Free Trial Memo - District Court of Connecticut - Connecticut

Case 3:01-cv-01833-RNC

Document 29-2

Filed 06/21/2004

Page 1 of 4

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT BETHLEHEM CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP, INC., ET AL VS. TOWN OF MORRIS, ET AL : CIVIL ACTION NO. 3:01CV1833(RNC)

: : JUNE 21, 2004

JOINT MEMORANDUM TO THE COURT RE: LATE FILING OF JOINT TRIAL MEMORANDUM

The plaintiffs, Bethlehem Christian Fellowship, Inc., et al., and the defendants, Town of Morris, et al. hereby submit this memorandum in compliance with the Court's May 20, 2004 order to provide an explanation as to why the parties joint memorandum was not filed in accordance with the scheduling order established on September 17, 2003. Magistrate Judge Martinez granted a joint motion to amend the case management plan to enable the parties to complete discovery by October 12, 2003. At that time, the plaintiffs were endeavoring to schedule and conduct depositions of several existing or former officials of the Town of Morris. A number of scheduling conflicts arose regarding those depositions. Counsel for the parties agreed to work collaboratively in completing that discovery. A motion to request additional amendments to the scheduling order to enable those depositions to occur after January 1, 2004 was prepared but, by oversight, was not filed with the Court.

1

Case 3:01-cv-01833-RNC

Document 29-2

Filed 06/21/2004

Page 2 of 4

Depositions of the final three fact witnesses were scheduled on January 9, 2004. Although two of those depositions went forward, the third deposition of the former Town of Morris Zoning Enforcement Officer, Robert McNamara, was postponed. Although counsel for the parties believed that the date for Mr. McNamara's deposition had to be previously agreed upon, Mr. McNamara suggested that he had not agreed to that date. The undersigned counsel engaged in several telephone conferences in an effort to obtain an agreed upon deposition date for Mr. McNamara. Finally, counsel agreed that Mr. McNamara should be formally subpoenaed. His deposition will be completed next week. In addition to facing scheduling conflicts, the parties delayed scheduling several witnesses while they discussed the possibility of reaching a resolution of the pending issues in this case. As a result of November elections, a newly elected First

Selectman assumed office at the beginning of this year. The time necessary to brief the selectman on history and status of the case and the time devoted to discuss possible resolution of the claims of the plaintiffs resulted in some of the delay in proceeding to the completion of discovery. A Joint Trial Memorandum has been submitted, and discovery in this case will be completed next Monday, June 28, 2004. The parties have worked collaboratively with respect to discovery scheduling and to prepare this case for trial readiness. They jointly request that the Court accept this explanation and excuse their oversight in failure to obtain amendments to the scheduling order to enable them to complete discovery in

2

Case 3:01-cv-01833-RNC

Document 29-2

Filed 06/21/2004

Page 3 of 4

undertake settlement discussion during the first half of this year. Respectfully submitted,

PLAINTIFFS,

DEFENDANTS

BY _________________________ Kenneth R. Slater, Jr. HALLORAN & SAGE LLP Fed. Bar #ct09451 One Goodwin Square 225 Asylum Street Hartford, CT 06103 Tel. (860) 522-6103

BY__________________________ Steven E. Byrne BYRNE & BYRNE Fed. Bar #ct10267 790 Farmington Avenue Building 2B Farmington, CT 06032 Tel. (860) 677-7355

3

Case 3:01-cv-01833-RNC

Document 29-2

Filed 06/21/2004

Page 4 of 4

CERTIFICATION This is to certify that on this 21st day of June, 2004, I hereby mailed a copy of the foregoing to:

Steven E. Byrne, Esq. Byrne & Byrne 790 Farmington Avenue Building 2B Farmington, CT 06032-2318

________________________ Kenneth R. Slater, Jr.
563564_1.DOC

4