Knight v. Nissan North America, Incorporated

Filing 16

RULING denying, in part as moot 11 Motion to Compel. Pursuant to Rule 37(a)(5)(A), the plaintiff shall pay to the defendant, within 14 days, reasonable expenses in the amount of $300.00. Signed by Magistrate Erin Wilder-Doomes on 2/23/2016. (LLH)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA

DEVORA KNIGHT, ON BEHALF OF HER
MINOR CHILDREN, LAMOND
ROBINSON, MONTRELL ROBINSON,
ANDREW CAPLING, AND TALER
MATLOCK.

CIVIL ACTION
NUMBER 15-414-JJB-EWD

VERSUS
NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC., ET AL.

RULING MOTION TO COMPEL
Before the court is a Motion to Compel filed by defendant, Nissan North America, Inc.
Record document number 11. No opposition has been filed.
Defendant filed this motion on November 4, 2015 asserting that it had not received any
responses to its discovery requests from plaintiff Devora Knight, on behalf of her minor children,
Lamond Robinson, Montrell Robinson, Andrew Capling, and Taler Matlock.

At a status

conference held on December 8, 2015, the defendant acknowledged receipt of the plaintiff’s
discovery responses and was given 14 days to review the plaintiff’s responses, confer with counsel
for the plaintiff regarding any perceived deficiencies, and file a supplemental memorandum in
support of the motion to address any unresolved issues. 1 Defendant did not file a supplemental
memorandum asserting the responses were substantively deficient.

Therefore, the court

concludes that motion is now moot.
Because the responses were provided after the motion was filed, an award of attorneys’
fees pursuant to Rule 37(a)(5)(A), Fed.R.Civ.P. is warranted. Nothing in the record indicates that

1

Record document number 14.

the plaintiff’s failure was substantially justified or that there are any circumstances which would
make an award of expenses unjust.
incurred in filing this motion.

Defendant did not claim a specific amount of expenses

A review of the motion and memorandum supports the conclusion

that an award of $300.00 is reasonable.
Accordingly, the Motion to Compel filed by Nissan North America, Inc. is denied, in part,
as moot. Pursuant to Rule 37(a)(5)(A), the plaintiff shall pay to the defendant, within 14 days,
reasonable expenses in the amount of $300.00.
Signed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on February 23, 2016.

S
ERIN WILDER-DOOMES
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

2