Status Report, State of Washington v. DeVos (later v. Cardona), No. 2:20-cv-00182 (E.D. Wash.), Doc. 68 (September 9, 2020)

Summary

A Joint Status Report, ECF No. 68, filed September 9, 2020, in State of Washington v. Betsy DeVos and the United States Department of Education, No. 2:20-cv-00182-TOR, United States District Court, Eastern District of Washington at Spokane. The report is the Rule 26(f) report and proposed discovery and scheduling plan after counsel conferred on September 8, 2020. It proposes an October 1, 2020 deadline for adding parties and amending the pleadings, and states that Defendants produced the Administrative Record on August 9, 2020. It proposes cross-motions for summary judgment, with Plaintiff's motion due November 20, 2020 and Defendants' reply due February 19, 2021, and states that settlement is unlikely.

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“Status Report, State of Washington v. DeVos (later v. Cardona), No. 2:20-cv-00182 (E.D. Wash.), Doc. 68 (September 9, 2020).” Original at storage.courtlistener.com. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/status-report-state-of-washington-v-devos-later-v-cardona-no-2-20-cv-0-0f69d2bf6b/, SHA-256 f733c700fc2f2fa01ca6759974883e8c1920f48e664d89181d312919ac4b6bfe.

Full text

Case 2:20-cv-00182-TOR ECF No. 68 filed 09/09/20 PageID.1293 Page 1 of 6

1 ROBERT W. FERGUSON
Attorney General
2
JEFFREY T. SPRUNG, WSBA #23607
3 R. JULY SIMPSON, WSBA #45869
SPENCER W. COATES, WSBA #49683
4 PAUL M. CRISALLI, WSBA #40681
Assistant Attorneys General
5 800 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2000
Seattle, WA 98104-3188
6 (206) 464-7744

7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
8 AT SPOKANE

9 STATE OF WASHINGTON, NO. 2:20-cv-00182-TOR
10 Plaintiff, JOINT STATUS REPORT
11 v.
12 BETSY DeVOS, in her official
capacity as Secretary of the United
13 States Department of Education, and
the UNITED STATES
14 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, a
federal agency,
15
Defendants.
16

17 Plaintiff State of Washington and Defendants Betsy DeVos and United

18 States Department of Education, by and through their undersigned counsel of

19 record, submit the following Joint Status Report in compliance with this Court’s

20 Notice Setting Telephonic Conference (ECF No. 65).

21
22

JOINT STATUS REPORT 1 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF WASHINGTON
Complex Litigation
NO. 2:20-cv-00182-TOR 800 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2000
Seattle, WA 98104-3188
(206) 464-7744
Case 2:20-cv-00182-TOR ECF No. 68 filed 09/09/20 PageID.1294 Page 2 of 6

1 1. Rule 26 Conference of Attorneys:

2 Counsel for Plaintiff and Defendants conferred telephonically on

3 September 8, 2020, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(f) and the

4 Court’s August 20, 2020, notice, and now together submit this Rule 26(f) report

5 and proposed discovery and scheduling plan.

6 2. Jurisdiction and Venue:

7 The parties do not anticipate any challenges to jurisdiction or venue in this

8 case, though Defendants state that they continue to reserve their rights to raise

9 such challenges at the time of their responses to Plaintiff’s Complaints.

10 3. Service of Process:

11 All Defendants in the State of Washington’s action have been served with

12 process. The parties agree that service of process is complete.

13 4. Suggested Deadline for Adding Additional Parties and
Amending the Pleadings:
14
Plaintiff and Defendants propose a deadline of October 1, 2020, for adding
15
additional parties and amending the pleadings. Plaintiff reserves the right to move
16
to amend the Complaint should Defendants engage in additional rulemaking.
17
Defendants propose that their deadline for filing an Answer be deferred
18
until resolution of the summary judgment motions. Plaintiff takes no position on
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this issue.
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JOINT STATUS REPORT 2 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF WASHINGTON
Complex Litigation
NO. 2:20-cv-00182-TOR 800 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2000
Seattle, WA 98104-3188
(206) 464-7744
Case 2:20-cv-00182-TOR ECF No. 68 filed 09/09/20 PageID.1295 Page 3 of 6

1 5. Proposed Discovery Plan:

2 The parties agree that the central evidence in this case is the administrative

3 record related to the Final Rule. On August 9, 2020, Defendants produced the

4 Administrative Record in this case. Plaintiff has expressed concerns to

5 Defendants regarding the sufficiency of the Administrative Record, and the

6 parties are discussing this issue. Plaintiff reserves the right to challenge the

7 sufficiency of the record. Plaintiff expects to be able to advise the Court on

8 whether the completeness of the agency record will be an issue by November 2,

9 2020. Should Plaintiff choose to challenge the completeness of the record,

10 Plaintiff will confer with Defendants and propose a schedule to the Court to brief

11 that issue by November 6, 2020.

