United States District Court, D. Colorado
ORDER RE DESIGNATION OF NONPARTIES AT FAULT
R.
BROOKE JACKSON UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
On June
21, 2014, Sullivan Finch, then a minor, was injured when the
BMX bicycle he was riding in a competition in Weld County,
Colorado crashed. He and his father Douglas Finch, who
originally brought this action on Sullivan's behalf,
believe that the cause of the accident was a failure in the
bike's handlebar assembly. Plaintiff asserts product
liability claims against Lee Chi Enterprises Co. Ltd. (Lee
Chi), a Taiwan-based company alleged to be the manufacturer,
wholesaler, designer and distributor of the bike components,
and The Cycle Group, a California corporation also alleged to
be a manufacturer, wholesaler, designer and distributor of
the bike components. Federal jurisdiction is based on
diversity of citizenship.
The
case is before the Court on Lee Chi's motion for an
extension of time to designate non-parties at fault. For
reasons that I discuss in this order, the motion is denied.
FACTS
A
chronology of facts that I find to be relevant to the pending
motion, and that are undisputed unless otherwise noted,
follows:
1. The
accident occurred on June 21 or 22, 2014.
2.
Plaintiff's counsel notified The Cycle Group of the
accident and that it was allegedly caused by a defective
“Promax” stem by letter dated July 24, 2014.
See ECF No. 49-1.
3. The
Cycle Group in turn notified Lee Chi, and by letter dated
August 8, 2014. Lee Chi's insurance broker asked
plaintiff's counsel for more details concerning the
accident. See ECF No. 49-2.
4. On
June 1, 2016 plaintiff's counsel sent a formal demand
letter to The Cycle Group and Lee Chi's insurance broker.
ECF No. 49-3 (letter) and 49-4 (UPS delivery confirmation).
Counsel included a copy of an engineering report concerning
the cause of the accident prepared by Seth W. Bayer, P.E., of
Ponderosa Associates Limited dated July 27, 2015 (ECF No.
49-6).
5. This
lawsuit was filed on November 30, 2016. ECF No. 1.
6. By
letter dated December 11, 2016 plaintiffs notified Lee
Chi's Chairman and President, Ah-Pin Lin, of the lawsuit
and requested that Lee Chi waive formal service. See
ECF No. 49-5.
7. The
Cycle Group was served on August 18, 2017. See ECF
No. 24-1.
8. Lee
Chi was served with the summons and complaint on November 20,
2017. This was accomplished by the diplomatic method through
the United States Department of State. The return of service
was filed on May 7, 2018. See ECF Nos. 29 and 29-1.
9. On
May 9, 2018 plaintiff moved for an order setting Lee
Chi's answer date at June 22, 2018, a date that had been
agreed between counsel for the plaintiff and The Cycle Group
to allow additional time for the defendants to determine
whether the same counsel would ...