Hightower

I. BACKGROUND1

21 In 2016, the Synta defendants decided to cease operations and to dispose of their corporate 22 records. Dkt. No. 198 at 7; Dkt. No. 199 at 5. It is not clear whether the records were removed 23 from the Synta defendants by a third party and still exist, or whether they were destroyed. See 24 Dkt. No. 198 at 1; Dkt. No. 199-1 at 2-3. However, it appears to be undisputed that the records 25 are no longer in the Synta defendants’ possession, custody or control. 26 Plaintiffs seek discovery of the circumstances of the records’ destruction or removal, 27 including the Synta defendants’ reasons and motivations for disposing of the records and the location of a third party, Joyce Huang, who participated in the removal or destruction of the records. Dkt. Nos. 199-2 and 199-3 (deposition notices). Defendants are willing to provide some deposition testimony regarding these matters but object to the scope of Plaintiffs’ inquiry. See, e.g., Dkt. No. 198 at 8; Dkt. No. 199 at 6; Dkt. No. 200 at 4-5. The parties also disagree about the scheduling these depositions. II. DISCUSSION The parties’ disputes concern: (1) Topics 1-3…