Velez v. Awning Windows

This appeal tells a cautionary tale of the risks run by parties who adopt a laissez-faire attitude toward court-imposed deadlines. The defendants in this case - Awning Windows, Inc. (AWI) and the Estate of Ismael Nieves-Valle (the Estate) - acted in that fashion. The district court, after patiently granting several extensions and issuing pointed warnings, finally decided that enough was enough. It held the defendants to the deadlines previously announced, denied certain of their motions for noncompliance with the court's scheduling order, disregarded the defendants' tardy opposition to a motion for partial summary judgment, took the proffer of plaintiff-appellee Minerva VÉlez-Cortes (VÉlez) as true, and resolved the issue of liability in VÉlez's favor. A jury thereafter awarded VÉlez nearly three-quarters of a million dollars in damages. The defendants appeal. Discerning no semblance of error, we affirm. I. TRAVEL OF THE CASE