Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund et al v. Doe
| Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund and Charles A Whobrey |
| Officer John Doe |
| 1:2021cv01734 |
| March 31, 2021 |
| US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois |
| John F Kness |
| Labor: E.R.I.S.A. |
| 29 U.S.C. ยง 1001 |
| None |
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| Filing 8 ATTORNEY Appearance for Plaintiffs Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund, Charles A Whobrey by Timothy Craig Reuter (Reuter, Timothy) |
| Filing 7 MINUTE entry before the Honorable John F. Kness: Before the Court is Plaintiff's motion for leave to serve a third party subpoena in advance of the Rule 26(f) conference #5 . Plaintiff seeks expedited discovery in the form of a subpoena on TCF National Bank seeking to identify the currently unidentified defendant ("John Doe"). Under Rule 26(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a party may not seek discovery from any source before the parties have conferred as required by Rule 26(f). Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(d); Dallas Buyers Club LLC v. Does 1-26, 14-cv-360, 2014 WL 1612251 at *1 (E.D. Wis. Apr. 22, 2014). But courts can allow expedited discovery before a Rule 26(f) conference if, after consideration of all the surrounding circumstances, the movant shows good cause for the request and the request is reasonable. Id.; Malibu Media, LLC v. Doe, 13-cv-8484, 2014 WL 1228383 at *3 (N.D. Ill. Mar. 24, 2014). Other courts have recognized a similar, if more faceted, five-part test from Sony Music Entm't Inc. v. Doe 1-40, 326 F. Supp. 556 (S.D.N.Y. 2004) as the appropriate standard governing requests for expedited discovery. This five-part test requires (1) a prima facie claim of actionable harm, (2) specificity of the discovery request, (3) the absence of alternative means to obtain the subpoenaed information, (4) a central need for the subpoenaed information to advance the claim and, (5) consideration of the defendant's privacy interests. First Time Videos, LLC v. Does 1-500, 276 F.R.D. 241, 248 (N.D. Ill. 2011). Under either formulation of the test, Plaintiff here has met its burden and is entitled to serve the requested subpoena. Plaintiff alleges that Defendant John Doe received the overpayment of undeserved pension payments made to a deceased beneficiary. Plaintiff seeks only to identify the owner of the bank account into which the alleged overpayments were deposited. The information Plaintiff seeks is narrow (only the name and address of the individual or individuals who either jointly owned or had access to the relevant account), it is unavailable elsewhere (only the bank knows who owns the account, and only by identifying the account owner can Plaintiff determine who might have taken the funds), Plaintiff will not be able to move forward with the action without this identifying information, and Defendant's minimal interest in the protection of his identity is outweighed by Plaintiff's right to prosecute this suit. Put another way, these considerations demonstrate good cause to seek reasonable expedited discovery that will not unduly prejudice Defendant. Accordingly, the motion is granted. Mailed notice (ef, ) |
| Filing 6 ATTORNEY Appearance for Plaintiffs Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund, Charles A Whobrey by Daniel Eugene Sullivan (Sullivan, Daniel) |
| Filing 5 MOTION by Plaintiffs Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund, Charles A Whobrey for discovery (Kleine, Kevin) |
| Filing 4 ATTORNEY Appearance for Plaintiffs Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund, Charles A Whobrey by Rebecca Kate McMahon (McMahon, Rebecca) |
| Filing 3 ATTORNEY Appearance for Plaintiffs Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund, Charles A Whobrey by Kevin Matthew Kleine (Kleine, Kevin) |
| Filing 2 CIVIL Cover Sheet (Kleine, Kevin) |
| Filing 1 COMPLAINT filed by Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund, Charles A Whobrey; Filing fee $ 402, receipt number 0752-18074318. (Attachments: #1 Exhibit A)(Kleine, Kevin) |
| CASE ASSIGNED to the Honorable John F. Kness. Designated as Magistrate Judge the Honorable Beth W. Jantz. Case assignment: Random assignment. (jg, ) |
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