12 At this time, Plaintiff does not anticipate the need to conduct discovery,

13 but it reserves the right to request discovery upon reviewing the complete

14 Administrative Record.

15 6. Schedule for Filing Cross-Motions for Summary Judgment:

16 The parties propose the following schedule for filing Cross-Motions for

17 Summary Judgment:

18 November 20, 2020: Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment, not to
exceed 24 pages
19
December 21, 2020: Defendants’ Combined Cross-Motion for Summary
20 Judgment and Opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion for
Summary Judgment, not to exceed 30 pages
21
22

JOINT STATUS REPORT 3 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF WASHINGTON
Complex Litigation
NO. 2:20-cv-00182-TOR 800 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2000
Seattle, WA 98104-3188
(206) 464-7744
Case 2:20-cv-00182-TOR ECF No. 68 filed 09/09/20 PageID.1296 Page 4 of 6

1 January 29, 2021: Plaintiff’s Combined Reply in Support of Summary
Judgment and Opposition to Defendants’
2 Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment, not to exceed
20 pages
3
February 19, 2021: Defendants’ Reply in Support of Cross-Motion for
4 Summary Judgment, not to exceed 14 pages

5 7. Settlement and the Point at Which the Parties Can Conduct
Meaningful Dispute Resolution:
6
It is unlikely that the parties will be able to reach a settlement in this case.
7
8. Any Other Matters That May Be Conducive to the Just, Speedy,
8 and Inexpensive Determination of the Action:

9 The parties are unaware of other matters that would contribute to the just,

10 speedy, and inexpensive determination of this action.

11 RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED this 9th day of September 2020.

12 ROBERT W. FERGUSON
Attorney General of Washington
13

14 /s/ R. July Simpson
JEFFREY T. SPRUNG, WSBA #23607
15 R. JULY SIMPSON, WSBA #45869
SPENCER W. COATES, WSBA #49683
16 PAUL M. CRISALLI, WSBA #40681
Assistant Attorneys General
17 800 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2000
Seattle, WA 98104-3188
18 (206) 464-7744
jeff.sprung@atg.wa.gov
19 july.simpson@atg.wa.gov
spencer.coates@atg.wa.gov
20 paul.crisalli@atg.wa.gov
Attorneys for Plaintiff State of Washington
21
22

JOINT STATUS REPORT 4 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF WASHINGTON
Complex Litigation
NO. 2:20-cv-00182-TOR 800 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2000
Seattle, WA 98104-3188
(206) 464-7744
Case 2:20-cv-00182-TOR ECF No. 68 filed 09/09/20 PageID.1297 Page 5 of 6

1 JEFFREY BOSSERT CLARK
Acting Assistant Attorney General
2 MARCIA BERMAN
Assistant Director, Federal Programs Branch
3
4 /s/ Alexander V. Sverdlov
ALEXANDER V. SVERDLOV
5 (New York Bar No. 4918793)
Trial Attorney
6 U.S. Department of Justice
Civil Division, Federal Programs Branch
7 1100 L Street, NW
Tel. (202) 305-8550
8 alexander.v.sverdlov@usdoj.gov

9 Attorneys for Defendants Betsy DeVos and
United States Department of Education
10

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JOINT STATUS REPORT 5 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF WASHINGTON
Complex Litigation
NO. 2:20-cv-00182-TOR 800 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2000
Seattle, WA 98104-3188
(206) 464-7744
Case 2:20-cv-00182-TOR ECF No. 68 filed 09/09/20 PageID.1298 Page 6 of 6

1 DECLARATION OF SERVICE
2 I hereby declare that on this day I caused the foregoing document to be

3 electronically filed with the Clerk of the Court using the Court’s CM/ECF System

4 which will serve a copy of this document upon all counsel of record.

5 DATED this 9th day of September 2020, at Tacoma, Washington.

6
/s/ R. July Simpson
7 R. JULY SIMPSON, WSBA #45869
Assistant Attorney General
8
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JOINT STATUS REPORT 6 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF WASHINGTON
Complex Litigation
NO. 2:20-cv-00182-TOR 800 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2000
Seattle, WA 98104-3188
(206) 464-7744

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