Wyndham Vacation Ownership, Inc. v. Totten Franqui Davis & Burk, LLC
Wyndham Vacation Ownership, Inc. v. Totten Franqui Davis & Burk, LLC
2019 WL 7905017 (S.D. Fla. 2019)
February 19, 2019
Reinhart, Bruce, United States Magistrate Judge
Summary
The Court denied Plaintiffs' Motion to Compel Production of an Adequate and Rule Compliant Privilege Log from Defendant Totten Franqui Davis & Burk, LLC. The Court also ordered the parties to meet and confer on ESI production issues, including search terms and custodians, and took under advisement whether to broaden the scope of discovery to include other revenue and expenses for the Defendants.
WYNDHAM VACATION OWNERSHIP, INC., a Delaware corporation, WYNDHAM VACATION RESORTS, INC., a Delaware corporation, WYNDHAM RESORT DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, an Oregon Corporation, and SHELL VACATIONS, LLC, an Arizona limited liability company, Plaintiffs,
v.
TOTTEN FRANQUI DAVIS & BURK, LLC, a Florida limited liability company; TOTTEN FRANQUI DAVIS & BURK, PLLC, a North Carolina professional limited liability company; AMERICAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT GROUP, LLC d/b/a resortrelease.com d/b/a americanresourcemanagementgroup.com, a Florida limited liability company; VACATION PROPERTIES FOR LESS, LLC, a Florida limited liability company; REDEMPTION AND RELEASE, LLC, a Florida limited liability company; RESORT EXIT TEAM, LLC d/b/a resortexitteam.com, a Florida limited liability company; HELPING TIMESHARE OWNERS, INC. f/k/a HELPING TIMESHARE OWNERS LLC d/b/a canceltimesharecontract.com d/b/a Help4TSO, a Florida corporation; JOHN DOE #2 d/b/a Timeshare Freedom Group d/b/a timesharefreedomgroup.com; ERIC S. CLINE a/k/a STEPHEN E. CLINE, an individual; SHYLA CLINE, an individual; SCOTT MORSE a/k/a LARRY SCOTT MORSE, an individual; WILLIAM HOWELL, JR., a/k/a William W. Howell, Jr. a/k/a Bob Howell a/k/a Bill Howell, an individual; and JORDAN SALKIN, an individual, Defendants
v.
TOTTEN FRANQUI DAVIS & BURK, LLC, a Florida limited liability company; TOTTEN FRANQUI DAVIS & BURK, PLLC, a North Carolina professional limited liability company; AMERICAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT GROUP, LLC d/b/a resortrelease.com d/b/a americanresourcemanagementgroup.com, a Florida limited liability company; VACATION PROPERTIES FOR LESS, LLC, a Florida limited liability company; REDEMPTION AND RELEASE, LLC, a Florida limited liability company; RESORT EXIT TEAM, LLC d/b/a resortexitteam.com, a Florida limited liability company; HELPING TIMESHARE OWNERS, INC. f/k/a HELPING TIMESHARE OWNERS LLC d/b/a canceltimesharecontract.com d/b/a Help4TSO, a Florida corporation; JOHN DOE #2 d/b/a Timeshare Freedom Group d/b/a timesharefreedomgroup.com; ERIC S. CLINE a/k/a STEPHEN E. CLINE, an individual; SHYLA CLINE, an individual; SCOTT MORSE a/k/a LARRY SCOTT MORSE, an individual; WILLIAM HOWELL, JR., a/k/a William W. Howell, Jr. a/k/a Bob Howell a/k/a Bill Howell, an individual; and JORDAN SALKIN, an individual, Defendants
Case No. 18-81055-CIV-MIDDLEBROOKS/REINHART
United States District Court, S.D. Florida
Entered February 19, 2019
Counsel
Alfred Joseph Bennington, Jr., Shutts & Bowen, Windermere, FL, Glennys Ortega Rubin, Christian Michael Leger, Shutts & Bowen LLP, Orlando, FL, Francis Augustine Zacherl, III, Shutts & Bowen, Miami, FL, Raymond Frederick Treadwell, Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Tallahassee, FL, Daniel Joseph Barsky, Shutts & Bowen LLP, West Palm Beach, FL, for Plaintiffs.Carmen Yolanda Cartaya, Douglas Malcolm McIntosh, McIntosh Sawran & Cartaya, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, FL, for Defendants Totten Franqui Davis & Burk, LLC, Totten Franqui Davis & Burk, PLLC.
Gavin Cunningham Gaukroger, Kenneth Wayne Waterway, Berger Singerman LLP, Matthew Scott Nelles, Nelles Kostencki, PLLC, Fort Lauderdale, FL, Philip Benjamin Zuckerman, Berger Singerman LLP, Boca Raton, FL, Shannon L. Zetrouer, Zetrouer Pulsifer, PLLC, St. Petersburg, FL, for Defendants American Resource Management Group, LLC, Vacation Properties for Less, LLC, Redemption and Release, LLC, Resort Exit Team, LLC.
Gavin Cunningham Gaukroger, Kenneth Wayne Waterway, Berger Singerman LLP, Matthew Scott Nelles, Nelles Kostencki, PLLC, Theresa Mary Bailey Van Vliet, Genovese Joblove & Battista, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, FL, Philip Benjamin Zuckerman, Berger Singerman LLP, Boca Raton, FL, Shannon L. Zetrouer, Zetrouer Pulsifer, PLLC, St. Petersburg, FL, for Defendants Eric S. Cline, Shyla Cline.
