Vails v. C R Bard Incorporated
- John Koeltl
- 1:21-cv-01707
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Vails v. C.R. Bard, Judge Koeltl stayed the case until July 2, 2021, while the parties pursued settlement and required a status report.
Eleanor L. Vails, C. R. Bard, Inc., and Bard Peripheral Vascular, Inc.; the case and its discovery and pretrial deadlines were paused.
What happened
In Eleanor L. Vails v. C.R. Bard, Inc. et al., the parties jointly asked the court to pause the case and its deadlines for 90 days while they continued settlement discussions.
The request concerned claims involving Bard inferior vena cava filters, which plaintiffs represented that they contend caused injuries. The parties said they had reached settlements in principle in many related cases but were still negotiating cases, including this one, involving plaintiffs who had opted out of a settlement.
Judge John G. Koeltl ordered that the case remain stayed until July 2, 2021. He also directed the parties to file a status report by then.
The detailed version
- Vails v. C R Bard Incorporated · No. 1:21-cv-01707
- John Koeltl
- Apr. 2, 2021
Background
Plaintiff Eleanor L. Vails and defendants C. R. Bard, Inc. and Bard Peripheral Vascular, Inc. jointly submitted a letter requesting a temporary stay of the case and all upcoming deadlines. The letter said that Vails's counsel represented plaintiffs with cases involving claims that injuries arose from their use of Bard's inferior vena cava filters. It also said the parties had previously settled many related cases in the multidistrict litigation proceeding and were continuing settlement discussions concerning cases that had been remanded to district courts, including this action.
Requested stay
The parties asked the court to stay all activity, including discovery and pretrial deadlines, for 90 days. They said the stay would conserve their resources while they pursued settlement. They further requested an opportunity to file a joint status report if dismissal papers had not been filed within 90 days.
Ruling
The court stayed the case until July 2, 2021. The order directed the parties to file a status report by that date. The opinion does not state that the case was dismissed or that a settlement was completed.
Classification
This is a procedural order because it pauses the litigation to facilitate settlement discussions and does not decide the merits of Vails's claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.