GRANTED
`
`IN THE STATE COURT OF FULTON COUNTY
`
`STATE OF GEORGIA
`
`State Court of Fulton County
`**E-FILED**
`135v003273
`2/20/2019 2:54 PM
`LeNora Ponzo, Clerk
`Civil Division
`
`PRATAP KOGANTI and
`
`TECHNOSPIRE LLC,
`
`Plaintiffs,
`
`V.
`
`SRINIVAS GUPHTA DUBBA and
`
`RAMAMA MANNAM,
`
`Defendants.
`
`vvvvvvvvvvv
`
`CIVIL ACTION N O. 18EV003273
`
`THE PARTIES’ AMENDED CASE MANAGENIENT ORDER
`
`COME NOW Plaintiffs Pratap Koganti and Technospire, LLC (“Plaintiffs”) and
`
`Defendant Srinivas Guphta Dubba (“Dubba”) (collectively, the “Parties”), and hereby
`
`submit their Amended Case Manager Order, respectfully showing this Court as follows:
`
`On October 24, 2018, this Court granted the Parties’ Case Management Order
`
`(“CMO”) setting forth deadlines for discovery, mediation, and a trial date in this matter.
`
`Soon thereafter, the Parties’ counsel engaged in discussions and set deposition dates for
`
`January 21 and 22, 2019. On January 14, 2019, counsel for Dubba conferred with
`
`Plaintiffs’ counsel regarding Defendant Dubba’s health and alerted him that Dubba had
`
`become hospitalized, and his doctor, Jonathan Suarez, M.D., wrote that he remained in the
`
`Intensive Care Unit (“ICU”) on a mechanical ventilation unit, not knowing when his status
`
`will improve. A copy of Dr. Suarez’s note is attached hereto as “Exhibit A.” As a result,
`
`counsel for Plaintiffs and Defendant Dubba agreed to extend deadlines set forth in the
`
`CMO until Defendant Dubba’s health improved. Recently, Defendant Dubba was moved
`
`out of the ICU and into a Rehabilitative Center where he will remain for the next three
`
`months. Given the extreme circumstances surrounding Defendant Dubba’ health
`
`

`

`GRANTED
`
`conditions, the Parties request the Court amends the deadlines set forth in their original
`
`October 23, 2018 CMO as follows:
`
`IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:
`
`o DISCOVERY (including, but not limited to, written discovery, depositions,
`and any expert discovery) commenced on July 27, 2018 pursuant to USCR
`5.1 and shall close on September 13, 2019.
`[Guidelinez Personal Injury —
`6 months; Complex Personal Injury (including Wrongful Death) — 12
`months; Medical Malpractice — 12 months; Complex Medical Malpractice
`(including Wrongful Death) — 18 months; Contract — 6 months; Complex
`Contract — 12 months; Other — 6 months (12 months if Complex)] Basis for
`any departure from the guideline or for “complex” designation:1
`
`The parties agree that more than six months of discovery is required due to
`the presence of witnesses and records in India, Michigan, and New Jersey.
`
`0 EXPERT DISCOVERY (if applicable): All expert discovery must be
`completed by the above discovery deadline. The plaintiff(s) shall identify
`experts that are expected to testify at trial no later than June 1, 2019.
`Discovery depositions of all experts identified by the plaintiff(s) shall be
`completed no later than August 15, 2019. The defendant(s) shall identify
`experts that are expected to testify at trial no later than July 1, 2019.
`Discovery depositions of all experts identified by the defendant(s) shall be
`completed no later than August 15, 2019. The parties shall disclose any
`rebuttal experts within 30 days of the conclusion of the deposition of the
`expert to be rebutted, but no later than September 1, 2019, and shall make
`any rebuttal experts available for deposition no later than September 1,
`2019.
`
`o MEDIATION, through the Office of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
`of the Fulton County Courts (404.612.4549) or private mediator mutually
`agreed upon by the parties, shall be completed no later than 15 days after
`the close of discovery, September 28, 2019.2 All parties are to participate
`in this mediation and make a good faith effort to resolve the issues involved
`
`
`1 Complex cases involve large number of parties, large number of claims and defenses,
`highly technical and exceptionally complex issues and proof, multiple experts, greater than
`normal amount of documents and evidence (including electronically-stored information),
`problems locating and preserving documents and evidence (including electronically-stored
`information), and extensive discovery outside the State of Georgia.
`
`to a Judicially—Hosted Settlement
`the parties may request a referral
`2 Alternatively,
`Conference. Such request shall be directed to the Court’s Staff Attorney no later than
`ninety (90) days prior to the mediation deadline set by the CMO and shall set forth the
`reasons for the request.
`
`

