Byrd Underground, LLC v. Automatic Data Processing, Inc.

Opinion

4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 6

7 BYRD UNDERGROUND, LLC, Case No. 2:22-cv-01329-CDS-NJK 8 Plaintiff(s), Order 9 v. [Docket No. 20] 10 AUTOMATIC DATA PROCESSING, INC., 11 Defendant(s). 12 Pending before the Court is a discovery plan seeking special scheduling review. Docket 13 No. 20. The discovery plan fails on multiple levels. 14 First and most significantly, the parties seek to delay their discovery obligations in light of 15 a pending motion to dismiss. See Docket No. 20 at 2; see also id. at 3 (requesting floating deadline 16 for initial disclosures of 14 days after answer is filed following ruling on motion to dismiss). “The 17 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure do not provide for automatic or blanket stays of discovery when 18 a potentially dispositive motion is pending.” Tradebay, LLC v. eBay, Inc., 278 F.R.D. 597, 601 19 (D. Nev. 2011). No showing has been made that discovery should be delayed in this case based 20 on the pendency of the motion to dismiss. 21 Second, the other reasons advanced for special scheduling review are not sufficiently 22 developed. There is one sentence indicating that the case is complex because it involves potential 23 tax issues. Docket No. 20 at 2. Meaningful elaboration is not provided. The discovery plan also 24 indicates without elaboration that the parties are exploring settlement. Id. While the Court 25 encourages amicable resolution of cases, settlement discussions are a common feature of federal 26 litigation and do not generally warrant additional time for discovery. Williams v. James River Grp. 27 Inc., ___ F. Supp. 3d ____, 2022 WL 4181415, at *5 (D. Nev. Sept. 13, 2022) (collecting cases). 28 No showing has been made as to why the Court should decide differently here. ] Third, the parties seek bifurcated discovery, with expert discovery to be conducted after 2|| the close of fact discovery. Docket No. 20 at 2. No explanation has been advanced as to why the Court should depart from the default discovery structure in the local rules. 4 Fourth, discovery plans must include “calendar dates” for the deadlines proposed, Local 5], Rules 26-1(b)(1), (2), (3), and (4), but the discovery plan here seeks floating deadlines rather than 6| deadlines with specific calendar dates. 7 Accordingly, the discovery plan is DENIED without prejudice. A renewed discovery plan 8|| must be filed by December 28, 2022. 9 IT IS SO ORDERED. 10 Dated: December 19, 2022 Nancy JKoppe. 12 United States Magistrate Judge 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28