Providence Health & Services et al v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's London et al, No. 2:2018cv00495 - Document 82 (W.D. Wash. 2019)

Court Description: STIPULATION AND ORDER granting parties' 81 Stipulated Motion to Modify Case Schedule and Continue Trial Date. Jury Trial is set for 6/15/2020 at 09:00 AM before Judge Ricardo S. Martinez. The Court will issue a new case schedule consistent with this new trial date. Signed by Judge Ricardo S. Martinez. (PM)

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Providence Health & Services et al v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's London et al Doc. 82 1 2 3 4 5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON, AT SEATTLE 6 7 8 9 PROVIDENCE HEALTH AND SERVICES, a Washington non-profit corporation; and SWEDISH HEALTH SERVICES, a Washington non-profit corporation, Plaintiffs, 10 11 12 13 14 vs. Cause No. C18-495 RSM STIPULATED MOTION AND ORDER TO MODIFY CASE SCHEDULE AND CONTINUE TRIAL DATE CERTAIN UNDERWRITERS AT LLOYD'S LONDON, SYNDICATE 2623/623 (BEAZLEY); and FEDERAL INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendants. 15 16 I. INTRODUCTION 17 18 Pursuant to Local Civil Rule 16(b)(5)(ii), Plaintiffs Providence Health and Services and 19 Swedish Health Services (“Providence”) and Defendants Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s 20 London, Syndicate 2623/623 (Beazley) and Federal Insurance Company (collectively 21 “Insurers”) respectfully submit this second Stipulated Motion to Modify the Case Schedule and 22 Continue the Trial Date. The case is currently set for trial on April 6, 2020, and has been 23 STIPULATED MOTION AND ORDER TO MODIFY CASE SCHEDULE AND CONTINUE TRIAL DATE – 1 USDC WD WA/SEA CAUSE NO. 2:18-CV-00495RSM SOHA & LANG, P.S. ATTORNEYS AT LAW 1325 FOURTH AVENUE, STE 2000 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101 (206) 624-1800/FAX (206) 624-3585 1200.00397 lj22g1228v.002 Dockets.Justia.com 1 previously continued once. The parties seek a 70-day continuance to set a new trial date on or 2 after June 15, 2020. 3 A. The Underlying Action This is an insurance coverage dispute arising from an underlying action brought against 4 5 Providence by Dr. David W. Newell, alleging age discrimination, retaliation, and breach of 6 contract. The matter proceeded to arbitration. The arbitrator issued an award against Providence 7 on August 18, 2017 in excess of $17 million and subsequently awarded attorneys’ fees that 8 raised the award above $18 million. The award was appealed to the Washington Court of Appeals, Division I. In June 2019, 9 10 the Court of Appeals affirmed the award. Newell v. Providence Health & Servs., 2019 WL 11 2578679 (Wash. App. June 24, 2019) (unpublished). The Underlying Action has now 12 concluded, with a satisfaction of judgment entered in the trial court and a mandate issued by the 13 Court of Appeals. 14 B. 15 The Present Matter Providence purchased insurance policies from the Insurers. Providence contends there is 16 coverage for the underlying claims. The Insurers contend that there is no coverage for the 17 underlying claims. 18 Providence filed this action on March 1, 2018 in King County Superior Court. Dkt. No. 19 1-2. The Insurers removed the case to this Court on April 4, 2018. Dkt. No. 1. The parties 20 submitted a joint status report and discovery plan, in which they proposed different methods to 21 efficiently resolve this case. Dkt. No. 31. Per the parties’ suggestions, and the Court’s approval 22 of a stipulated schedule, the parties completed briefing of early cross-motions for summary 23 judgment on August 28, 2018. Dkt. No. 55. STIPULATED MOTION AND ORDER TO MODIFY CASE SCHEDULE AND CONTINUE TRIAL DATE – 2 USDC WD WA/SEA CAUSE NO. 2:18-CV-00495RSM 1200.00397 lj22g1228v.002 SOHA & LANG, P.S. ATTORNEYS AT LAW 1325 FOURTH AVENUE, STE 2000 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101 (206) 624-1800/FAX (206) 624-3585 1 While the cross-motions were pending, the parties participated in mediation, but they 2 were unable to resolve the dispute. Dkt. No. 56. Thereafter, in January 2019, the Court ruled 3 on the cross-motions, granted Providence’s motion and denying defendants’ motions. Dkt. No. 4 61. 5 The parties have engaged in written discovery and document production, which has 6 involved a substantial volume of documents, including ESI. The parties issued expert reports 7 under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2) on October 9, 2019. The current deadline for rebuttal reports is 8 November 8, 2019. Dkt. No. 65. 