In Re the Complaint and Petition of Pamina LLC for Exoneration from or Limitation of Liability

District Court, W.D. Washington·Decided October 31, 2023·No. 2:22-cv-01679·Unknown

Opinion

1 THE HONORABLE KYMBERLY K. EVANSON

6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 8 AT SEATTLE

9 PAMINA, LLC, as owner of the vessel, M/V IN ADMIRALTY PAMINA (Official Number 1143720), BRIAN 10 PICKERING and LAURIE PICKERING, as No. 2:22-cv-01679-KKE sole members of PAMINA, LLC, and 11 MARKEL AMERICAN INSURANCE 12 COMPANY, as subrogee of Pamina, LLC, JOINT STIPULATED MOTION Brian Pickering and Laurie Pickering, FOR TRIAL CONTINUANCE AND 13 ORDER Third-Party Plaintiffs, 14 HEARING DATE: 15 v. October 31, 2023

16 DELTA MARINE INDUSTRIES, INC., N C POWER SYSTEMS CO., GLENDINNING 17 PRODUCTS LLC, and DOCKMATE, INC.,

18 Third-Party Defendants, 19 IN RE: COMPLAINT AND PETITION OF 20 PAMINA, LLC, as owner of the vessel, PAMINA, FOR EXONERATION FROM OR 21 LIMITATION OF LIABILITY 22

23 I. RELIEF REQUESTED 24 The parties to this action hereby jointly move the Court, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 25 6(b)(1), to extend the discovery deadline and deadline for submitting expert reports by ninety 26 (90) days, for good cause shown, as hereinafter set forth. 27 F , P & R P.S. 1 II. STATEMENT OF THE FACTS 2 This is a case of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction brought under 28 U.S.C. §1333 3 and filed pursuant to Rule 9(h) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Rule F, 4 Supplemental Rules for Certain Admiralty and Maritime Claims of the Federal Rules of Civil 5 Procedure. The case arises from a maritime accident involving the Vessel, Pamina. On May 28, 6 2022, the Vessel, while transiting through the Ballard Locks in Seattle, Washington, allegedly 7 8 and without warning, started to move in reverse while the engine control levers were in neutral 9 causing collisions with multiple other vessels and causing damages to these vessels as well as 10 to the Pamina. 11 On November 22, 2022, Pamina, and its owners and insurer, initiated this action by 12 filing a Complaint for Exoneration from Limitation of Liability (“LOLA” action). On 13 January 19, 2022, this Court, pursuant to Supplemental Admiralty Rule F (3), ordered all other 14 15 actions arising from this maritime accident stayed until the termination of the LOLA action and 16 further ordered that any claimant wishing to assert a claim in the LOLA action must do so by 17 March 1, 2023. 18 On March 1, 2023, Pamina and its owners, Brian and Laurie Pickering, and its insurer, 19 Markel American Insurance Company (Plaintiffs-In-Limitation), filed a Third-Party Complaint 20 (and First Amended Complaint on July 6, 2023) against Third Party Defendants, DELTA 21 MARINE INDUSTRIES, INC, N C POWER SYSTEMS CO., GLENDINNING PRODUCTS 22 23 LLC, and DOCKMATE, INC., alleging that the damages related to this maritime accident 24 arose due to these parties’ negligent inspections, installation, supervision, or maintenance of the 25 Vessel’s engine systems. Alternatively, it is alleged that GLENDINNING PRODUCTS LLC 26 and/or DOCKMATE, INC. defectively designed and/or defectively manufactured the electronic 27 F , P & R P.S. 1 and/or wireless engine control systems or component parts thereof. In addition to numerous 2 affirmative claims filed by the parties, cross claims have been filed in this action by Third-Party 3 Defendants against one another. 4 In addition to Plaintiffs-In-Limitation, five (5) other interested parties have filed claims. 5 Also, as noted, there are four (4) parties against whom claims of negligence and defective 6 design and manufacturing have been brought and these parties have asserted cross claims 7 8 against one another. Resolution of the case will require extensive written discovery. In addition, 9 the parties have engaged experts. Also, it is anticipated that the depositions of all interested 10 parties and of their experts will be required to resolve this claim. 11 The parties’ counsel have conferred and agree that additional time is required to 12 complete discovery than currently allowed under the Court’s ORDER SETTING TRIAL 13 DATES entered on May 17, 2023. Pursuant to the Court’s current case scheduling order, the 14 15 parties’ expert reports are due on December 4, 2023, and the discovery deadline is January 3, 16 2024. Notwithstanding best efforts and progress towards the completion of discovery, given the 17 number of party claimants, Third-Party Defendants, and experts engaged by these parties in the 18 case, it will require approximately an additional ninety (90) days to produce expert reports and 19 complete discovery. Below is a proposed timeline: 20 21 BENCH TRIAL DATE July 1, 2024 October 7, 2024 22 23 Reports from experts December 4, 2024 March 4, 2024 24 Discovery Completed by January 3, 2024 June 14, 2024 25 Dispositive motions filed by February 4, 2024 July 12, 2024 26 Motions in limine filed by May 28, 2024 August 28, 2024 27 F , P & R P.S. 1 Joint pretrial statement June 3, 2024 September 3, 2024 2 Pretrial conference June 18, 2024 September 18, 2024 3 Length of bench trial 7-10 days 7-10 days 4

5 III. LAW AND ARGUMENT 6 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 6(b)(6) authorizes a district court to grant timely 7 motions to extend time for “good cause.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(b)(1) (upon a showing of good 8 cause, a court may extend a deadline to act “if a request is made before the original time or its 9 extension expires ...”). See also Lujan v. Nat’l Wildlife, Fed. 497 U.S. 871, 896 (1990) (cause 10 must be shown before enlargement of time is granted). “Good cause” is a “non-rigorous 11 12 standard,” but still requires the requesting party to provide a reasonable explanation as to why, 13 despite the party's diligence, the set deadline cannot be met. United States v. Navarro, 800 14 F.3d 1104, 1109 (9th Cir. 2015). The plain language of the rule demonstrates that the good 15 cause standard in the rule is at a court's discretion. (“the court may, for good cause, extend the 16 time”) (emphasis added); Manzano v. California Dept. of Motor Vehicles, 467 Fed. Appx. 683, 17 685 (9th Cir. 2012) (recognizing abuse of discretion standard as to FRCP 6(b)). 18 The parties’ joint motion to extend the deadlines in this case is brought before the Court 19 20 now, well prior to the existing deadlines. Also, the parties submit that their request meets the 21 requirement that a showing of good cause must be made for this Court to grant this Motion. 22 The ‘good cause’ shown are the facts set forth above concerning the number of party claimants, 23 Third-Party Plaintiffs and Third-Party Defendants. These parties have filed affirmative claims, 24 third-party claims, and cross claims. Moreover, it is anticipated that these numerous parties will 25 retain experts to assist the parties in determining the cause and responsibility for the maritime 26 accident the subject of this case. 27 F , P & R P.S. 1 IV. CONCLUSION 2 For good cause shown, the parties respectfully request that the Court grant their Motion, 3 pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 6

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In Re the Complaint and Petition of Pamina LLC for Exoneration from or Limitation of Liability, (W.D. Wash. 2023).

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