Judge orders streamlined discovery and sets trial-management date in Harris v. Hubbard

The court pressed counsel in Harris v. Hubbard to narrow broad discovery disputes into a short list of the most contentious items and set a near-term management date. "There are so many disagreements on discovery issues here," the judge said, urging the parties to reduce them to four or five priority items so the court could address them efficiently.

Plaintiff counsel asked for a hearing on document production and forensic examination of cellular devices; defense counsel said they had filed written responses and that their lead counsel was traveling but could file a substantive written response in 10 days. The judge set a hearing and scheduled the case for further management on the twentieth at 9 a.m. central time, asking counsel to exchange a short list of contested issues and supporting references in the filings.

The judge warned the parties the discovery hearing could be time-consuming and suggested the court would proceed question by question if the dispute were not narrowed: "I really don't deal with very many cases that have this many objections... the only way we're gonna be able to do it is go down question by question," the judge said.

The court also discussed preserving the deposition of an elderly plaintiff (the judge noted the plaintiff's health and the need to arrange a date or to state she will never be available), instructing counsel to arrange a deposition date or provide a clear statement of unavailability before the trial-management hearing. The judge gave the traveling counsel 10 days to file any written response and encouraged earlier agreements to avoid a protracted hearing.

The court set target deadlines and asked for a reduced issues list, a notice of where the judge could consult the prior filings, and scheduling proposals to avoid unnecessary delay.