9 Many of the RFPs addressed to Providence seek documents generated by Providence in 10 the course of defending itself in the underlying arbitration. In part due to the pending appeal, 11 Providence invoked the attorney-client privilege, work-product doctrine, or both, as to a large 12 portion of the responsive documents. Through the meet-and-confer process, the parties have 13 reached agreement as to the production of such documents, and Providence is in the process of 14 preparing them for production. This resolution was made possible in large part by the final 15 conclusion of the Underlying Action (discussed above), which did not come until August 2019. 16 The parties are agreed that they will require additional time to review the forthcoming 17 substantial production of additional documents. Further, the parties refrained from conducting 18 fact depositions until the privilege issues were resolved, and accordingly no depositions yet 19 have occurred. Finally, although the parties have exchanged opening expert reports, their 20 experts too will need to review and consider the use of the formerly withheld documents.1 21 22 1 23 Further, the parties have now agreed to a second mediation, which is scheduled for December 19, 2019 with a new mediator. STIPULATED MOTION AND ORDER TO MODIFY CASE SCHEDULE AND CONTINUE TRIAL DATE – 3 USDC WD WA/SEA CAUSE NO. 2:18-CV-00495RSM 1200.00397 lj22g1228v.002 SOHA & LANG, P.S. ATTORNEYS AT LAW 1325 FOURTH AVENUE, STE 2000 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101 (206) 624-1800/FAX (206) 624-3585 1 As a result of the foregoing events, the parties agree that, although they have diligently 2 3 pursued discovery in this case, the remaining discovery cannot reasonably be completed before 4 the existing discovery cutoff of December 9. The parties therefore join in seeking a modest 5 continuance of the trial date and all interim deadlines, amounting to just over two months 6 additional time. 7 C. 8 9 Current Trial Date and Requested New Trial Date A jury trial is currently set for April 6, 2020, and has been previously continued once. Dkt. Nos. 64, 65. The parties seek a new trial date on or after June 15, 2020. 10 The parties jointly request a 70-day continuance of the following deadlines (as currently set by 11 the Court’s order at Dkt. No. 65): 12 Jury Trial Date 13 14 November 8, 2019 Deadline for filing motions related to discovery. Any such motions shall be noted for consideration pursuant to LCR 7(d)(3) 15 Discovery completed by December 9, 2019 16 All dispositive motions must be filed by and noted on the motion calendar no later than the fourth Friday thereafter January 7, 2020 Mediation per LCR 39.1(c)(3), if requested by the parties, held no later than February 21, 2020 All motions in limine must be filed by and noted on the motion calendar no later than the THIRD Friday thereafter March 9, 2020 Agreed pretrial order due March 25, 2020 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 April 6, 2020 Pretrial conference to be scheduled by the Court. STIPULATED MOTION AND ORDER TO MODIFY CASE SCHEDULE AND CONTINUE TRIAL DATE – 4 USDC WD WA/SEA CAUSE NO. 2:18-CV-00495RSM 1200.00397 lj22g1228v.002 SOHA & LANG, P.S. ATTORNEYS AT LAW 1325 FOURTH AVENUE, STE 2000 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101 (206) 624-1800/FAX (206) 624-3585 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Trial briefs, proposed voir dire questions, jury instructions, neutral statement of the case, and trial exhibits due April 1, 2020 As Rule 26(a)(2) expert disclosures have occurred, but rebuttals have not, the parties request the Court to set a deadline for rebuttal reports for December 9, 2019. II. ANALYSIS AND ARGUMENT Under LCR 16(b)(5)(ii), the Court may modify a case schedule for good cause shown. The parties submit that good cause exists here. The parties have engaged in good-faith attempts to resolve this matter efficiently, both by early dispositive motions practice and an early mediation in October 2018. The parties also will be mediating again in December 2019. The parties have also successfully addressed discovery issues through the meet-andconfer process without resort to the Court. Until recently, Providence had asserted privilege to certain documents and communications based in part on the view that discovery could pose a risk of prejudicing its interests in the Underlying Action. Specifically, in light of the Court’s