Zhao v. Surge Private Equity LLC
- Katherine Failla
- 1:22-cv-07314
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Zhao v. Surge Private Equity LLC, Judge Failla ordered Defendants to respond to Zhao’s discovery motion by May 5, warning it could be considered unopposed.
Plaintiff and the Defendants in Zhao v. Surge Private Equity LLC. Defendants were required to respond to Plaintiff’s discovery motion by May 5, 2023.
What happened
In Zhao v. Surge Private Equity LLC, Plaintiff asked the court to require Defendants to provide class-related discovery, electronic discovery, and deposition information. Plaintiff said Defendants had not provided the requested information after the parties discussed these issues.
The court did not decide whether Defendants had to produce the requested discovery. Instead, it ordered Defendants to file a response to Plaintiff’s letter motion by May 5, 2023.
Judge Failla stated that if Defendants did not respond by that date, the court would consider Plaintiff’s motion unopposed. The opinion does not state a final ruling on the motion to compel.
The detailed version
- Zhao v. Surge Private Equity LLC · No. 1:22-cv-07314
- Katherine Failla
- May 4, 2023
Background
Plaintiff filed a letter motion to compel discovery on April 28, 2023. The motion concerned three subjects: discovery about a potential class of plaintiffs, electronic discovery, and depositions of an individual Defendant and representatives of the corporate Defendants.
Plaintiff’s letter stated that the parties had met and conferred on April 5 and April 18, 2023, but had not resolved the disputes. Plaintiff asked the court to require Defendants to provide information about the potential class, respond to electronic-discovery requests, identify representatives for the corporate Defendants under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 30(b)(6), and confirm deposition dates.
Court’s Action
The court acknowledged receipt of Plaintiff’s letter motion. Under the court’s individual rules, Defendants were required to file a response within three business days after Plaintiff’s filing. The court ordered Defendants to respond by May 5, 2023.
The court stated that, if Defendants failed to respond by that date, it would consider the motion unopposed. The order did not grant or deny the motion to compel and did not decide whether the requested discovery had to be produced.
Effect
The order set a response deadline and warned of the possible procedural consequence of failing to respond. The opinion does not report a final ruling on the discovery disputes. Judge Katherine Polk Failla signed the order on May 4, 2023.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.