Murillo v. Goad et al
Filing
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ORDER. IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that 17 Plaintiff's motion to compel is DENIED without prejudice to its reassertion in the proper district. Signed by Magistrate Judge Carl W. Hoffman on 10/13/17. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - MR)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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DISTRICT OF NEVADA
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LINO MURILLO,
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Plaintiff,
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v.
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BRENDAN MICHAEL GOAD, et al.,
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Defendants.
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_______________________________________ )
Case No. 2:16-cv-02739-RFB-CWH
ORDER
Presently before the Court is Plaintiff’s motion to compel (ECF No. 17), filed on June 28,
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2017. Defendants filed a response (ECF No. 19) on July 12, 2017, and Plaintiff filed a reply (ECF
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No. 22) on July 19, 2017. Plaintiff seeks enforcement of its subpoena duces tecum of non-party
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Sedgwick Claims Management Services, Inc., which seeks production of documents relating to
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Sedgwick’s analysis of an accident involving Plaintiff and Defendants. Plaintiff argues that it is
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entitled to the requested documents since they were generated in the normal course of business on
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behalf of Defendants. Defendants argue, inter alia, that the motion was filed in the incorrect district.
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Plaintiff replies that since counsel for Defendants represented Sedgwick in regard to this motion, and
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produced documents responsive to the subpoena in this district, and that the litigation is proceeding
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in this district, that this motion should also be heard here.
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Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45 provides that the party that serves a subpoena “may move
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the court for the district where compliance is required for an order compelling production or
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inspection.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 45(d)(2)(B)(i). A motion to compel enforcement of a subpoena that is
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properly brought where compliance is required may be transferred to the district which issued the
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subpoena, but the burden is on the party seeking transfer to show exceptional circumstances. See
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Fed. R. Civ. P. 45(f); Music Grp. Macao Commercial Offshore Ltd. v. Does, 82 F. Supp. 3d 979, 984
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(N.D. Cal. 2015). However, “when a motion [under Rule 45] is filed in a court other than the court
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where compliance is required, that court lacks jurisdiction to resolve the motion.” Agincourt
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Gaming, LLC v. Zynga, Inc., No. 2:14-CV-0708-RFB-NJK, 2014 WL 4079555, at *3 (D. Nev. Aug.
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15, 2014).
Plaintiff’s subpoena (ECF No. 17-2) was issued by this court, and seeks compliance at 236
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Adams Ave., Memphis, Tennessee. Rule 45 therefore requires that any motion to enforce this
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subpoena must be brought in the District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. Plaintiff
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argues that Defendant and Sedgewick have waived the right to have the motion heard in Tennessee.
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However, Plaintiff provides no authority to suggest that the provision of Rule 45 requiring that a
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motion to compel be brought where compliance is required can be waived. Rule 45(f) sets forth a
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specific procedure which allows for transfer of a motion to an issuing court, but only under specific
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circumstances which Plaintiff has not as yet pursued. No other alternatives are provided under Rule
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45 for an issuing court to entertain a motion to compel production of a subpoena which seeks
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compliance in another district. Absent a transfer under Rule 45(f) from the district where
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compliance is required, this Court has no jurisdiction to enforce the subpoena.
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IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Plaintiff’s motion to compel (ECF No. 17) is DENIED
without prejudice to its reassertion in the proper district.
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DATED: October 13, 2017
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_________________________________
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C.W. Hoffman, Jr.
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United States Magistrate Judge
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