Harris et al v. Nabors Drilling Technologies USA, Inc. et al et al

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO
JAY G. HARRIS, et al.,
Plaintiffs,
v. Civ. No. 24-331 MLG/GJF
NABORS DRILLING TECHNOLOGIES,
et al.,
Defendants.
ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION TO COMPEL PRODUCTION OF
REDACTED SUMMARY SLIDES
THIS MATTER is before the Court on Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel Production and
Challenge to Nabors’ First Amended Privilege Log (Dkt. No. 155). After the completion of
briefing, this Court entered an Order Denying in Part Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel and Requiring
Production of Redacted Summary Slides for Ex Parte In Camera Review (Dkt. No. 176). The Court
reserved ruling on the request to produce the unredacted versions of NDTUSA001837-1838 and
NDTUSA001833-1836 (“Summary Slides”) until after its in camera inspection. As ordered,
Defendant Nabors Drilling Technologies USA, Inc. (“Nabors”) timely produced to the
undersigned the unredacted versions of the Summary Slides. Having reviewed them, the Court will
deny the request to compel their production for lack of relevance and proportionality under Federal
Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(1).
Rule 26(b)(1) defines the scope of discovery: “Parties may obtain discovery regarding any
nonprivileged matter that is relevant to any party’s claim or defense and proportional to the needs
of the case.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(1). The redacted version of the Summary Slides removed
reference to a different incident on the X53 rig that occurred after the incident in this case. Not
only did that incident post-date the death of Mr. Jose Martin Moreno, Jr., it involved a different
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location and a different drilling rig procedure. Even under the relatively elastic standard of Rule
26(b)(1), the information about the X53 incident is neither relevant nor proportional to Plaintiffs’
claims or to Nabors’ defenses here.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Plaintiffs’ request to produce the unredacted
versions of documents NDTUSA001837-1838 and NDTUSA001833-1836 is DENIED.
Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel Production and Challenge to Nabors’ First Amended Privilege Log
(Dkt. No. 155) is thus DENIED in its entirety.
SO ORDERED.
__________________________________________
THE HONORABLE GREGORY J. FOURATT
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
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