STILL v. AMERICAN UNITED LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY et al

Filing 21

ORDER granting 20 Motion to Extend Pending Deadlines. Discovery deadline extended to 2/19/2015; dispositive motions deadline extended to 4/5/2015. Ordered by U.S. District Judge HUGH LAWSON on 8/13/2014. (nbp)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
VALDOSTA DIVISION
PAIGE STILL,
Plaintiff,
CIVIL ACTION
vs.
Case No. 7:14-cv-40 (HL)
AMERICAN UNITED LIFE INSURANCE
COMPANY and DISABILITY
REINSURANCE MANAGEMENT
SERVICES, INC. ,
Defendants.
AMENDED SCHEDULING
AND DISCOVERY ORDER
The parties to this action jointly agree to the following amended scheduling and
discovery report containing deadlines and limitations as follows:
I.

Nature of the Case:
Plaintiff sues Defendants for benefits under a disability insurance policy that she alleges
have been denied her by the Defendants in breach of the policy. Plaintiff also alleges a
bad faith count against Defendants under Official Code of Georgia Annotated § 13-4-6.
Defendants deny these allegations.

II.

Counsel of Record:
The following individually-named attorneys are hereby designated as lead counsel for the
parties:

Plaintiff:

Defendants:

Eric L. Buchanan (BPR #018568)
Hudson T. Ellis (BPR #28330)
414 McCallie Avenue
Chattanooga, TN 37402
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

S. Russell Headrick
Richard N. Bien
2345 Grand Blvd., Suite 2200
Kansas City, MO 64108-2618
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
Gregory T. Talley
Coleman Talley LLP
910 North Patterson Street
Valdosta, GA 31601
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
[e-mail]

III.

Discovery
A. Initial Disclosures
The parties have already made their respective initial disclosures.
B. Time for Discovery
The time for discovery in this case shall expire on February 19, 2015. The parties are
authorized to begin discovery once the Rule 26(f) conference is held.
No discovery request may be served unless the response to the request can be completed
within the time specified by the rules and within the discovery period. Except by written
consent of the parties first filed with the Court, no deposition shall be scheduled beyond
the discovery period.
If a party believes that more time for discovery is needed, an appropriate motion may be
filed setting forth good cause for an extension.
Plaintiff served their First Set of Interrogatories and Requests for Production of
Documents to Defendants on July 21, 2014, with an original response deadline of August
25. Defendants served their First Set of Interrogatories and First Set of Requests for
Production of Documents on July 24, 2014, with an original response deadline of August
26. The parties agree the amended deadline to respond to Plaintiff’s written discovery
will be October 24, 2014 and the amended deadline to respond to Defendants’ written
discovery will be October 27, 2014.

C. Subjects of Discovery
The parties intend to conduct discovery regarding non-privileged matters relevant to the
claims and defenses of the parties.
D. Electronically Stored Information
The parties have discussed the disclosure and discovery of electronically stored
information (“ESI”). Defendants have represented that relevant ESI principally consists
of claims notes and claim-related emails. Defendant further represents that this ESI has
been incorporated into the insurance claim file and will be produced to Plaintiff in PDF
format. The Plaintiff will review the information provided to determine whether it is
adequate or whether it is necessary to produce the ESI in a format that preserves all data
and/or metadata associated with the record.
The parties also discussed the need for preserving all ESI relevant to the claim in its
native format until the instant litigation is resolved. The Plaintiff will provide Defendants
with a separate litigation hold letter listing categories of documents that should be
preserved.
E. Privilege Claims
The parties will abide by Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5) in asserting and
disputing privilege claims. Further, the parties agree that any claim for privilege shall be
made at least 45 days prior to the trial of this matter.
F. Changes to Discovery Limitations
Due to the document-intensive nature of this case, the parties request that the number of
allowable requests for production be increased to 25. Otherwise, the parties believe that
the limitations provided in the Court’s Local Rules are appropriate for this litigation.
G. Other Discovery Matters
The parties do not believe any other orders regarding discovery should be issued at this
time.
H. Expert Witnesses
Any party who desires to use the testimony of any expert witness will be required to
designate the expert according to the following schedule:
The Plaintiff must disclose the identity of any expert witnesses on or before November
21, 2014.
The Defendants must disclose the identity of any expert witnesses on or before December
21, 2014.

If the Defendants designate an expert where the Plaintiff has not previously designated an
expert, the Plaintiff shall have 30 days from the designation of the Defendants’ expert
within which to designate a rebuttal expert witness.
The parties agree to abide by Fed. R. Civ P. 26(a)(2) when designating any witness that
may present evidence at trial under Fed. Rule of Evid. 702, 703, or 705.
Any designated expert witness must be available to be deposed during the discovery
period.
Any supplemental expert reports must be served on or before January 30, 2015. No
additional supplemental reports may be disclosed or provided after this date without leave
of Court.
IV.

Motion Deadlines
A. All motions to join other parties or to otherwise amend the pleadings must be filed as
soon as the need for joinder or amendment is discovered. The deadline to file any motion
to amend is January 20, 2015.
B. All dispositive motions shall be filed on or before April 5, 2015.
C. All Daubert motions must be filed on or before March 23, 2015.
The parties are instructed not to file Daubert motions as part of dispositive motions.

V.

Other Matters
A. The parties agree that requests for admission that are propounded solely to authenticate
documents as provided for under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 36(a)(1)(B) are
excluded from Local Rule 36’s limitation on the number of requests to admit that can be
propounded.
B. The parties are limited by the Local Rules to 25 interrogatories (L. R. 33.1) and 15
requests for admissions (L. R. 36). The parties have requested that the Court increase the
limit of requests for production to 25.
The parties may not exceed these limits without filing a motion and receiving written
permission from the Court.
C. All applications to the Court for orders shall be presented in the form of written motions
filed pursuant to the Local Rules. Letters, faxes, and telephone calls will not be accepted
in lieu of a properly filed motion unless requested or otherwise authorized by the Court.
D. Any request for leave of absence should be filed in the form of a motion. The Court will
not consider notices filed pursuant to Uniform Superior Court Rule 16.
E. Do not send courtesy copies of letters, motions, or briefs to the Court.

F. This Scheduling and Discovery Report must be filed as a .pdf document.
G. This schedule shall not be modified except upon a showing of good cause and by leave of
Court.
This 13th day of August, 2014.
ERIC BUCHANAN & ASSOCIATES,
PLLC
/s/ Eric L. Buchanan
Eric L. Buchanan
[e-mail]
/s/ Hudson T. Ellis
Hudson T. Ellis
[e-mail]
414 McCallie Avenue
Chattanooga, TN 37402
[phone]
[phone] facsimile

LATHROP & GAGE LLP
/s/ S. Russell Headrick
S. Russell Headrick
[e-mail]
/s/ Richard N. Bien
Richard N. Bien
[e-mail]
2345 Grand Boulevard, Suite 2200
Kansas City, MO 64108
[phone]
[phone] facsimile
COLEMAN TALLEY LLP

Attorneys for the Plaintiff
/s/ Gregory T. Talley
GREGORY T. TALLEY
Georgia Bar No. 696705
[e-mail]
910 N Patterson Street
Valdosta, GA 31601
[phone]
[phone] facsimile
Attorneys for the Defendants
The Court, having reviewed the information contained in the Scheduling and Discovery
Report completed and filed jointly by the parties to this action, hereby ADOPTS the parties plan
and MAKES IT THE ORDER OF THE COURT.
13th
SO ORDERED, this _____ day of August, 2014.
s/ Hugh Lawson
HUGH LAWSON
United States Senior District Judge