Bernard, DeAndre v. Kibbel et al

Filing 58

ORDER that plaintiff De'Andre Bernard's motion to compel (dkt. 41 ) is denied as moot and his motion opposing additional defense counsel (dkt. 57) is denied as unnecessary. Signed by Magistrate Judge Stephen L. Crocker on 8/26/2020. (rks),(ps)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN
DE’ANDRE BERNARD,
Plaintiff,

OPINION AND ORDER

v.

17-cv-331-wmc

OFFICER KIBBLE, et al.,
Defendants.
Plaintiff De’Andre Bernard is proceeding under 42 U.S.C § 1983 against several
employees at the Waupun Correctional Institution on Eighth Amendment claims for
deliberate indifference to a substantial risk of self-harm, to a serious medical need, and to
conditions of his confinement. Before the court is Bernard’s motion to compel defendants
to respond to his first request for production of documents (dkt. 41) and his motion
opposing the appearance of a second attorney of record for defendants (dkt. 57). I will
deny both motions.

I. Motion to compel
Bernard asserts in his motion to compel that defendants never responded to his first
request for documents. He admits in reply, however, that although he filed this request
with the court, he now recognizes that he needs to send his requests directly to defendants’
lawyers.

(Dkt. 55.)

Bernard has apparently successfully served a subsequent set of

document production requests (dkt. 24 at 8), and is free to serve defendants with any
remaining requests, keeping in mind the discovery cutoff date of August 3, 2021. As there
is no discovery dispute to resolve, I will deny his motion as moot.

II. Motion opposing the appearance of defendants’ additional counsel
Bernard also seeks to deny the fifteen defendants in this case an additional attorney.
(Dkt. 57.) On August 7, 2020, an assistant attorney general entered an appearance as a
second counsel of record for defendants. (Dkt. 49.) Bernard asserts that (1) having two
attorneys gives defendants an unfair advantage over him, a pro se litigant, and (2) he cannot
afford the postage required to serve copies of his filings on two attorneys. Bernard’s
concerns are misplaced. It is routine for the Attorney General to assign two assistants to a
case, who then tag-team the work. It’s not like this is a wrestling match where Bernard’s
two opponents will gang up on him at the same time; Bernard won’t be confronted with
any additional work just because two attorneys are splitting their assignments. As for
Bernard’s concern about increased postage, Bernard needs to re-read the preliminary
pretrial conference order: he doesn’t have to mail anything to the defendants’ attorneys
because they have agreed to obtain copies of his filings from the court file. See April 20,
2020 Preliminary Pretrial Conference Order, dkt. 24, at 2-3. If Bernard has been mailing
his documents to the assistant attorney general assigned to this case, then he can stop. All
he needs to do is mail his submissions to the court.

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ORDER
IT IS ORDERED that plaintiff De’Andre Bernard’s motion to compel (dkt. 41) is
DENIED as moot and his motion opposing additional defense counsel (dkt. 57) is
DENIED as unnecessary.
Entered this 26th day of August, 2020.

BY THE COURT:
/s/
_______________________
STEPHEN L. CROCKER
Magistrate Judge

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