T&R Properties, Inc., et al. v. Berlin Township, et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio denied Defendants’ motion to stay discovery and expedite resolution of their motion to dismiss. The Court held that the asserted Rooker-Feldman jurisdictional issue was fairly debatable and did not constitute special circumstances warranting a discovery stay, and that alleged duplicative discovery did not outweigh Plaintiffs’ potential prejudice from delay. The parties were ordered to file a joint status report within seven days regarding scheduling depositions.

Holdings

1. A pending motion to dismiss, including a contested Rooker-Feldman jurisdictional argument, does not by itself justify staying discovery; a stay requires special circumstances, such as an almost-certain lack of federal jurisdiction or near-certain dismissal.
2. The possibility that discovery may be duplicative or inconvenient does not, without more, justify a complete stay of discovery when other procedural tools are available and the balance of hardships favors continued discovery.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Defendants established special circumstances warranting a stay of discovery while their motion to dismiss, including a Rooker-Feldman jurisdictional argument, was pending.
2. Whether the asserted potential duplication and burden of depositions outweighed the prejudice Plaintiffs could suffer from delaying discovery.
3. Whether the court should expedite its decision on Defendants' motion to dismiss.

Disposition

other