LANDFALL 2, INC., a Florida corporation, Plaintiff, v. DATASCORE-AI, LLC, a Texas limited liability company; Brent Biggs, individually; and Datascore Enterprises, Corp., a Delaware corporation, Defendants CASE NO. 22-80801-CV-MIDDLEBROOKS/Matthewman United States District Court, S.D. Florida Signed March 20, 2023 Entered March 21, 2023 Counsel Christopher J. Malafis, The Malafis Firm, P.A., Merritt Island, FL, Darren Raymond Aponte, Aponte Law, P.A., Palmetto Bay, FL, for Plaintiff. Amy Yoon, Pro Hac Vice, Binah B. Yeung, Pro Hac Vice, Cairncross & Hempelmann, P.S., Seattle, WA, Woodrow Heath Pollack, Shutts and Bowen, LLP, Tampa, FL, for Defendants. Middlebrooks, Donald M., United States District Judge ORDER DENYING LANDFALL'S MOTION FOR STAY *1 THIS CAUSE is before the Court upon Counter-Defendant Landfall 2, Inc.’s (“Landfall”) Motion for Stay of Entry of Judgment and Stay of Proceedings. (DE 95). Counter-Plaintiff Datascore Enterprises, Corp. (“Datascore”) opposes the Motion. For the following reasons, the Motion is denied. Landfall seeks a stay of 30 days entry of judgment as to this Court's prior orders (DE 80; DE 90) awarding fees/costs and entry of final default judgment as to Datascore's counterclaims (DE 93). In support, Landfall's new counsel represents that his client (via Mr. Kevin Brody) was unaware of the discovery misconduct in this case that led to the numerous orders resulting in Landfall's pleadings being struck, monetary sanctions awarded, and clerk's entry of default. (DE 95 at 2). In essence, Landfall now wishes to lay blame at the feet of its previous lawyer, Mr. Darren Aponte. Moreover, Landfall's new counsel represents that he needs additional time to understand the issues in this case. The Court does not find Landfall's representations convincing. The record is replete with examples of Landfall's Rule 30(b)(6) corporate representative, Jason Fine, having personal knowledge of the discovery misconduct and consistent failures to meet deadlines. (See, e.g., Declaration of Jason Fine, 12/28/2022, DE 66-1 at ¶ 12) (declaring under penalty of perjury: “I attended the hearing on December 13, 2022, when Defense Counsel, Binah Yeung, argued the same allegations made in DE 46 [Datascore's Motion for Sanctions] and repeated how the deposition misconduct was the most egregious she had encountered in her career.”). The December 13 hearing referenced in Mr. Fine's declaration was before Magistrate Judge Matthewman on Landfall's discovery misconduct and the status of discovery more generally. (See DE 47; DE 51). Regardless of whether Landfall's corporate representative agreed with the characterization of its discovery misconduct, they were clearly aware of what was going on in this case. And in any event, Landfall is bound by the actions of its lawyer. See Link v. Wabash R. Co., 370 U.S. 626, 633-34 (1962) (“Petitioner voluntarily chose this attorney as his representative in the action, and he cannot now avoid the consequences of the acts or omissions of this freely selected agent.”). Datascore, on the other hand, has had to spend an enormous amount of litigation resources to vindicate itself in the face of Landfall's discovery misconduct. (See, e.g., Magistrate Judge Matthewman's R&R on Imposition of Sanctions, DE 78 at 38) (“Defendant (and this Court) have wasted countless hours on this case in a failed effort to simply get Plaintiff to participate in good faith in this case and to provide requisite discovery.”).[1] The Court had to subsequently cancel the trial of this matter just ten days before the trial date. (DE 83 at 2). There is no putting that genie back in the bottle. Accordingly, having weighed the competing interests, it is hereby ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that: *2 (1) Landfall's Motion for Stay of Entry of Judgment and Stay of Proceedings (DE 95) is DENIED. (2) Landfall may file a response to Datascore's Motion for Final Default Judgment (DE 93) on or by April 7, 2023. Landfall's response is limited to arguing why an evidentiary hearing is necessary for the Court to determine damages. Datascore may file a reply within 7 days of Landfall's response. Footnotes [1] I adopted Judge Matthewman's Report and Recommendations on February 16, 2023. (DE 83).