summary judgment ruling (Dkt. No. 61), a principal remaining issue is whether or to what extent the Insurers have been prejudiced. Accordingly, subjects of the Insurers’ discovery included Providence’s assessment and defense of the Underlying Lawsuit, which included, for example, internal assessments and communications with counsel in the Underlying Action. As noted, the conclusion of the Underlying Action has alleviated this concern, and Providence is preparing a supplemental production. The parties and counsel have conferred regarding their trial calendars, and as a result request that the Court continue the trial date to the first available setting on or after June 15, 23 STIPULATED MOTION AND ORDER TO MODIFY CASE SCHEDULE AND CONTINUE TRIAL DATE – 5 USDC WD WA/SEA CAUSE NO. 2:18-CV-00495RSM 1200.00397 lj22g1228v.002 SOHA & LANG, P.S. ATTORNEYS AT LAW 1325 FOURTH AVENUE, STE 2000 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101 (206) 624-1800/FAX (206) 624-3585 1 2020, and cause the Clerk to issue a new case schedule with interim dates consistent with the 2 new trial date. III. CONCLUSION 3 4 The parties’ good-faith attempts at an early resolution of this matter and Providence’s 5 concerns regarding potential prejudice to its defense of the underlying claims constitute good 6 cause for a continuance of the trial in this case. Accordingly, the parties respectfully request 7 that the Court set the case for trial at the first available setting on or after June 15, 2020, with a 8 commensurate adjustment of other case deadlines as set forth above, and a deadline for rebuttal 9 reports of December 9, 2019. A proposed order is included below. 10 11 DATED this 30th day of October, 2019. 12 SOHA & LANG, P.S. 13 By: /s/ Geoffrey Bedell Steven Soha, WSBA # 9415 Geoffrey Bedell, WSBA #28837 Soha & Lang, P.S. 1325 Fourth Avenue, Suite 2000 Seattle, WA 98101-2570 Telephone: 206-624-1800 Facsimile: 206-624-3585 soha@sohalang.com bedell@sohalang.com Attorneys for Defendant Federal Insurance Company 14 15 16 17 18 19 GORDON TILDEN THOMAS & CORDELL LLP By:/s/ Franklin D. Cordell (per email authorization of 10/29/19) Franklin Cordell, WSBA #26392 Chelsey Mam, WSBA #44609 600 University Street, Suite 2915 Seattle, Washington 98101-4172 20 21 22 23 STIPULATED MOTION AND ORDER TO MODIFY CASE SCHEDULE AND CONTINUE TRIAL DATE – 6 USDC WD WA/SEA CAUSE NO. 2:18-CV-00495RSM 1200.00397 lj22g1228v.002 SOHA & LANG, P.S. ATTORNEYS AT LAW 1325 FOURTH AVENUE, STE 2000 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101 (206) 624-1800/FAX (206) 624-3585 206.467.6477 fcordell@gordontilden.com cmam@gordontilden.com Attorneys for Plaintiffs 1 2 3 4 WILSON SMITH COCHRAN DICKERSON 5 By: /s/ John Silk (per email authorization of 10/29/19) John Silk, WSBA #15035 901 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1700 Seattle, WA 98164-2050 206.623.4100 silk@wscd.com Attorneys for Defendants Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s London, Syndicate 2623/623 (Beazley) 6 7 8 9 10 TROUTMAN SANDERS 11 By: /s/ Ross Smith (per email authorization of 10/29/19) Kevin Kieffer, Pro Hac Vice Monique Fuentes, Pro Hac Vice Ross Smith, Pro Hac Vice 5 Park Plaza, Suite 1400 Irvine, CA 92614 949.622.2700 Kevin.fieffer@troutman.com Monique.fuentes@troutman.com Ross.smith@troutman.com Attorneys for Defendants Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s London, Syndicate 2623/623 (Beazley) 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 STIPULATED MOTION AND ORDER TO MODIFY CASE SCHEDULE AND CONTINUE TRIAL DATE – 7 USDC WD WA/SEA CAUSE NO. 2:18-CV-00495RSM 1200.00397 lj22g1228v.002 SOHA & LANG, P.S. ATTORNEYS AT LAW 1325 FOURTH AVENUE, STE 2000 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101 (206) 624-1800/FAX (206) 624-3585 ORDER 1 2 IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Stipulated Motion to Modify Case Schedule and 3 Continue Trial Date is GRANTED. The new trial date will be June 15, 2020. The Court will 4 issue a new case schedule consistent with this new trial date. 5 DATED this 1st day of November 2019. 6 A 7 RICARDO S. MARTINEZ CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 STIPULATED MOTION AND ORDER TO MODIFY CASE SCHEDULE AND CONTINUE TRIAL DATE – 8 USDC WD WA/SEA CAUSE NO. 2:18-CV-00495RSM 1200.00397 lj22g1228v.002 SOHA & LANG, P.S. ATTORNEYS AT LAW 1325 FOURTH AVENUE, STE 2000 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101 (206) 624-1800/FAX (206) 624-3585

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