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UNITED STATED DISTRICT COURT 

IN THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN 

DANIEL SKIDMORE, 

 Plaintiff, Case No. 4:14-cv-13031 

V Judge Linda V. Parker 

ACCESS GROUP, INC., KENTUCKY 

HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENT LOAN 

CORP., AND TRANSUNION, 

 Defendants. 

 / 

DEFENDANT ACCESS GROUP, INC.’S MOTION TO STAY DEFENDANT ACCESS GROUP, INC.’S MOTION TO STAY 

DISCOVERY PENDING RESOLUTION OF ACCESS DISCOVERY PENDING RESOLUTION OF ACCESS GROUP, 

INC.’S MOTION TO DISMISS INC.’S MOTION TO DISMISS 

 

Defendant, Access Group, Inc. (“AGI”), through its attorneys, 

Plunkett Cooney, states as follows in support of its Motion to Stay 

Discovery Pending the Resolution of Access Group, Inc.’s Motion to 

Dismiss: 

1. On August 4, 2014, Plaintiff Daniel Skidmore (“Plaintiff”) 

filed his initial Complaint against Defendants AGI, Kentucky Higher 

Education Student Loan Corporation (“KHESLC”), and TransUnion in 

this Court. (Dkt. # 1). 

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2. On February 3, 2015, AGI moved to dismiss Plaintiff’s initial 

Complaint. (Dkt. # 16). 

3. Plaintiff then filed his First Amended Complaint on March 

11, 2015, now naming AGI, KHESLC, Experian, and MRS BPO, LLC as 

defendants. (Dkt. # 21). 

4. On March 25, 2015, AGI moved to dismiss Plaintiff’s First 

Amended Complaint. (Dkt. # 30). 

5. AGI’s Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff’s First Amended 

Complaint raises issues of law that can be resolved by this Court 

without discovery and that may dispose of this case in its entirety or 

drastically narrow the scope of discovery needed. 

6. Despite being aware of the filing of AGI’s Motion to Dismiss 

his First Amended Complaint, Plaintiff emailed undersigned counsel, 

expressing his desire to immediately hold a Rule 26(f) conference so 

that he could begin discovery. 

7. Plaintiff’s insistence on initiating discovery while AGI’s 

Motion to Dismiss remains pending has the potential to needlessly 

increase the costs of litigation for all parties. 

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8. “Trial courts have broad discretion and inherent power to 

stay discovery until preliminary questions that may dispose of the case 

are determined.” Gettings v. Bldg. Laborers Local 310 Fringe Benefits 

Fund, 349 F.3d 300, 304 (6th Cir. 2003) (internal quotations and 

citation omitted). A stay of discovery is appropriate “where claims may 

be dismissed based on legal determinations that could not have been 

altered by any further discovery.” Id.

9. As more fully set forth in the accompanying Brief in Support, 

incorporated here by reference, the claims in Plaintiff’s First Amended 

Complaint should be dismissed based on legal determinations that can 

be made by this Court and that will not be altered by discovery. 

 10. Staying discovery in this case until this Court has had the 

opportunity to consider and rule on AGI’s Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff’s 

First Amended Complaint will serve the interests of judicial economy. 

11. For these reasons, Defendant AGI respectfully requests that 

this Court stay discovery in this case pending the resolution of AGI’s 

Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff’s First Amended Complaint. 

Pursuant to E.D. Mich. LR 7.1, undersigned counsel sought but 

did not obtain concurrence from Plaintiff in the requested relief. 

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Respectfully Submitted, 

 PLUNKETT COONEY 

 By: /s/Jeffrey S. Hengeveld 

Jeffrey S. Hengeveld (P66029) 

Attorney for Defendant AGI 

 38505 Woodward Avenue 

Suite 2000 

 Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304 

 (248) 594-8202 

Dated: May 14, 2015 

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UNITED STATED DISTRICT COURT 

IN THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN 

DANIEL SKIDMORE, 

 Plaintiff, Case No. 4:14-cv-13031 

V Judge Linda V. Parker 

ACCESS GROUP, INC., KENTUCKY 

HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENT LOAN 

CORP., AND TRANSUNION, 

 Defendants. 

 / 

BRIEF IN SUPPORT OF DEFENDANT ACCESS BRIEF IN SUPPORT OF DEFENDANT ACCESS DEFENDANT ACCESS GROUP, INC.’S GROUP, INC.’S 

MOTION TO STAY DISCOVERY PENDING RESOLUTION OF 

ACCESS GROUP, INC.’S MOTION TO DISMISS ACCESS GROUP, INC.’S MOTION TO DISMISS GROUP, INC.’S MOTION TO DISMISS 

 “[W]here claims may be dismissed based on legal determinations 

that could not have been altered by any further discovery,” it is within a 

trial court’s discretion to stay discovery pending the resolution of initial 

dispositive issues. Gettings v. Bldg. Laborers Local 310 Fringe Benefits 

Fund, 349 F.3d 300, 304 (6th Cir. 2003) (internal quotations and 

citation omitted). Here, as set forth in AGI’s Motion to Dismiss 

Plaintiff’s First Amended Complaint, this Court’s analysis of Plaintiff’s 

claims turns on legal issues that will not be altered by further 

discovery. Even this Court’s analysis of Plaintiff’s claim that AGI 

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received notice of a dispute from a Credit Reporting Agency (“CRA”) will 

not be altered by further discovery. As argued in AGI’s Motion to 

Dismiss, this claim is based on nothing more than Plaintiff’s misreading 

of the relevant credit dispute form. This Court can determine the 

actual meaning of the form without the need for discovery. As a result, 

all of Plaintiff’s claims against AGI can be resolved without the need for 

discovery. Under these circumstances, staying discovery pending the 

resolution of AGI’s Motion to Dismiss is in the interest of judicial 

economy. 

For these reasons, Defendant AGI respectfully requests that this 

Court stay discovery in this case pending the resolution of AGI’s Motion 

to Dismiss Plaintiff’s First Amended Complaint. 

Respectfully Submitted, 

 

 PLUNKETT COONEY 

 By: /s/Jeffrey S. Hengeveld 

Jeffrey S. Hengeveld (P66029) 

Attorney for Defendant AGI 

 38505 Woodward Avenue 

Suite 2000 

 Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304 

Dated: May 14, 2015 (248) 594-8202 

 

 

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PROOF OF SERVICE PROOF OF SERVICE SERVICE 

The undersigned certifies that a copy of Defendant AGI’s Motion to Stay Discovery 

Pending the Resolution of Access Group, Inc.’s Motion to Dismiss and this Proof of 

Service were filed with the United States District Court, Eastern District of 

Michigan via electronic filing on May 14, 2015. I declare under the penalty of 

perjury that the statement above is true to the best of my information, knowledge 

and belief. 

 s/Jeffrey S. Hengeveld 

JEFFREY S. HENGEVELD (P66029) 

Attorney for Defendant Access Group, Inc. 

38505 Woodward Avenue, Suite 2000 

Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304 

(248) 594-8202 

Jhengeveld@plunkettcooney.com

 

 

Open.11877.50062.15449115-1

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