loanDepot.com, LLC v. CrossCountry Mortgage, LLC

Background

CrossCountry sought an order compelling loanDepot to produce a corporate representative for a deposition under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 30(b)(6), and sought related written discovery. CrossCountry requested that the deposition take place by March 3, 2023. The record also refers to a prior February 23 discovery order and to a pending motion for a preliminary injunction.

loanDepot opposed the request. In its letter, loanDepot argued that CrossCountry had known since August 2022 that it wanted a corporate deposition but did not issue its deposition notice until January 20, 2023. loanDepot also argued that CrossCountry had not followed the court’s standing procedures for discovery disputes, had improperly sought multiple corporate depositions, and had proposed topics that were either too broad or required the witness to perform a detailed “memory test.” loanDepot further argued that some proposed topics overlapped with discovery the court had already denied as irrelevant. These were loanDepot’s arguments; the order itself provides little explanation of the court’s reasoning.

Ruling

The court denied CrossCountry’s request for an order compelling a Rule 30(b)(6) deposition to take place by March 3. The court also denied CrossCountry’s other requests concerning a Rule 30(b)(6) deposition of loanDepot, stating that they could be renewed before Judge Cave, who would handle general pretrial matters. The clerk was directed to close the motion at Docket No. 250. The order’s reproduced language says “DENIED prejudice to renewal” and does not clearly include the word “without”; accordingly, this summary does not characterize that ruling as a dismissal with or without prejudice.