LoanDepot Refiles Motions to Stay, Bifurcate Discovery in TCPA Case

Defendant loanDepot seeks an order to stay and bifurcate discovery in plaintiff Zachary Sawicki’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act complaint pending the court’s ruling on loanDepot’s motions to dismiss and to strike Sawicki’s class allegations, said its motion Friday (docket 2:22-cv-14425) in U.S. District Court for Southern Florida in Fort Pierce. Discovery should be stayed because resolution of the pending motions “will dispose of or substantially narrow the scope of claims in this action,” it said. LoanDepot also favors doing discovery in three phases “to effectively manage this litigation, conserve party and judicial resources, and resolve factual disputes” about the merits of Sawicki’s individual claims, it said. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon previously denied loanDepot’s three separate motions to strike the class allegations and to stay or bifurcate discovery, giving the defendant until Friday to refile the requests as “two consolidated motions” (see 2303010003). LoanDepot's separate refiled motion Friday to strike Sawicki's class allegations said the plaintiff "seeks to represent four classes, all of which are fatally flawed, and in a manner that discovery cannot repair."