Order | Filed: July 14, 2026
| Entered: July 14, 2026
Walker v. State Farm Lloyds
Contract: Insurance | Texas Northern
Order on Motion for Extension of Time
ELECTRONIC ORDER:
The Court is in receipt of the parties' Joint Mediation Report (the "Report") (Doc. No. 26) and Defendant State Farm Lloyds' Unopposed Motion to Extend the Mediation Deadline (the "Motion") (Doc. No. 27). In both the Report and the Motion, the parties state that they need more time to review expert reports prior to mediation. See Doc. No. 26 at 1; Doc. No. 27 at 2. The parties rescheduled mediation, without leave of Court, to September 24, 2026, apparently for no other reason than to give themselves more time to review expert reports. See Doc. No. 26 at 1. The parties then moved to extend the Court-ordered mediation deadline only after deciding to modify the deadline on their own. See Doc. No. 27 (emphasis added).
To start, the Court never authorized the parties to create their own mediation schedule. It is never the practice of the Court to permit parties to decide which court orders they will comply with and to what extent. While the Scheduling Order (and any orders modifying deadlines therein) may seem merely routine, it is nevertheless an order of the Court to be complied with by the parties as directed unless they are otherwise exempt by the Court. The Court's intention that the parties comply with its Scheduling Order is made apparent when reading Paragraph 20: "[s]hould any party or counsel fail to cooperate in accomplishing anything required by this order, such party or counsel or both may be subject to sanctions, including dismissal or entry of default without further notice." Doc. No. 18 at 6, &para 20.
Turning now to Defendant's Motion, the Court DENIES the same without prejudice to re-filing. First, although Defendant does properly address the standard for modifications of a scheduling order under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16(b)(4), Defendant only references the "good cause" standard set forth in Rule 6(b). See Doc. No. 27 at 2. However, Defendant filed its Motion requesting extension of the mediation deadline AFTER the deadline had already expired, therefore requiring Defendant to also address the standard set forth in Rule 6(b)(1)(B). See Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(b)(1)(B) (court may extend deadline "on motion made after the time has expired if the party failed to act because of excusable neglect"). Defendant makes no mention of the "excusable neglect" standard that is required in a situation such as this. Further, the Court's previous order extending the mediation deadline (Doc. No. 22) expressly states that the mediation deadline will not be extended again "absent good cause and exigent circumstances." Doc. No. 22. Defendant does not address any "exigent circumstances" requiring extension of the mediation deadline. Accordingly, for the foregoing reasons, the Court DENIES the Motion without prejudice to re-filing.
Notwithstanding the Court's ruling herein, the mediation deadline has still passed, and as the Scheduling Order requires, the parties must mediate. Accordingly, the Court, on its own motion, extends the mediation deadline in this case. The parties are ORDERED to complete mediation by August 7, 2026 and to file their joint mediation report by August 14, 2026. If the parties' current mediator is not available to mediate on that date, the parties SHALL notify the Court of such by July 16, 2026.
Additionally, the Court points out that local counsel for Plaintiff did not sign the parties' Report. The undersigned's Judge Specific Requirements make very clear that local counsel must sign ALL documents filed with the Court pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11. Attorney Shaun W. Hodge, The Hodge Law Firm PLLC, and attorney William D. Taylor have appeared in this Court on numerous matters and are well aware of the undersigned's requirement that local counsel sign all filings. From the date of this Order, if any document filed by or on behalf of Plaintiff does not include local counsel's signature, that document will be IMMEDIATELY UNFILED regardless of any filing-related deadline.
If any party fails to comply with any part of this Order, that party AND their counsel-of-record will be ordered to EACH show cause, in writing, why they should not each be sanctioned for their non-compliant conduct.
(Ordered by Judge Ed Kinkeade on 7/14/2026) (chmb)