United States of America v. 400 Acres of Land, more or less, situate in Lincoln County, State of Nevada
Filing
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ORDER granting ECF No. 119 Motion and directing the filing of all motions re threshold discovery issues by 1/10/2017; staying the remaining discovery deadlines pending order resolving motions. Joint Proposed Discovery Plan due within 7 days of resolution of motions. Signed by Magistrate Judge Nancy J. Koppe on 12/29/2016. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - KR)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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DISTRICT OF NEVADA
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
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Plaintiff,
vs.
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400 ACRES OF LAND, situated in Lincoln
County, State of Nevada, et al.,
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Defendants.
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Case No. 2:15-cv-01743-MMD-NJK
ORDER
(Docket No. 119)
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Pending before the Court is the United States’ Motion to Modify Scheduling Order. Docket
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No. 119. Defendants the Groom Mine Landowners filed a response, and the United States filed a
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reply. Docket Nos. 120, 121. Defendants Christine Wheatley Tanis and Mark Tanis filed a joinder
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to Defendants’ response. Docket No. 124.
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I.
BACKGROUND
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The United States filed this eminent domain action on September 10, 2015. Docket No. 1.
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On December 21, 2015, the parties submitted a stipulated proposed discovery plan and scheduling
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order, which the Court denied without prejudice for failure to include a necessary signature. Docket
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Nos. 57, 58. On January 4, 2016, the parties submitted a second proposed discovery plan and
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scheduling order, which the Court also denied without prejudice. Docket Nos. 64, 67. On January
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11, 2016, the parties submitted a third proposed discovery plan and scheduling order, which
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requested special scheduling review because of the complex nature of the action. Docket No. 70.
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The Court approved the third proposed discovery plan. Docket No. 71. On August 5, 2016, the
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parties submitted a stipulation to extend the expert disclosure deadlines. Docket No. 101. The Court
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approved that stipulation, thereby extending the expert disclosure deadline from August 31, 2016,
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to October 17, 2016, and the rebuttal expert disclosure deadline from November 30, 2016, to January
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10, 2017. Docket No. 102.
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The United States now requests that the Court suspend the remaining discovery deadlines and
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set a briefing schedule for pre-rebuttal evidentiary motions or, in the alternative, extend the
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remaining discovery deadlines by 90 days. Docket No. 119 at 17. Defendants respond that: (1)
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discovery deadlines need not be suspended in order for the United States to file evidentiary motions;
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and (2) the United States has failed to conduct discovery diligently in this case, and therefore the
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Court should not amend the scheduling order. Docket No. 120 at 6-8, 13.
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Because granting the United States’s first request would require the Court to suspend the
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remaining discovery deadlines, the Court treats it as a request to stay discovery.
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II.
ANALYSIS
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The Court has broad discretionary power to control discovery. See, e.g., Little v. City of
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Seattle, 863 F.2d 681, 685 (9th Cir. 1988). “The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure do not provide
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for automatic or blanket stays of discovery when a potentially dispositive motion is pending.”
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Tradebay, LLC v. eBay, Inc., 278 F.R.D. 597, 601 (D. Nev. 2011). In deciding whether to grant a
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stay of discovery, the Court is guided by the objectives of Rule 11 to “secure the just, speedy, and
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inexpensive determination of every action and proceeding.” Further, pursuant to Rule 71.1(j)(2),
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“the court and attorneys must expedite the proceedings so as to distribute the deposit and to
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determine and pay compensation.”
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The United States submits that Defendants have disclosed 11 case-in-chief expert reports
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with a wide range of opinions and methodologies regarding value. See, e.g., Docket No. 119 at 2-3.
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Further, the United States asserts that many of these opinions contain improper and/or inadmissible
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valuation techniques. Id. Prior to expending large amounts of money addressing improper and/or
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inadmissible opinions, the United States asks for the opportunity to have the Court narrow the issues.
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Unless otherwise noted, references to “Rules” refer to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
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Id. at 2-4. The United States therefore asks the Court to stay discovery until the resolution of
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threshold evidentiary motions that it will file pursuant to a briefing schedule it asks the Court to set.
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See, e.g., id. The United States submits, inter alia, that “this course will prevent needless and costly
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expert discovery on inadmissible matters.” Docket No. 119 at 3. Defendants submit that the Court
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need not stay discovery in order for the United States to file evidentiary motions. Docket No. 120
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at 20. This course of action, however, would not allow the Court to rule on motions in a manner that
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would benefit any party’s accurate disclosure of rebuttal expert opinions.
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The Court finds that it is in keeping with Rules 1 and 71.1(j)(2) to follow the course
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requested by the United States. This method will allow the just, speedy, and inexpensive
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determination of the issues so that the parties can focus on proper value methodologies and the
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disclosure of proper rebuttal expert reports. This method will, therefore, allow the expedited
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proceedings to occur pursuant to Rule 71.1(j)(2), rather than necessitating a reopening of discovery
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deadlines if the threshold issues are not resolved until after the close of discovery.2
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III.
CONCLUSION
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Accordingly, the United States’ motion, Docket No. 119, is hereby GRANTED. It is
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therefore ORDERED that the parties shall file all motions regarding threshold discovery issues, no
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later than January 10, 2017.
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IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the remaining discovery deadlines are stayed pending
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the order resolving the threshold discovery motions. No later than 7 days after the motions are
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resolved, the parties shall file a joint proposed discovery plan with proposed dates for the remaining
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discovery deadlines.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
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Dated: December 29, 2016
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NANCY J. KOPPE
United States Magistrate Judge
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As the Court has granted the United States’ motion, it need not reach the alternate request
for an extension of the remaining discovery deadlines.
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