Opinion
No. C-06-03002 RMW, [Re Docket Nos. 212, 213, 214, 217].
September 14, 2007
ORDER GRANTING WAUSAU'S MOTION TO SHORTEN TIME; ORDER GRANTING CAL. WATER'S MOTION FOR RELIEF
On August 17, 2007, the plaintiff Employers Insurance of Wausau ("Wausau") and defendant California Water Service Company ("Cal. Water") filed five motions for summary judgment between them noticed for hearing on September 21, 2007. Thereafter, on August 20, Wausau filed a motion to compel, seeking to proceed on shortened time. On September 13, 2007, the parties again filed a spate of motions. Wausau filed a "Motion for Relief from Two Deadlines in the Court's June 27, 2007 Case Management Order" and an order shortening time thereon; Cal. Water filed a motion for "Relief from Mis-Titled Motion Papers" and an order shortening time thereon. Cal. Water does not oppose Wausau's motion to shorten time on the motion for relief from the scheduling order but reserves its right to oppose the substantive motion; Wausau does not oppose Cal. Water's motions. After considering the parties' submissions, the court grants in part Wausau's motion to shorten time and sets a briefing schedule on its motion for relief. The court grants Cal. Water's motion for relief, but resets the hearing date for all five motions for summary judgment to October 19, 2007.
A. Wausau's Motions
On August 24, 2007, Wausau moved to compel production of certain documents from Cal. Water ("August 24 Motion to Compel"). Along with the motion, Wausau filed a motion to shorten time to hear that motion to compel. Because the deadline for hearing discovery motions was August 17, 2007 and had passed by the time the motion was filed, the magistrate judge denied the motion to shorten time on the motion to compel, instructing Wausau to seek relief from this court's July 27, 2007 Case Management Order. Should this court fail to grant relief from that order, the magistrate judge's order states that the August 24 Motion to Compel will be denied as untimely.
Accordingly, Wausau seeks relief from two discovery deadlines: (1) it seeks relief from the August 17, 2007 deadline for discovery motions so that its August 24 Motion to Compel can be heard; and (2) it seeks relief from the September 7, 2007 expert discovery deadline so that its rebuttal expert witness, Michael Diliberto, may incorporate the documents ordered produced into his rebuttal report. The court finds it appropriate to shorten time on Wausau's motion for relief from two deadlines in the June 27, 2007 Case Management Order. No later than September 20, 2007, Cal. Water shall either file an opposition addressing why the relief Wausau requests should not be granted or a statement of non-opposition to the motion. Unless otherwise requested by the court, no reply brief shall be filed and no hearing shall be held.
Assuming that the court grants the relief requested by Wausau and its August 24 Motion to Compel is deemed timely, the court declines to reschedule the motion, which shall remain as currently scheduled for October 9, 2007 before Magistrate Judge Patricia Trumbull. The court finds it appropriate to continue the trial and pre-trial dates in this matter, both because of the pending motion to compel and because of the large number of summary judgment motions filed for hearing on the last possible day for dispositive motions. The hearing date for the motions for summary judgment shall be changed from September 21, 2007 to October 19, 2007. The date for the pretrial conference shall be changed from October 18, 2007 to November 29, 2007. The trial date shall be changed from October 22, 2007 to December 10, 2007.
B. Cal. Water's Motions
Cal. Water e-filed three motions for summary judgment on August 17, 2007 in the above-captioned case, Docket Nos. 104, 106 and 108. It failed, however, to file separate notices for each of the three motions for summary judgment, instead filing only memoranda in support of those motions. The docket entries for these memoranda were corrected by the Clerk's Office to reflect their true natures, thereby changing them from motion events to supporting documents. Concerned that this change by the Clerk's Office will result in its motions not being heard on the currently-scheduled date, September 21, 2007, such that the motions will be deemed to have been untimely filed, Cal. Water has filed two motions: one for "Relief from Mis-Titled Motion Papers" and another seeking to have that motion heard on shortened time. As set forth above, Wausau does not oppose either motion. With the order seeking relief, Cal. Water has submitted amended caption pages for the three motions that specify that the memoranda filed on August 17, 2007 are both notices and memoranda in support of the three motions for summary judgment.
The court grants Cal. Water's motion for relief from mis-titled motion papers. (The motion to shorten time is denied as moot.) It will deem the memoranda submitted in support of the three motions for summary judgment to have been notices of such motions and will hear Cal. Water's three motions for summary judgment as if they had been noticed in ECF on August 17, 2007. It does not appear that the e-filing error has resulted in any prejudice to Wausau, as Wausau submitted its oppositions to the three motions for summary judgment as if it had received separate notice of the motions on August 17, 2007. As set forth above, however, these three motions for summary judgment, along with Wausau's two motions for summary judgment, shall now be heard on October 19, 2007.
ORDER
For the forgoing reasons, it is hereby ordered that:
1. Wausau's Motion to Shorten Time on its Motion for Relief from Two Deadlines In the Court's June 27, 2007 Case Management Order is granted. No later than September 20, 2007, Cal. Water shall either file an opposition addressing why the requested relief should not be granted or a statement of non-opposition to the motion. No reply brief shall be filed and no hearing shall be held.
2. Cal. Water's Motion for Relief from Mis-Titled Motion Papers is granted. The motion to shorten time on that motion is denied as moot.
3. The court vacates and reschedules the following events as follows:
• The hearing date for the parties' motions for summary judgment shall be changed from September 21, 2007 to October 19, 2007.
• The date for the pretrial conference shall be changed from October 18, 2007 to November 29, 2007.
• The trial date shall be changed from October 22, 2007 to December 10, 2007.