WBI Energy Transmission, Inc. v. 192.90 rods, more or less, located in Township 151 North, Range 98 West Section 13: W/2NW/4 Section 14: E/2NE/4NE/4 McKenzie County, North Dakota et al
Filing
53
ORDER: Scheduling Conference set for 2/14/2023 at 10:00 AM by telephone before Magistrate Judge Clare R. Hochhalter. By Magistrate Judge Clare R. Hochhalter (BG)
Case 1:21-cv-00140-DMT-CRH Document 53 Filed 01/17/23 Page 1 of 6
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NORTH DAKOTA
WBI Energy Transmission, Inc.,
Plaintiff,
vs.
ORDER FOR RULE 26(f) PLANNING
MEETING AND FOR RULE 16(b)
SCHEDULING CONFERENCE, AND
ORDER REGARDING DISCOVERY
DISPUTES
Easement and Right-of-Way Across
192.90 rods, more or less, located in
Township 151 North, Range 98 West
Section 13: W/2NW/4
Section 14: E/2NE/4NE/4
165.91 rods, more or less, located in
Township 149 North, Range 98 West
Section 10: N/2SE/4. S/2SE4. S/2NE/4
83.79 rods, more or less, located in
Township 149 North, Range 98 West
Section 14: S/2N/2
188.97 rods, more or less, located in
Township 149 North, Range 98 West
Section 2: W/2SW/4
Section 3: Lot 1, SE/4
Case No. 1:21-cv-140
174.10 rods, more or less, located in
Township 149 North, Range 98 West
Section 3: SE/4
142.25 rods, more or less, located in
Township 158 North, Range 95 West
Section 24: E/2SE/4
191.01 rods, more or less, located in
Township 158 North, Range 94 West
Section 19: NW/4SW/4, W/2NW/4
0.06 acres, more or less, located in
Township 158 North, Range 94 West
Section 19: W/2NW/4
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Case 1:21-cv-00140-DMT-CRH Document 53 Filed 01/17/23 Page 2 of 6
242.3 rods, more or less, located in
Township 159 North, Range 94 West Section
2: Lot 3, Lot 4, S/2NW/4,
NW/4SW/4
173.06 rods, more or less, located in
Township 149 North, Range 98 West Section
11: S/2SW/4 EX IT 2600
Section 14: N/2NW/4
Burke, McKenzie, Mountrail, and Williams
Counties, North Dakota, and
Delmer L. Rink; Marcelline Rink; Jennifer L.
Sletteland; Nicole Kurtz; Randall D.
Stevenson; Kent Johnsrud; Laura Johnsrud;
Thomas Biwer; Brenda Biwer; Rachel A.
Flurer, as Trustee of the Biwer Irrevocable
Trust dated June 20, 2018; Marlene J. Moody;
Reed K. Malm, Marianna Malm, and U.S.
Bank National Association, as Co- Trustees of
the Malm Family Irrevocable Trust dated the
24th of February 2015; and all other unknown
owners of the above lands,
Defendants.
The court will hold a Rule 16(b) initial pretrial scheduling/discovery conference with
plaintiff and the remaining defendants February 14, 2023, at 10:00 AMThe scheduling conference
will be held by telephone. To participate in the conference, the parties shall call (877) 810-9415 and
enter access code 8992581. Parties are advised that telephone conferences may be electronically
recorded for the convenience of the Court.
Counsel may use the court’s sample
Scheduling/Discovery plan, available at www.ndd.uscourts.gov/forms. If the court’s sample form
is used, please use the form as revised in August 2022.
Counsel must confer in person or by telephone prior to the telephone conference. As required
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Case 1:21-cv-00140-DMT-CRH Document 53 Filed 01/17/23 Page 3 of 6
by Rule 26(f)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, during their conference, counsel must:
(1)
Discuss the nature and basis of their claims and defenses and the possibilities for
promptly settling or resolving the case.
(2)
Make, or arrange to make, the initial disclosures required by Rule 26(a)(1)(A).
