M.G. v. New York City Department of Education
- Sidney Stein
- 1:13-cv-04639
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
M.G. v. New York City Department of Education: Judge Lehrburger denied reconsideration and kept the June 28, 2024 discovery deadline.
The State Defendants, the City Defendants, the plaintiffs and class members, and their counsel were affected by the ruling. The discovery deadline remained June 28, 2024, with limits on the permitted discovery.
What happened
In M.G. v. New York City Department of Education, the State Defendants asked the court to reconsider a three-month extension of the fact-discovery deadline. They argued that the extension rewarded delays by the plaintiffs’ lawyers and harmed the State Defendants.
The court denied the request. It found that the State Defendants had not identified anything new or previously overlooked, and said denying the extension would harm class members more. The court left the June 28, 2024 deadline in place.
Judge Robert W. Lehrburger also limited the extension: it could be used only for existing document-discovery issues, depositions if any, and requests for admission if any. He stated that June 28 was the final deadline for all parties and would not be excused under any circumstances.
The detailed version
- M.G. v. New York City Department of Education · No. 1:13-cv-04639
- Sidney Stein
- Feb. 23, 2024
Background
The State Defendants—the New York State Education Department and its Commissioner—asked the court to reconsider an order extending fact discovery for all parties by three months. The earlier order moved the deadline from March 31, 2024, to June 28, 2024.
The State Defendants argued that the extension was unwarranted and prejudiced them because they had worked to meet earlier deadlines, including spending more than $30,000 on contract attorneys to redact material protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. They also argued that the plaintiffs’ counsel had repeatedly sought extensions and had not conducted discovery or filed an expected motion to compel against the State Defendants.
The State Defendants sought to have their fact-discovery deadline returned to March 31, 2024. The court’s order addressed their request for reconsideration of the three-month extension.
Ruling
The court denied the request for reconsideration. It stated that the State Defendants had not raised anything new or previously overlooked by the court. Although the State Defendants claimed substantial prejudice, the court found that denying the extension would cause greater prejudice to the class members.
The court nevertheless emphasized that class counsel must devote the resources needed to represent the class properly. It limited the extension to existing document-discovery issues, depositions if any, and requests for admission if any; the extension could not be used to broaden discovery.
The court also stated that the June 28, 2024 deadline was “last and final” for all parties and would not be excused under any circumstances, whether the circumstances were foreseeable or not.
Result
The request for reconsideration was denied. The June 28, 2024 fact-discovery deadline remained in effect, subject to the court’s stated limits on how the extension could be used.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.