American River AG, Inc. v. Vestis Group

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 8 9 AMERICAN RIVER, AG, INC., A No. 2:19-CV-02203-TLN-DB 10 California corporation,

11 Plaintiff, AMENDED PRETRIAL SCHEDULING 12 v. ORDER 13 VESTIS GROUP, an Illinois corporation, and CONSOLIDATED 14 MILL SUPPLY, INC., an Illinois corporation doing business as 15 VESTIS GROUP, 16 Defendants. 17 ______________________________

18 VESTIS GROUP, an Illinois 19 corporation, and CONSOLIDATED MILL SUPPLY, INC., an Illinois 20 corporation doing business as VESTIS GROUP, 21 Counter-claimants, 22

23 v.

24 AMERICAN RIVER, AG, INC., A California corporation, 25 Counter-defendant. 26 27 /// 28 1 After reviewing the parties’ Joint Status Report, the Court 2 hereby amends the Pretrial Scheduling Order. 3 I. SERVICE OF PROCESS 4 All named Defendants have been served and no further service 5 is permitted without leave of court, good cause having been 6 shown. 7 II. ADDITIONAL PARTIES/AMENDMENTS/PLEADINGS 8 No joinder of parties or amendments to pleadings is 9 permitted without leave of court, good cause having been shown. 10 III. JURISDICTION/VENUE 11 Jurisdiction is predicated upon 28 U.S.C. § 1332. Venue is 12 not disputed. 13 IV. DISCOVERY 14 All discovery, with the exception of expert discovery, shall 15 be completed by May 20, 2022. In this context, “completed” means 16 that all discovery shall have been conducted so that all 17 depositions have been taken and any disputes relative to 18 discovery shall have been resolved by appropriate order if 19 necessary and, where discovery has been ordered, the order has 20 been obeyed. All motions to compel discovery must be noticed on 21 the magistrate judge’s calendar in accordance with the local 22 rules of this Court. 23 Any request to deviate from the Federal Rules of Civil 24 Procedure should be made to the assigned Magistrate Judge. 25 V. DISCLOSURE OF EXPERT WITNESSES 26 All counsel are to designate in writing, file with the 27 Court, and serve upon all other parties the name, address, and 28 area of expertise of each expert that they propose to tender at 1 trial not later than July 18, 2022.1 The designation shall be 2 accompanied by a written report prepared and signed by the 3 witness. The report shall comply with Fed. R. Civ. P. 4 26(a)(2)(B). 5 Within twenty (20) days after the designation of expert 6 witnesses, any party may designate a supplemental list of expert 7 witnesses who will express an opinion on a subject covered by an 8 expert designated by an adverse party. 9 The right to designate a supplemental expert for rebuttal 10 purposes only shall apply to a party who has not previously 11 disclosed an expert witness on the date set for expert witness 12 disclosure by this Pretrial Scheduling Order. 13 Failure of a party to comply with the disclosure schedule as 14 set forth above in all likelihood will preclude that party from 15 calling the expert witness at the time of trial. An expert 16 witness not appearing on the designation will not be permitted to 17 testify unless the party offering the witness demonstrates: (a) 18 that the necessity for the witness could not have been reasonably 19 anticipated at the time the list was proffered; (b) that the 20 Court and opposing counsel were promptly notified upon discovery 21 of the witness; and (c) that the witness was promptly made 22 available for deposition. 23 For purposes of this Pretrial Scheduling Order, an “expert” 24 is any person who may be used at trial to present evidence under 25 Rules 702, 703, and 705 of the Federal Rules of Evidence, which 26 include both “percipient experts” (persons who, because of their

