Cooper v. GEICO Advantage Insurance Company

• Court: District Court, W.D. Washington
• Decided: March 23, 2023
• Docket: 2:22-cv-00937
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 THE HONORABLE THOMAS S. ZILLY

6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 7 AT SEATTLE

8 KARA COOPER, No. 2:22–cv–00937–TSZ 9 Plaintiff, v. STIPULATION AND ORDER 10 RE: PHYSICAL EXAMINATION OF GEICO ADVANTAGE INSURANCE PLAINTIFF KARA COOPER 11 COMPANY,

12 Defendant.

13 14 I. STIPULATION 15 COMES NOW, Plaintiff Angela Santiago (“Santiago”) Kara Cooper and Defendant 16 GEICO Advantage Insurance Company (“GEICO”), and hereby agree and stipulate that 17 Ms. Kara Cooper shall submit to a physical examination with the following manner, conditions, 18 and scope under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 35: 19 Physical Examination 20 21 1. The date and time for the physical examination will be April 4, 2023, at 11:00 22 a.m. Pacific Time. 23 No. 2:22–cv–00937–TSZ WATHEN | LEID | HALL | RIDER, P.C. 1 2. The physical examination will be performed by Dr. Brandt Bede (Orthopedic 2 Surgeon). Attached to this Stipulation as “Exhibit A” is a true and correct copy of 3 Dr. Bede’s Curriculum Vitae setting forth his qualifications and background as well 4 as a copy of his fee schedule. 5 3. The location of the examination will be Northwest Physical Medicine, 801 Pine

6 St., Suite 100, Seattle, WA 98101 7 4. The manner for the physical examination will be a two-part examination consisting 8 of: 9 a. An interview in the medical examiner’s office, consisting of a history of 10 Ms. Cooper’s injury(s) and treatment for her injury(s); 11 i. Ms. Cooper shall complete any reasonably necessary intake forms 12 which are not overly burdensome. 13 ii. The Examiner(s) may ask the Plaintiff questions about the 14 mechanisms of injuries, current complaints, symptoms, and

15 communication necessary to conduct the Examination(s). 16 iii. The Examiner(s) may review the deposition transcript of the 17 Plaintiff, if available, as well as medical records for further 18 information. 19 b. A physical examination of Ms. Cooper; 20 i. The Examination will not include any diagnostic test or procedure 21 that is painful, protracted, or intrusive. 22 23

No. 2:22–cv–00937–TSZ WATHEN | LEID | HALL | RIDER, P.C. 1 ii. No person other than the Examiner(s) and his/her administrative staff 2 shall participate in any way in the examination or in the evaluation or 3 diagnosis of Ms. Cooper. 4 iii. Dr. Brandt Bede will perform an examination consistent with his area 5 of expertise (i.e., Orthopedics).

6 5. The conditions and scope of the physical examination will be a two-part 7 examination, consisting of an interview and physical examination, with a total 8 duration of no longer than three (3) hours. 9 a. Plaintiff shall have the right to have a representative person present at the 10 examination provided they shall not interfere with nor obstruct the 11 examination. 12 b. Plaintiff shall have the right to make an audio and/or video recording of the 13 examination, which shall be made in an unobtrusive manner and at the 14 expense of Plaintiff. If Plaintiff elects to make such recording, a true and

15 correct copy of the audio and/or video recording must be provided to defense 16 counsel within seven (7) days of the Examination. 17 6. The Examiner(s) shall make a written report of the examination, setting out all the 18 Examiner’s findings, including results of all tests made, and all diagnoses and 19 conclusions. Counsel for Defendant shall cause a copy of the report to be delivered 20 to Counsel for Plaintiff within forty-five days (45) of the examination unless there 21 is good cause shown for any delay. However, Defendant retains the right to prevent 22 the depositions of the Examiner(s) or use of the Examiner’s report, should the 23

No. 2:22–cv–00937–TSZ WATHEN | LEID | HALL | RIDER, P.C. 1 Examiner(s) be made consulting expert(s) in this matter. Mothershead v. Adams, 32 2 Wn. App. 325, 647 P.2d 525 (1982). 3 7. After the delivery of the Examiner(s) report, Plaintiff’s Counsel shall have the right 4 to take the discovery deposition of the Examiner(s), unless Defendant’s attorneys 5 decide not to call the Examiner(s) as a witness at trial, said determination to be

6 made and written notice provided to Plaintiff’s attorneys pursuant to the case 7 scheduling order. The Examiner(s) shall make themselves available for deposition 8 no later than sixty (60) days prior to trial or, if a discovery deadline is set by the 9 Court, no later than thirty (30) days prior to that deadline, or as agreed to by the 10 Parties. 11 8. If the Examiner(s) is deposed by Plaintiff’s attorney, Plaintiff will not be 12 responsible for Examiner’s preparation time. 13 9. Fees to be charged by the Examiner(s) to the Plaintiff 's attorneys for time spent at 14 the deposition shall be reasonable, subject to a motion before the court. The rate

15 schedules for the Examiners are included herewith. 16 10. A copy of this Stipulation shall be given to the Examiner(s) before the examination. 17 11. Should any dispute arise during the examination regarding the terms and conditions 18 of the examination, the Examiner(s) agrees to contact the undersigned attorneys 19 promptly so that they can attempt to work out a solution to any perceived problem. 20

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No. 2:22–cv–00937–TSZ WATHEN | LEID | HALL | RIDER, P.C. 1 DATED this 21st day of March, 2023.

2 WATHEN | LEID | HALL | RIDER, P.C.

3 s/ Rory W. Leid, III___________________ 4 Rory W. Leid, III, WSBA #25075

5 s/ Dylan R. Knapp_____________________ Dylan R. Knapp, WSBA #58394 6 Attorneys for Defendant GEICO 222 Etruria Street 7 Seattle, WA 98109 Tel: (206) 622-0494 | Fax: (206) 587-2476 8 rleid@cwlhlaw.com dknapp@cwlhlaw.com 9 DRIGGS, BILLS & DAY PLLC 10 /s/ Thomas McPherson 11 Thomas McPherson, WSBA #46192 2125 Western Avenue Ste 500 12 Seattle, WA 98121 T: (206) 607-9098 13 tmcpherson@advocates.com rgalindo@advocates.com 14 mvixie@advocates.com

16 II. ORDER

Pursuant to Plaintiff Kara Cooper and Defendant GEICO’s Stipulation, and for good 17 cause shown, the above Stipulation is accepted, adopted and made the Order of the Court. 18 Dated this 23rd day of March, 2023. 19 A 20

21 Thomas S. Zilly United States District Judge 22

23 No. 2:22–cv–00937–TSZ WATHEN | LEID | HALL | RIDER, P.C.