Trinity Hospitals, Inc. et al v. The Markham Group, LLC et al

Filing 76

ORDER: Plaintiffs shall file a status report by 11/15/2019. By Magistrate Judge Clare R. Hochhalter. (BG)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NORTH DAKOTA
Trinity Hospitals, Inc., and
Trinity Health, Inc.,
Plaintiffs,
vs.
The Markham Group, LLC, Bruce
Sinclair, Christopher Todd Coon,
and Doe No. 1,
Defendants.

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ORDER

Case No. 1:17-cv-237

On April 5, 2019, plaintiffs filed a “Motion to Extend Deadlines and Trial Date.” The basis
for their motion was that they were endeavoring to ascertain the identity of “Doe No. 1” and in so
doing required additional time to review the extensive documents provided to them by the Markham
Group, LLC, Bruce Sinclair, and Christopher Todd Coon.
On April 15, 2019, the court issued an order: (1) granting plaintiffs’ motion; (2) cancelling
the final pretrial conference and trial; (3) suspending all pretrial deadlines; and (4) directing
plaintiffs to file a report by July 12, 2019, advising the court on the statue of their document review.
On July 12, 2019, plaintiffs reported:
[T]hey have now had time to digest the extensive documentation provided by the
Markham Group to attempt to determine the other unnamed and unknown
individuals who directed and were involved in the defamatory conduct. The
one key witness who knows the identities and involvement of those who
participated in the defamatory conduct is Christopher Coon, according to the
documents. Mr. Coon, when first sued, responded and represented to us that he was
unable to provide detailed information due to a non-disclosure agreement he signed
with the Markham group. That non-disclosure agreement is no longer applicable and
we have been diligently attempting to locate Mr. Coon. Unfortunately, Mr. Coon
has left the United States and believed to be residing in Spain, per last
known whereabouts. We are diligently continuing to attempt contact with Mr.
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Coon. We do have a telephone number and email address and have attempted
on numerous occasions to communicate with him. At present, those attempts
have been unsuccessful. We are continuing to try to track Mr. Coon down. Until
we make contact with him, we are unable to determine the remaining unnamed
Defendants.
(Doc. No. 4). They further requested additional time to conduct their search.
The court GRANTS plaintiffs’ request. Plaintiff shall file another status report with the by
November 15, 2019, advising the court of their efforts to locate Mr. Coon and determine the identity
of "Doe No. 1."
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated this 15th day of July, 2019.
/s/ Clare R. Hochhalter
Clare R. Hochhalter, Magistrate Judge
United States District Court

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