Nevada Power Company v. Trench France SAS et al
Filing
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ORDER Granting 25 Defendant's Motion to Stay Discovery pending resolution of 15 Defendant's Motion to Dismiss. Signed by Magistrate Judge Nancy J. Koppe on 06/12/2015. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - AC) Modified on 6/12/2015 (AC).
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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DISTRICT OF NEVADA
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NEVADA POWER COMPANY,
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Pending before the Court is Defendant Trench France SAS’s motion to stay discovery
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pending resolution of its motion to dismiss. Docket No. 25. Plaintiff filed a response and Defendant
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filed a reply. Docket Nos. 29, 30. The Court finds this motion appropriately resolved without oral
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argument. See Local Rule 78-2. For the reasons discussed below, the motion to stay discovery is
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GRANTED and discovery in this matter shall be stayed as to Defendant Trench France SAS pending
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resolution of its motion to dismiss.
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Plaintiff(s),
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vs.
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TRENCH FRANCE SAS, et al.,
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Defendant(s).
Case No. 2:15-cv-00264-JCM-NJK
ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO
STAY
(Docket No. 25)
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“The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure do not provide for automatic or blanket stays of
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discovery when a potentially dispositive motion is pending.” Tradebay, LLC v. eBay, Inc., 278
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F.R.D. 597, 601 (D. Nev. 2011). In determining whether a stay is appropriate, the Court considers
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the goals of Rule 1 to “secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive” determination of all cases. Id., at
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602-03.1 The case law in this District makes clear that requests to stay all discovery may be granted
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when: (1) the pending motion is potentially dispositive; (2) the potentially dispositive motion can
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Unless otherwise noted, references to “Rules” refer to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
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be decided without additional discovery; and (3) the Court has taken a “preliminary peek” at the
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merits of the potentially dispositive motion and is convinced that the plaintiff will be unable to state
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a claim for relief. See Kor Media Group, LLC v. Green, 294 F.R.D. 579, 581 (D. Nev. 2013).2
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Generally speaking, in the context of a pending motion to dismiss challenging personal jurisdiction,
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courts are more inclined to stay discovery because it presents a “critical preliminary question.” Kabo
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Tool Co. v. Porauto Indus. Co., 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 53570, at *2 (D. Nev. Apr. 15, 2013)
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(quoting AMC Fabrication, Inc. v. KRD Trucking West, Inc., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 146270, at *2
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(D. Nev. Oct. 10, 2012)). As such, courts in this District have found that a motion challenging
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personal jurisdiction “strongly favors a stay, or at a minimum, limitations on discovery until the
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question of jurisdiction is resolved.” Kabo Tool Co. v. Porauto Indus. Co., 2013 WL 5947138, at
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*2 (D. Nev. Oct. 31, 2013) (quoting AMC Fabrication, Inc., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 146270, at *5-
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6).
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With that distinction in mind, the Court has taken a “preliminary peek” at the pending motion
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to dismiss. Plaintiff argues that the exercise of personal jurisdiction is permissible because (1) there
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are approximately eight hundred Trench France SAS bushings currently within the State of Nevada;
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(2) Trench France SAS maintains a significant sales division targeting regions including the State
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of Nevada; (3) Trench France SAS contacted Nevada Power in Nevada to send a representative to
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participate in a joint inspection of the failed bushings; and (4) Trench France SAS acknowledged in
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writing that is has an ongoing business relationship with Nevada Power. See Docket No. 19, at 8-12.
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It appears that Plaintiff may prevail in opposing the motion to dismiss, but “how the
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undersigned sees the jurisdictional picture may be very different from how the assigned district judge
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will see the jurisdictional picture.” AMC Fabrication, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 146270, at *10.
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Because the Court is not convinced that the exercise of personal jurisdiction over Defendant Trench
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France SAS will be found to be proper by the district judge, it is appropriate to stay discovery
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pending the resolution of the motion to dismiss. See id.
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Conducting this preliminary peek puts the undersigned in an awkward position because the
assigned district judge who will decide the motion to dismiss may have a different view of its merits.
See Tradebay, 278 F.R.D. at 603. The undersigned’s “preliminary peek” at the merits of that motion
is not intended to prejudice its outcome. See id.
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Plaintiff also argues that a complete stay is not warranted because jurisdictional discovery
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should be allowed. See Docket No. 29, at 10-11. In opposing the pending motion to dismiss,
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Plaintiff argues that it should be allowed to conduct jurisdictional discovery if the district judge finds
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that the record is not sufficiently developed. See Docket No. 19, at 12. Thus, it is more prudent for
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the undersigned to defer the question of whether jurisdictional discovery is necessary to the assigned
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district judge in his determination of the merits of the pending motion to dismiss. See AMC
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Fabrication, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 146270, at *10.
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For the reasons discussed above, the motion to stay discovery (Docket No. 25) pending
resolution of Defendant’s motion to dismiss is hereby GRANTED.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
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DATED: June 12, 2015
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NANCY J. KOPPE
United States Magistrate Judge
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