L.C. v. Pinellas County School Board

Filing 37

ORDER granting 32 motion for discovery conference; granting 33 motion for extension of time to complete discovery; granting 35 motion for extension of time to submit amended complaint. L.C.'s amended complaint is due January 7, 2019. Signed by Magistrate Judge Amanda Arnold Sansone on 12/21/2018. (DMP)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TAMPA DIVISION
L.C.,
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No. 8:18-cv-1066-T-23AAS

PINELLAS COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD,
Defendant.
______________________________________/
ORDER
L.C. moves for an extension of time to submit the amended complaint currently
due December 31, 2018. (Docs. 34, 35). L.C. requests the court extend the deadline
to January 7, 2019, because counsel have multiple deadlines and obligations over the
upcoming holidays. (Doc. 35).
Pinellas County School Board (School Board) opposes L.C.’s requested
extension. (Doc. 36). The School Board points out it has five depositions scheduled
to occur before L.C. serves the amended complaint: three depositions on January 4th
and two depositions on January 7th. (Id.). The parties also have three depositions
scheduled shortly after January 7th: one on January 9th and two on January 10th.
(Id.). According to the School Board, conducting these depositions before and shortly
after L.C. submits the amended complaint will prejudice the School Board and
rescheduling them is difficult because the parties have nineteen depositions
scheduled in January. (Id.).
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A court may grant an extension of time for good cause. Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(b)(1).
When a party moves for an extension of time before the applicable deadline passes,
the court should normally grant the extension absent bad faith or prejudice to the
adverse party. Ahanchian v. Xenon Pictures, Inc., 624 F.3d 1253, 1259 (9th Cir. 2010)
(citation omitted); Rachel v. Trout, 820 F.3d 390, 394 (10th Cir. 2016).
L.C.’s counsel’s deadlines and obligations over the holidays establish sufficient
good cause for granting the requested brief extension. Sufficient good cause also
exists to extend the parties’ current discovery deadlines (Do c. 33) and the
undersigned will conduct a discovery conference in response to School Board’s request
for one. (Doc. 32).
The following is therefore ORDERED:
1.

L.C.’s motion for an extension of time to submit the amended complaint
(Doc. 35) is GRANTED. The amended complaint is due January 7,
2019.

2.

The School Board’s motion for a discovery conference (Doc. 32) is
GRANTED. The parties must submit a joint notice by January 4,
2019, advising the undersigned of their selected date for the discovery
conference from among the following choices:
•

January 9th at 3:15 p.m.

•

January 10th at 1:00 p.m. or 2:00 p.m.

•

January 14th at 10:00 a.m. or 11:00 a.m.
2

•
•

January 16th at 11:00 a.m.

•
3.

January 15th at 11:00 a.m.

January 18th at 10:00 a.m. or 11:00 a.m.

The parties’ joint motion to extend discovery deadlines (Doc. 33) is
GRANTED.

ENTERED in Tampa, Florida, on December 21, 2018.

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