De Los Santos v. Jones, Jr.

Background

Defendants asked the Court to adjourn, or postpone, the initial pretrial conference to allow limited discovery concerning Plaintiff’s counsel’s representation of certain medical providers for collection of no-fault bills. In their letter, defendants asserted that Plaintiff’s counsel had represented Cross Bay Orthopedic Surgery, Madison RX, and Manor Med Supplies in other matters. They also described counsel’s representation of Cross Bay Orthopedic Surgery in connection with the collection of a surgery bill before Plaintiff was later represented by the same law firm.

Defendants argued that discovery was warranted to investigate the nature of these business relationships, whether a conflict of interest existed, and whether the case might be affected. Plaintiff’s counsel had argued, according to defendants’ letter, that defendants lacked standing to raise a possible conflict. The opinion does not resolve that argument or determine whether an actual conflict existed.

Ruling

The Court denied defendants’ request to adjourn the initial pretrial conference. It directed the parties to appear at the scheduled telephonic conference on May 22, 2024, at 3:00 p.m.; meet and confer; and file their joint submission by May 20, 2024, as required by an earlier order. The parties were also directed to be prepared to discuss the issues raised in their recent submissions. The Clerk was directed to terminate the requests pending at Docket Numbers 6 and 10.

Judge John P. Cronan’s order addressed scheduling and the request for limited discovery; it did not decide the underlying conflict-of-interest allegations or the merits of the case.