Judge orders Cordova deposition within 10 days, holds summary-judgment ruling in abeyance

A Chetm County judge on the civil docket addressed multiple pretrial disputes in Cordova v. Martin, including a renewed motion for summary judgment, a motion to disqualify counsel and a contested deposition notice. After extended argument, the court determined that the 13-month delay in taking the plaintiff's deposition was inordinate and gave the parties 10 days to agree on a deposition date at the Chetm County Courthouse.

Plaintiff counsel urged the court that dispositive issues turn on admissions by the defendant and documentary records, and that further deposition testimony would not alter the outcome on liability. Defense counsel said the deposition was necessary, and that both sides had procedural deficiencies on scheduling. The judge noted both versions of events but emphasized the need to move the case forward, ordering counsel to set a date for the plaintiff's deposition within 10 days and to complete it before the court readdresses the summary-judgment motion.

The court also reminded counsel of prior limitations on scope the court had set in March of the previous year and asked that those limitations be restated in any order setting the deposition. If the deposition is completed and the parties return to court, the judge will set a hearing date for the renewed summary-judgment motion.