension would extend
expert discovery past the deadlines for discovery and dispositive motions. (Doc. 152, p. 2).
Once the court enters a scheduling order, that order may be modified for good cause and
with the judge’s consent. Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b)(4). Good cause requires the moving party to show
the scheduling order cannot be met despite the moving party’s due diligence. S. Grouts & Mortars,
Inc. v 3M Co., 575 F.3d 1235, 1241 n.3 (11th Cir. 2009) (citation omitted).
Here, Identity Stronghold submitted its expert witness disclosure. (Doc. 150, pp. 1–2).
However, Identity Stronghold’s disclosure only included the name of its expert witness and the
summary of its expert’s opinion. (Id. at 2). Also, Identity Stronghold’s expert disclosure was
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“subject to the objection and a request for extension for the report itself.” (Doc. 150, pp. 1–2).
According to Identity Stronghold, it could not disclose its entire expert report because the
defendants failed to provide Identity Stronghold with documents needed for Identity Stronghold
to complete its expert report. (Doc. 150, p. 2).
Identity stronghold satisfactorily established sufficient good cause for modifying the
Amended Case Management and Scheduling Order to briefly extend the deadline for submitting
its entire expert witness disclosure. However, Identity has not provided good cause for a thirtyday extension plus such a long extension would conflict with the defendants’ deadline for
disclosing its’ expert reports (May 4, 2018) and likely affect the discovery deadline (May 18,
2018). Therefore, a brief extension is appropriate under these circumstances.
After consideration, it is ORDERED that Identity Stronghold’s motion for an enlargement
of time to submit its expert report is GRANTED in part. Identity Stronghold must disclose its
complete expert report by April 20, 2018.
ORDERED in Tampa, Florida on this 13th day of April, 2018.

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