Court filing

Rule 26(f) Report (joint) filed by Beringer Commerce, Inc — Blueacorn Beringer (Dkt. 56)

No. 5:21-cv-00251-BO · Doc. 56 · Docket on CourtListener

Summary

The joint report of the parties' Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(f) meeting, filed August 23, 2021 as Document 56 in Beringer Commerce, Inc. v. Fin Cap, Inc., No. 5:21-cv-00251-BO, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. It states that counsel participated in the conference on August 18, 2021 and proposes initial disclosures by September 13, 2021, completion of fact discovery by February 18, 2022 and expert depositions by April 29, 2022. The plan allows each side 30 interrogatories and 30 requests for admission and sets a maximum of 25 fact depositions, citing the number of customer complaints. It sets October 13, 2021 for amending pleadings and May 30, 2022 for dispositive motions, and states the parties have agreed on a mediator.

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Full text

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
WESTERN DIVISION
Civil Action No. 5:21-CV-251-BO

BERINGER COMMERCE, INC. d/b/a
BLUE ACORN iCi,

Plaintiff,

v.
REPORT OF THE PARTIES’ FED. R.
CIV. P. 26(f) MEETING
FIN CAP, INC. d/b/a “BLUEACORN.CO,”
BLUE ACORN PPP, LLC, and BLUE OAK
FOREST, LLC,

Defendants.

NOW COMES Plaintiff BERINGER COMMERCE, INC. d/b/a BLUE ACORN iCi and

Defendants FIN CAP, INC. d/b/a BLUE ACORN.CO, BLUE ACORN PPP, LLC, and BLUE

OAK FOREST, LLC and hereby file their Rule 26(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

Report.

1. Participants: On August 18, 2021, the following persons participated in a Rule

26(f) conference:

a. Thomas Babel, representing Plaintiff

b. Christopher Blake, Martin Warf and& John McElwaine, representing

Defendants.

2. Initial Disclosures: The parties will complete by September 13, 2021 the initial

disclosures as required by Rule 26(a)(1).

3. Discovery Plan: The parties propose the following discovery plan:

Case 5:21-cv-00251-BO Document 56 Filed 08/23/21 Page 1 of 5
a. Discovery will be needed on all matters raised by the pleadings, as well as

the identity and liability of potential additional parties.

b. The date for completion of fact discovery is February 18, 2022.

c. Each party may serve a maximum of 30 interrogatories on each opposing

party and the responding party must serve its answers and any objections

within 30 days after being served with the interrogatories. For the purposes

of the limitations set forth herein, Plaintiff will be deemed to be one party

and Defendants, jointly, will be deemed to be the other party.

d. Each party may serve a maximum of 30 requests for admission on each

opposing party. A matter is admitted unless, within 30 days after being

served, the party to whom the request is directed served on the requesting

party a written answer or objections addressed to the matter and signed by

the party or its attorney.

e. The parties agree to a maximum of 25 fact depositions. The parties seek this

number of fact depositions because of the number of customer complaints in

question in this matter and believe that the duration of many of these

depositions will be brief. Because some depositions may be conducted

remotely, the parties ask the Court, pursuant to Rules 28, 29 and 30 of the

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, to appoint any person regularly engaged

in stenographic court reporting and selected by a party noticing a deposition

in this matter to administer oaths remotely and to take testimony remotely

for any deposition taken in this matter.

2
Case 5:21-cv-00251-BO Document 56 Filed 08/23/21 Page 2 of 5
f. The parties agree to a 7-hour maximum for depositions unless the parties

agree to a longer period of time.

g. Reports required by Rule 26(a)(2)(B) and disclosures required by Rule

26(a)(2)(C) shall be served by the Plaintiff no later than March 10, 2022,

and by Defendants no later than March 30, 2022. The parties agree to each

bear their own costs and expenses in connection with experts identified under

either subsection of Rule 26, including those costs and expenses associated

with making the witnesses available for deposition. The parties further agree

that each party’s experts may be made available for deposition in the

jurisdiction in which they reside.

h. The parties agree that expert depositions must be completed by April 29,

2022.

i. Supplementation of discovery will be as provided in Rule 26(e) or as

otherwise ordered by the court.

j. The parties do not anticipate any issues with the preservation or discovery of

ESI at this time.

k. The parties do not anticipate any issues concerning privilege matters.

4. Other Items:

a. The Parties do not require a meeting with the Court before a scheduling order

is entered.

b. The deadline for all parties to amend the pleadings or join parties is October

13, 2021.

c. Dispositive motions deadline is May 30, 2022.

3
Case 5:21-cv-00251-BO Document 56 Filed 08/23/21 Page 3 of 5
d. The parties request a trial date no sooner than 30 days following a ruling on

any dispositive motions and request a pre-trial conference with the Court

fourteen days before the trial date.

e. The parties anticipate that the trial of this matter will take between 3-5 days.

f. The parties agree to electronic service of all documents that are not required

to be filed on CM/ECF in this action.

g. The parties have discussed settlement with their clients and have exchanged

settlement proposals. To date, the parties have been unable to amicably

resolve this matter and are open to further discussion as this matter proceeds.

h. Pursuant to the Court’s August 2, 2021 Order, the parties discussed

conducting a mediation in this matter and believe a mediation would be most

beneficial if conducted either after the close of fact discovery or after some

significant fact discovery has been completed. The parties have agreed to

appoint Judge James Gale as the mediator for this matter.

(Signatures on following page)

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Case 5:21-cv-00251-BO Document 56 Filed 08/23/21 Page 4 of 5
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED this the 23rd day of August, 2021

/s/ Thomas Babel /s/ Christopher J. Blake
Beth A. Stanfield
(N.C. State Bar No. 36296) Christopher J. Blake
Thomas Babel N.C. State Bar No. 16933
(N.C. State Bar No. 35004) D. Martin Warf
Laura K. Greene (N.C. State Bar No. N.C. State Bar No. 32982
47771) Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP
FORREST FIRM, P.C. 4140 Parklake Ave, Suite 200
105 Grace Street, Suite 101 Raleigh, NC 27612
Wilmington, NC 28401 Chris.blake@nelsonmullins.com
T/F: (336) 275 - 6344 Martin.warf@nelsonmullins.com
Beth.stanfield@forrestfirm.com
thomas.babel@forrestfirm.com Attorneys for Defendants Fin Cap, Inc,
katie.greene@forrestfirm.com Blueacorn PPP,LLC, and Blue Oak Forest,
LLC
Attorneys for Plaintiff

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Case 5:21-cv-00251-BO Document 56 Filed 08/23/21 Page 5 of 5

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