Lowe et al v. Property and Casualty Insurance Company of Hartford
Filing
27
RULING: The 20 MOTION to Quash Subpoena and Notice of Deposition of Kevin Collet filed by Property and Casualty Insurance Company of Hartford is granted. The deadline to complete fact discovery is extended to 02/14/2014, solely for the purpose of deposing Kevin Collett. The date, time and place for his deposition shall be selected, and a notice of deposition shall be filed, by no later than 01/31/2014. Signed by Magistrate Judge Stephen C. Riedlinger on 01/24/2014. (NLT)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
REGINALD LOWE, ET AL
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NUMBER 13-615-BAJ-SCR
PROPERTY AND CASUALTY
INSURANCE COMPANY OF HARTFORD
RULINGS ON MOTION TO QUASH SUBPOENA AND NOTICE OF DEPOSITION
Before the court is The Hartford’s Motion to Quash Subpoena
and Notice of Deposition of Kevin Collett filed by defendant
Property and Casualty Insurance Company of Hartford (hereafter,
“The Hartford”).
Record document number 20.
The motion is
opposed.1
The
history
of
the
parties’
attempts
to
schedule
the
deposition of Kevin Collett, along with other deposition, is well
described in the copies of letters and emails attached as exhibits
to the parties’ memoranda.
A fair summary is this: timely request
for dates (email, November 27, 201) went without a prompt response
even after a reminder (letter, December 19, 2013), and when the
response finally came (letter, December 23, 2013) the dates offered
were
not
1
available
(letter,
January
14,
2013).
Given
Record document number 16. Expedited consideration of
motion was granted and oral argument was scheduled for January
2014. Record document number 22. However, the oral argument
canceled after the courthouse was unexpectedly closed due
inclement weather. Record document number 25.
the
the
24,
was
to
approaching January 31, 2014 fact discovery completion deadline,2
the plaintiffs’ attorney noticed Collet’s deposition in Baton Rouge
for January 27, 2014 at 12:30 p.m. – the same date as the
deposition of Jennifer Jones that he noticed to take place in
Chicago at 3:00 p.m..
Defendant’s attorney who was personally
attending the Chicago deposition was also going to be personally
attending Collet’s deposition, and obviously could not timely get
from one to the other.
Possible solutions were offered, e.g.
defendant’s attorney could attend Collet’s deposition by telephone,
one of the other attorneys representing the defendant could attend
Collet’s deposition, or Collet’s deposition could be moved to
January 29 of 30, but none were acceptable to both sides.
Consideration of all the parties’ arguments and exhibits
supports the conclusion that neither side is blameless - both had
a hand in creating this situation.
But little is gained from
determining which side is the most to blame, and it would be a
close call anyway.
So, the better course is to find a solution
which is fair to both sides.
Considering all the circumstance, the best solution is to
quash the subpoena issued to Collett and reschedule his deposition.
He lives in Metairie, Louisiana, so travel is not a significant
consideration (and presumably he has already been tendered his
travel costs with the subpoena for the January 27 deposition). The
2
Record document number 9, Scheduling Order.
2
Scheduling Order has a bit of flexibility, such that the time for
the parties to complete fact discovery can be extended for a couple
of weeks for the purpose of deposing Collet.
Accordingly, The Hartford’s Motion to Quash Subpoena and
Notice of Deposition of Kevin Collett is granted.
The deadline to
complete fact discovery is extended to February 14, 2014, solely
for the purpose of deposing Kevin Collett.
The date, time and
place for his deposition shall be selected, and a notice of
deposition shall be filed, by no later than January 31, 2014.
The
attorneys are strongly encouraged to select a mutually convenient
deposition date, and to do so immediately before or after the
deposition of Jennifer Jones, since they will be able to speak
together at that time.
There should be no need for the court to become further
involved in scheduling the deposition of Kevin Collet. But if that
becomes necessary, the court will be prepared to promptly do so.
The parties shall each bare their respective costs incurred in
connection with this motion.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, January 24, 2014.
STEPHEN C. RIEDLINGER
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
3
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