(3)
Discuss any issues about preserving discoverable information, including
electronically stored information. In discussing discovery of electronically stored
information, counsel shall discuss what electronic sources each party will search,
difficulty of retrieval, preservation of records, the form of production (electronic or
hard-copy, format of production, inclusion of metadata, etc.), cost of production and
which party will bear the cost, privilege/waiver issues, and any other electronic
discovery issues. Prior to counsel’s Rule 26(f)(2) conference, counsel should
determine who is most familiar with the client’s computer system, what electronic
records the client maintains, how the client’ s electronic records are stored, the
difficulty/ease of retrieving various records, the existence and terms of the client’s
document retention/destruction policy, and whether the client has placed a “litigation
hold” to prevent destruction of potentially relevant records.
(4)
Discuss any need for a protective order and the provisions of any desired protective
order.
(5)
Discuss alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods and whether to request a
court-hosted settlement conference/mediation. Counsel are required to discuss the
feasibility of ADR not only between themselves but also with their respective clients.
(6)
Whether the parties will consent to jurisdiction of the magistrate judge.
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Case 1:21-cv-00140-DMT-CRH Document 53 Filed 01/17/23 Page 4 of 6
(7)
With a view toward securing the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of the
matter, develop a proposed discovery plan which meets the requirements of Rule
26(f)(3).
No later than two business days prior to the conference, counsel shall submit their joint
proposed scheduling/discovery plan, electronically signed and dated by counsel for all parties, in
WordPerfect or Word format, to the magistrate judge at ndd_J-Hochhalter@ndd.uscourts.gov.
The plan shall reflect the Rule 26(f)(2) discussions and shall include, at minimum, proposed
deadlines for each of the following:
(1)
Filing any motions to join other parties;
(2)
Filing any motions to amend the pleadings;
(3)
Filing any other anticipated nondispositive motions;
(4)
Completion of fact discovery;
(5)
Disclosure of experts and their opinions;
(6)
Completion of expert discovery; and
(7)
Filing any dispositive motions, with a deadline no later than DATE Click or tap here
to enter text., unless good cause for a later date is established at the scheduling conference.1
Any disagreements among counsel as to deadlines will be discussed at the scheduling
conference.
Counsel are encouraged to have a comprehensive discussion and are required to approach
the meeting cooperatively and in good faith. The discussion of claims and defenses should be
1
The dispositive motion deadline is used in assigning a trial date, which will generally be approximately six
months after the dispositive motion deadline.
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Case 1:21-cv-00140-DMT-CRH Document 53 Filed 01/17/23 Page 5 of 6
substantive and meaningful.
Resolution of Discovery Disputes
It is hereby ORDERED that the following steps be undertaken by all parties prior to filing
any discovery motions:
(1)
The parties are required to confer and fully comply with Rule 37(a)(1) of the Federal
Rules of Civil Procedure and Local Rule 37.1 by undertaking a sincere, good faith
effort to resolve all differences without court action or intervention.
(2)
In the event that all parties have made reasonable, good faith efforts to confer and
attempt to resolve any differences, without success, the parties are then required to
schedule a telephonic conference with the magistrate judge in an effort to try to
resolve the discovery dispute prior to filing any discovery motions. The magistrate
judge may require the parties to submit brief position statements prior to the
telephonic conference.
(3)
If the discovery dispute is not resolved during the telephonic conference with the
magistrate judge, the magistrate judge may permit filing of discovery motions. In
connection with the filing of any such motions, the moving party must fully comply
with all requirements of Rule 37(a)(1) and Local Rule 37.1 and must submit the
certifications required by those rules.
(4)
The court will not hear any discovery motion unless the parties have made a sincere,
good faith effort to resolve the dispute and all of the above-described steps have been
strictly followed. A failure to fully comply with all of the prerequisite steps may
result in a denial of any motion with prejudice and may result in an award of costs
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Case 1:21-cv-00140-DMT-CRH Document 53 Filed 01/17/23 Page 6 of 6
and reasonable attorney’s fees.
Dated this 17th day of January, 2023.
/s/ Clare R. Hochhalter
Clare R. Hochhalter, Magistrate Judge
United States District Court
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