Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company v. City of Seattle et al

Filing 108

ORDER granting 101 Joint Motion to continue the discovery cutoff deadline. Jury Trial is CONTINUED to 3/19/2018 at 09:30 AM before U.S. District Judge John C Coughenour, Discovery completed by 10/15/2017, Dispositive motions due by 12/15/2017. Signed by U.S. District Judge John C Coughenour. (PM)

THE HONORABLE JOHN C. COUGHENOUR

1
2
3
4
5
6

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
AT SEATTLE

7
8
9

LIBERTY MUTUAL FIRE
INSURANCE COMPANY,

10

CASE NO. C15-1039-JCC
ORDER

Plaintiff,

11

v.

12
CITY OF SEATTLE, et al.,
13
Defendants.

14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26

This matter comes before the Court on the motion to continue the discovery cutoff by
Plaintiff Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company, Defendant Core Design, and Third-Party
Defendants Malcom Drilling and Rushforth Construction Company (Dkt. No. 101). The motion
is opposed by Defendant City of Seattle. (Dkt. No. 103.) Having thoroughly considered the
parties’ briefing and the relevant record, the Court finds oral argument unnecessary and hereby
GRANTS the motion for the reasons explained herein.
The facts of this case have been outlined in previous orders. (See Dkt. No. 74 at 2–5; Dkt.
No. 97 at 2–4.) The parties have sought, and been granted, numerous continuances in this case
since it was filed in June 2015. (See Dkt. Nos. 31, 35, 43, 47, 77, 95.) The current discovery
deadline is August 11, 2017, and the trial is set for December 11, 2017. (Dkt. No. 78.) The
moving parties now request that the Court order all discovery be completed no later than October

ORDER
PAGE - 1

1

15, 2017. (Dkt. No. 101 at 1.) In short, the continuance request is premised on counsel’s summer

2

vacations that do not overlap and the need to conduct more depositions before August 11, 2017.

3

(Id. at 1–2; see Dkt. No. 102.) Additionally, the discovery deadline in the related state court case

4

has been continued to October 2, 2017. (Dkt. No. 102 at ¶ 2.)

5

Although the Court has already granted numerous continuances in this case, the Court

6

concludes good cause exists to continue the discovery deadline. The parties have diligently

7

pursued discovery. Their summer unavailability makes completing discovery by August 11,

8

2017, difficult. Moreover, the continuance would not prejudice the City because the discovery

9

can now be conducted in a more orderly and efficient fashion, thereby reducing attorney fees.

10
11

Therefore, the Court GRANTS the motion to extend the discovery deadline (Dkt. No. 101).
However, the Court also concludes that the dispositive motions deadline and trial date

12

need to be continued, as well. If the trial date remains unchanged, the parties will have

13

approximately 60 days before trial to file motions for summary judgment and any motions

14

related to discovery disputes. This would prejudice the City and the Court might not be able to

15

rule on the motions before trial. Therefore, based on the Court’s schedule and the two-month

16

discovery extension, the new trial date is March 19, 2018, at 9:30 a.m. Any dispositive motions

17

are due by December 15, 2017. The parties are on notice that any further requests for

18

continuances will be reviewed with great care.

19
20
21

In sum, the discovery deadline is October 15, 2017; dispositive motions must be filed by
December 15, 2017; and trial will begin on March 19, 2018, at 9:30 a.m.
DATED this 26th day of July 2017.

A

22
23
24

John C. Coughenour
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

25
26

ORDER
PAGE - 2