Khwaja v. Jobs to Move America

Background

The plaintiff, who was appearing without a lawyer, submitted a letter requesting a one-month extension of discovery and court intervention concerning three discovery matters. The plaintiff sought permission to depose three attorneys employed by the law firm representing the defendants, production of information about the plaintiff’s work performance and certain email communications, and additional time to take depositions of third parties Sophia Reuss and Lorelie Christie. The plaintiff stated that counsel had become unavailable or unresponsive and that the defendants had not provided deposition dates or the requested information. The defendants did not consent to extending the discovery period.

Court’s Rulings

After a telephone conference, the court ordered the plaintiff’s attorney of record, Louis Johnson Jr., to show cause—that is, to explain—by May 20, 2022, why the court should not report him to the Grievance Committee for failing to appear at the scheduled conference and failing to communicate with his client.

The court denied the plaintiff’s motion for permission to depose opposing attorneys because the plaintiff had not made the required showing for taking those depositions. The court denied the request to compel document production because the plaintiff had not identified a document request served on the defendants or shown that the parties had met and discussed the request. The court also denied as premature the request to depose Sophia Reuss and Lorelie Christie because the plaintiff had not been able to locate them. The court stated that the plaintiff could make an appropriate application later if the plaintiff located them, met and conferred with the defendants, and the defendants did not consent to the depositions.