`

`GRANTED
`
`in this case. In the event that the named parties and counsel do not have full
`settlement authority, those entities who do have authority shall attend the
`mediation along with parties and counsel.
`
`DISPOSITIVE and/or RULE 702 MOTIONS shall be filed no later than
`
`thirty (30) days after the close of discovery, October 13, 2019. Prior to
`filing any Rule 702 motion, the parties shall meet and confer in a good faith
`effort to resolve the evidentiary issue(s).
`
`TRIAL BY JURY shall be set by placement on the Court’s Civil Jury Trial
`calendar approximately sixty (60) days after the close of discovery (if no
`motions pending) or on the next civil trial calendar after the Court’s order
`on any dispositive and/or Rule 702 motions. To request a special setting,
`the parties shall contact the Court’s Staff Attorney and state the basis for
`the request no later than the close of discovery.
`
`IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the following PRACTICES and PROCEDURES
`
`govern this litigation:
`
`DISCOVERY DISPUTES — in addition to the obligations set forth by
`USCR 6.4(B), the parties shall meet and confer in person or by telephone
`in a good faith effort to resolve any discovery disputes and, in the event the
`parties are unable to resolve the disputes, contact the Court’s Staff Attorney
`to request a telephonic hearing with the Court, prior to filing any discovery
`motion. The Court will schedule a telephonic hearing, if appropriate, or
`instruct the parties to brief the matter.
`
`WITNESSES — the parties shall supplement the identification of witnesses
`(except for purposes of impeachment),
`in response to any applicable
`discovery request, no later than fifteen (15) days after the close of discovery.
`Failure to do so, absent extraordinary circumstances, will result in the
`exclusion of the unidentified or late-identified witness.
`
`COMMUNICATION WITH THE COURT — the parties may contact the
`Court’s Staff Attorney, Lisa Liang, at Lisa.Lianggonultoncountyga.gov, to
`inquire regarding any procedural
`issue (scheduling, case status, Court
`requirements, etc.) and/or to arrange a status conference or hearing. Unless
`instructed by the Court, the parties shall not submit letter briefs (including
`substantive emails addressing the merits) or “carbon copy” the Court on
`correspondence between the parties and addressing the merits.
`
`PROPOSED ORDERS and COURTESY COPIES — the parties shall e-file
`proposed orders through eFileGA, and any courtesy copies of proposed
`orders (if requested) shall be emailed to the Court’s Staff Attorney in Word
`format. The parties are discouraged from submitting courtesy copies of
`briefs to the Court, unless specifically requested. The parties, however, may
`
`

`

`contact the Court’s Staff Attorney regarding any consent/joint filings or
`other filings necessitating prompt action by the Court.
`
`0 ORIGINAL DEPOSITION TRANSCRIPTS — the parties shall e-file
`scanned copies in lieu of original deposition transcripts and retain original
`deposition transcripts until specifically requested by the Court or trial.
`
`“Failure to comply with this CMO may result in sanctions, including striking of
`pleadings, imposition of attorneys’ fees, and exclusion of witnesses and evidence.
`Except for good cause shown and by Order of this Court, the deadlines set forth by
`this CMO shall not be amended.
`
`This 20thdayof February JONW g
`
`Susan E. Edlein
`
`
`
`2% 6 E 1..
`
`Judge, State Court of Fulton County
`
`Submitted by:
`
`/s/ Mitchell Graham
`
`/s/ Je L Ma en
`
`G. Roger Land, Esq.
`Georgia State Bar No. 432900
`Mitchell Graham, Esq.
`Georgia State Bar No. 121079
`Attorneys for Plaintiffs
`
`Jeff L. Mapen
`Georgia State Bar No. 469936
`Amy Cheng
`Georgia State Bar No. 261897
`Attorneys for Defendant Srinivas Guhpta Dubba
`
`G. Roger Land & Associates
`4200 Northside Parkway, NW.
`One North Parkway Square, Suite 200
`Atlanta, Georgia 30327
`(404) 237-2500
`(404) 365-6560 (fax)
`grlaw@lawnet.org
`mitchell@lawnet.0rg
`
`Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP
`201 17th St. NW
`Suite 1700
`Atlanta, GA 30363
`(404) 322-6000
`(404) 322-6050 (fax)
`jeff.mapen@nelsonmullins.com
`amy.cheng@nelsonmullins.com
`
`