Opinion ID: 182792
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Motion to Supplement Expert Disclosure

Text: Capitol argues the district court erred by denying its motion to file a supplement to its expert disclosures after the deadline for filing had passed and discovery had closed. The court denied the motion because it concluded Capitol had not shown good cause for its tardiness, as required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16(b)(4). St. Paul Mercury Ins. Co. v. Capitol Sprinkler Inspection, Inc., Civ. A. No. 05-2115, 2007 WL 1589495, at -9 (June 1, 2007). Capitol argues there was good cause for an extension because Guest did not promptly make available for deposition certain witnesses who would have provided facts essential to the report by Capitol's expert. As Guest suggests, [t]he good cause standard requires the `party seeking relief to show that the deadlines cannot reasonably be met despite [its] diligence.' S & W Enters., LLC v. SouthTrust Bank, 315 F.3d 533, 535 (5th Cir.2003) (quoting 6A CHARLES ALAN WRIGHT, ARTHUR R. MILLER & MARY KAY KANE, FEDERAL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE § 1522.1 (2d ed.1990)). Capitol's actions in this case do not bespeak diligence or any sense of urgency at all in preparing its expert's report, which was only a single page in length. Capitol noticed the depositions at issue for October 16, 2006  the same day the report was due  meaning, as the district court concluded, the report could not practically have incorporated any information from the depositions. Civ. A. No. 05-2115, 2007 WL 1589495, at . Even after the depositions were cancelled and the district court extended the expert disclosure deadline by a month, Capitol did not again notice the depositions or file a supplement to its report during that period. Indeed, Capitol never again noticed the depositions and attempted to supplement its report only after the close of discovery. Because Capitol did not show good cause, the district court did not abuse its discretion by denying Capitol's motion for an extension of time.