Collins v. Carriage Cemetery Services, Inc.

• Court: District Court, D. Nevada
• Decided: March 9, 2023
• Docket: 2:22-cv-00814
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 CAhleaxda Rnd. rFiae aLr.s ,L Easyqto. n(S, BEsNq .6 (9S7B0N) 14228) 2 Paige S. Silva, Esq. (SBN 16001) EVANS FEARS & SCHUTTERT LLP 3 6720 Via Austi Parkway, Suite 300 Las Vegas, NV 89119 4 Telephone: (702) 805-0290 5 Facsimile: (702) 805-0291 Email: cfears@efstriallaw.com 6 Email: alayton@efstriallaw.com Email: psilva@efstriallaw.com 7 Attorneys for Defendant Carriage 8 Cemetery Services, Inc. 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

10 FOR THE STATE OF NEVADA 11 RHONDA COLLINS, an individual, Case No. 2:22-cv-00814-JAD-NJK 12 Plaintiff, ORDER TO 13 STAY DISCOVERY AND CASE vs. PROCEEDINGS PENDING MEDIATION 14 CARRIAGE CEMETERY SERVICES, INC., 15 doing business as BUNKER’S MEMORY GARDENS MEMORIAL PARK, DOES 1 16 through 100; and ROE CORPORATION 101 through 200, inclusive, 17

18 Defendants. 19 20 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between Plaintiff Rhonda Collins (“Plaintiff”), by 21 and through her attorneys, Bernstein & Poisson and Defendant Carriage Cemetery Services, Inc. 22 (“Carriage”), by and through its attorneys Evans Fears & Schuttert LLP, that discovery in this case 23 should be stayed pending mediation to avoid wasting the parties’ and this Court’s time, further 24 attorneys’ fees, and expert fees and costs. 25 I. STATEMENT OF FACTS 26 1. Plaintiff filed her Complaint against Carriage in the Eighth Judicial District Court 27 of Clark County, Nevada on January 27, 2022 alleging a negligence cause of action. Pl.’s Compl. 28 at ¶ ¶ 7-24. 1 2. Plaintiff alleges that on June 20, 2021, she slipped and fell on slime and sludge 2 buildup on a walkway at Bunker’s Memory Gardens Memorial Park. Id. at ¶¶ 7-9. 3 3. On May 5, 2022, Carriage removed the case to federal court. 4 4. The parties’ initial Joint Discovery Plan and Scheduling order was granted on July 5 15, 2022. 6 5. On September 28, 2022, the parties participated in good faith in an early mediation 7 with Judge Gene Porter (ret.) attempting to resolve this case in its early stages. While the parties 8 to this action (Plaintiff Ms. Collins and Defendant Carriage) made progress toward resolution, 9 resolution was not reached.1 10 6. The parties conducted the following discovery before the first mediation: 11 a. Plaintiff served her Initial Rule 26(a) Disclosures. 12 b. Plaintiff served her First Supplement to Initial Rule 26(a) Disclosures. 13 c. Defendant served its Initial Rule 26(a) Disclosures. 14 d. Plaintiff served her First Set of Interrogatories, Requests for Admissions, and 15 Requests for Production. 16 e. Defendant served its Responses to Plaintiff’s First Set of Interrogatories, 17 Requests for Admissions, and Requests for Production. 18 f. Defendant served its First Set of Interrogatories and Requests for Production. 19 g. Plaintiff served her Responses to Defendant’s First Set of Interrogatories and 20 Requests for Production. 21 h. Defendant served nine Subpoena Duces Tecum for Plaintiff’s medical records. 22 7. Since the initial mediation, the parties have done the following: 23 a. Plaintiff served her Second Supplement to Initial Rule 26(a) Disclosures. 24 b. Plaintiff served her Third Supplement to Initial Rule 26(a) Disclosures. 25 c. Defendant served its First Supplement to Initial Rule 26(a). 26 27

28 1 d. Defendant served an additional 14 Subpoena Duces Tecum for Plaintiff’s 2 employment and medical records. 3 e. Counsel for Defendant deposed Plaintiff. 4 f. Counsel for Defendant deposed Plaintiff’s fiancée, Chris Frehner. 5 8. Following the depositions, Plaintiff and Defendant (“the Parties”) agreed to to 6 revisit resolution and have scheduled another mediation for April 13, 2023 in front of Judge Porter. 7 9. The expert disclosure deadline in this case is set for March 20, 2023. 8 10. The Parties agree that a stay of discovery and case proceedings pending the outcome 9 of mediation is appropriate in this case and is not requested in bad faith or for reasons of delay. 10 II. LEGAL STANDARD 11 When evaluating a motion to stay discovery, the court initially considers the goal of Federal 12 Rule of Civil Procedure 1: the Rules “should be construed, administered, and employed by the court 13 and the parties to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action.” Sanchez 14 v. Windhaven Nat’l Ins. Co., 2:19-cv-02196-RFB-VCF, 2020 WL 3489333 (D. Nev. 2020). 15 Whether to grant a stay is within the discretion of the court. Munoz-Santana v. U.S. I.N.S., 742 16 F.2d 561, 562 (9th Cir. 1984). 17 III. A STAY IS WARRANTED IN THIS CASE PENDING THE OUTCOME OF 18 MEDIATION 19 1. A Stay Pending The Outcome of Mediation Serves the Goal of FRCP 1. 20 As stated above, the Court should construe the Rules “to secure the just, speedy, and 21 inexpensive determination of every action.” Sanchez, 2020 WL 3489333 at *2. Here, the Parties 22 agree that it is in the best interest of all Parties, as well as the Court, to stay discovery and 23 proceedings pending the outcome of a renewed mediation. The Parties seek to stay discovery prior 24 to the expert disclosure deadline of March 20, 2023 to avoid incurring attorneys’ fees, expert fees, 25 and costs which would be rendered unnecessary should mediation be successful. The Parties agree 26 that this stay shall expire fourteen (14) days after the close of mediation, if unsuccessful. The 27 Parties agree to submit a status report on April 30, 2023 regarding the mediation and case. 28 / / / 1 || DATED this 8" day of March, 2023. DATED this 8" day of March, 2023. 2 3 BERNSTEIN & POISSON EVANS FEARS & SCHUTTERT LLP 4 || 4s/Scott L. Poisson /s/ Chad R. Fears Scott L. Poisson, Esq. (SBN 10188) Chad R. Fears, Esq. (SBN 6970) 5 Amber N. King, Esq. (SBN 14070) Alexandria L. Layton, Esq. (SBN 14228) 6 320 S. Jones Blvd. Paige S. Silva, Esq. (SBN 16001) Las Vegas, NV 89107 6720 Via Austi Parkway, Suite 300 7 Las Vegas, NV 89119 Attorneys for Plaintiff 8 Rhonda Collins Attorneys for Defendant Carriage 9 Cemetery Services, Inc.

10 ORDER 11 D IT IS SO ORDERED that based upon the foregoing stipulation, all discovery and

3 proceedings are stayed pending the outcome of the April 13, 2023 mediation.

IT IS FURTHER ODERED that the Parties shall submit a status report on or before April 5 17 , 2023, regarding this case and, if mediation is not successful, submit a new discovery plan no later than April 20, 2023. 16

19 UNITED.ST! RES MAGISTRATE JUDGE DATED: March 9, 2023 20 —__————— 21 CASE NO.: 2:22-cv-00814-JAD-NJK 22 23 24 25 26 27 28