Gavin Cunningham Gaukroger, Kenneth Wayne Waterway, Berger Singerman LLP, Matthew Scott Nelles, Nelles Kostencki, PLLC, Fort Lauderdale, FL, Philip Benjamin Zuckerman, Berger Singerman LLP, Boca Raton, FL, Blake J. DeLaney, Scott A. Underwood, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC, Tampa, FL, Jennifer Olmedo-Rodriguez, Buchanan Ingersoll, Miami, FL, Shannon L. Zetrouer, Zetrouer Pulsifer, PLLC, St. Petersburg, FL, for Defendant Scott Morse.
David Steinfeld, Law Office of David Steinfeld, P.L., Palm Beach Gardens, FL, for Defendant Jordan Salkin.
Jordan Salkin, Orange, CA, pro se
Reinhart, Bruce, United States Magistrate Judge
OMNIBUS ORDER MEMORIALIZING COURT RULINGS AT DISCOVERY HEARING
*1 THIS CAUSE came before the Court on the District Court’s referral of all pretrial motions related to discovery to the undersigned for appropriate disposition. DE 139. On February 14, 2019, the undersigned held a hearing on all pending discovery motions. The undersigned has considered the parties’ respective arguments, reviewed all briefing, and is otherwise fully advised in the matter. For the reasons stated on the record at the February 14 hearing, and as summarized below, it is hereby ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that:
1. DE 111—Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel Production of an Adequate and Rule Compliant Privilege Log from Defendant Totten Franqui Davis & Burk, LLC (“Totten”) [DE 111] is DENIED. Totten is a law firm and the discovery Plaintiffs seek production of consists of materials from client-related files. Accordingly, the Court finds that the categorical privilege log previously provided is sufficient given the volume and nature of the material at issue. The parties shall compile an agreed list of forty (40) representative client files, and Totten shall thereafter promptly provide Plaintiffs with a detailed privilege log as to those files. Totten shall also provide Plaintiffs with a list of all Wyndham Owners who Totten represented in lawsuits involving Wyndham properties. As with all discovery rulings, this ruling is without prejudice to Plaintiffs to re-raise this matter should it remain in dispute upon receipt of Totten’s privilege log.
2. DE 133—Defendants Totten Franqui Davis & Burk, LLC and Totten Franqui Davis & Burk, PLLC’s Motion for Protective Order as to Corporate Representative Deposition [DE 133] is DENIED. The parties are instructed to follow the procedure mandated by Balu v. Costa Crociere S.P.A., No. 11-60031, 2011 WL 3359681 (S.D. Fla. Aug 3, 2011) (J. Torres). Any privilege objections shall be asserted on a question-by-question or document-by-document basis. See In Re Grand Jury Subpoena, 831 F.2d 225, 227 (11th Cir. 1987).
3. DE 134, 135, 136, 137, 138—Defendants Totten Franqui Davis & Burk, LLC and Totten Franqui Davis & Burk, PLLC’s Motions for Protective Order relating to depositions of individual attorneys [DE 134, 135, 136, 137, 138] are DENIED. Any privilege objections shall be asserted on a question-by-question or document-by-document basis. See In Re Grand Jury Subpoena, 831 F.2d 225, 227 (11th Cir. 1987).
4. DE 97—Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel Discovery and To Overrule Totten Franqui Davis & Burk’s Objections to Plaintiffs’ Discovery Requests [DE 97] is DENIED AS MOOT, given the parties’ representation at the February 14 hearing that, after further conferral, these issues have been resolved. Defendants’ production to Plaintiffs for these requests are due by February 22, 2019.
5. DE 93—Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel Production from Defendants American Resource Management Group, LLC, Redemption and Release, LLC, and Vacation Properties For Less, LLC [DE 93] is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART. Plaintiffs’ Motion is DENIED AS MOOT insofar as Defendants represented at the February 14 hearing that a materially-complete rolling production has been made and is ongoing. The parties shall continue to meet and confer on ESI production issues, including search terms and custodians. Plaintiffs’ Motion is GRANTED IN PART as to Defendants’ financial records. Without prejudice to asserting privilege objections, Defendants shall produce revenue and expense data related to Wyndham Owners, only, at this time and in the form discussed at the hearing. Production shall begin no later than March 5, 2019. The Court takes UNDER ADVISEMENT whether to broaden the scope of discovery to include other revenue and expenses for the Defendants.
*2 6. DE 94—Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel Production from Defendants Shyla Cline, Eric Cline, and Scott Morse [DE 94] is DENIED. Plaintiffs may propound interrogatories to these individuals regarding any funds they received from Defendants, but production of documents is not ordered at this time.
7. DE 95—Defendants Totten, Franqui, Davis and Burk’s Motion for Enlargement of Time to Permit Discovery Responses [DE 95] is GRANTED based on the Court’s finding of excusable neglect. The undersigned rejects Plaintiffs’ contention that Defendants’ objections to Plaintiffs’ request for production were waived by reason of untimely response.
8. DE 129—Defendants’, American Resource Management Group, LLC, Redemption and Release, LLC, Vacation Properties for Less, LLC, Resort Team, LLC, Eric Cline, Shyla Cline and Scott Morse, Expedited Motion to Strike Plaintiff’s Expert Disclosures and for Sanctions [DE 129] is TAKEN UNDER ADVISEMENT. The Court will issue a separate ruling on this Motion.
9. DE 140, 141—Defendant American Resource Management Group LLC’s Expedited Motions to Compel Discovery [DE 140, 141] are TAKEN UNDER ADVISEMENT. Plaintiffs shall file a response by 5:00 p.m. on February 19, 2019. The Court will thereafter set a hearing on these Motions.
10. All requests for attorney’s fees are DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE to being re-raised at the conclusion of litigation.
DONE and ORDERED in Chambers at West Palm Beach in the Southern District of Florida, this 14th day of February, 2019.