27 1 The discovery of experts will include whether any motions based on Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (1993) and/or Kumho Tire 28 Co. v. Carmichael, 119 S. Ct. 1167 (1999) are anticipated. 1 expertise, have rendered expert opinions in the normal course of 2 their work duties or observations pertinent to the issues in the 3 case) and “retained experts” (persons specifically designated by 4 a party to be a testifying expert for the purposes of 5 litigation). 6 Each party shall identify whether a disclosed expert is 7 percipient, retained, or both. It will be assumed that a party 8 designating a retained expert has acquired the express permission 9 of the witness to be so listed. 10 Parties designating percipient experts must state in the 11 designation who is responsible for arranging the deposition of 12 such persons. 13 All experts designated are to be fully prepared at the time 14 of designation to render an informed opinion, and give their 15 bases for their opinion, so that they will be able to give full 16 and complete testimony at any deposition taken by the opposing 17 party. Experts will not be permitted to testify at the trial as 18 to any information gathered or evaluated, or opinion formed, 19 after deposition taken subsequent to designation. 20 Counsel are instructed to complete all discovery of expert 21 witnesses in a timely manner in order to comply with the Court’s 22 deadline for filing dispositive motions. 23 VI. SUPPLEMENTAL DISCOVERY 24 Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(e), the 25 parties shall exchange any supplemental disclosures and responses 26 (including expert supplemental materials) no later than thirty 27 (30) days prior to the dispositive motion hearing date. Any 28 supplemental disclosures and responses necessary after that date 1 will require leave of Court good cause having been shown. 2 VII. MOTION HEARING SCHEDULE 3 All dispositive motions, except motions for continuances, 4 temporary restraining orders or other emergency applications, 5 shall be heard no later than November 17, 2022. 6 All purely legal issues are to be resolved by timely 7 pretrial motions. Local Rule 230 governs the calendaring and 8 procedures of civil motions with the following additions: 9 (a) The opposition and reply must be filed by 4:00 p.m. on 10 the day due; and 11 (b) When the last day for filing an opposition brief falls 12 on a legal holiday, the opposition brief shall be filed 13 on the last court day immediately preceding the legal 14 holiday. 15 Failure to comply with Local Rule 230(c), as modified by 16 this order, may be deemed consent to the motion and the court may 17 dispose of the motion summarily. Further, failure to timely 18 oppose a summary judgment motion2 may result in the granting of 19 that motion if the movant shifts the burden to the nonmovant to 20 demonstrate that a genuine issue of material fact remains for 21 trial. 22 The Court places a page limit for points and authorities 23 (exclusive of exhibits and other supporting documentation) of 24 twenty (20) pages on all initial moving papers, twenty (20) pages 25 on oppositions, and ten (10) pages for replies. All requests for 26 page limit increases must be made in writing to the Court setting

27 2 The Court urges any party that contemplates bringing a motion for summary judgment or who must oppose a motion for summary judgment to review Local Rule 28 260. 1 forth any and all reasons for any increase in page limit at least 2 fourteen (14) days prior to the filing of the motion. 3 For the Court’s convenience, citations to Supreme Court 4 cases should include parallel citations to the Supreme Court 5 Reporter. 6 The parties are reminded that a motion in limine is a 7 pretrial procedural device designed to address the admissibility 8 of evidence. The Court will look with disfavor upon 9 dispositional motions presented in the guise of motions in 10 limine. 11 The parties are cautioned that failure to raise a 12 dispositive legal issue that could have been tendered to the 13 court by proper pretrial motion prior to the dispositive motion 14 cut-off date may constitute waiver of such issue. 15 VIII. TRIAL SETTING 16 The parties are ordered to file a Joint Notice of Trial 17 Readiness not later than thirty (30) days after receiving this 18 Court’s ruling(s) on the last filed dispositive motion(s). If 19 the parties do not intend to file dispositive motions, the 20 parties are ordered to file a Joint Notice of Trial Readiness not 21 later than one hundred twenty (120) days after the close of 22 discovery and the notice must include statements of intent to 23 forgo the filing of dispositive motions. 24 The parties are to set forth in their Notice of Trial 25 Readiness, the appropriateness of special procedures, their 26 estimated trial length, any request for a jury, their 27 availability for trial, and if the parties are willing to attend 28 a settlement conference. The parties’ Notice of Trial Readiness 1 Statement shall also estimate how many court days each party will 2 require to present its case, including opening statements and 3 closing arguments. The parties’ estimate shall include time 4 necessary for jury selection, time necessary to finalize jury 5 instructions and instruct the jury. 6 After review of the parties’ Joint Notice of Trial 7 Readiness, the Court will issue an order that sets forth dates 8 for a Final Pretrial Conference and Trial. 9 IX. SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE 10 The parties may request a settlement conference prior to the 11 Final Pretrial Conference if they feel it would lead to the 12 possible resolution of the case. In the event a settlement 13 conference date is requested, the parties shall file said request 14 jointly, in writing. The request must state whether the parties 15 waive disqualification, pursuant to Local Rule 270(b), before a 16 settlement judgment can be assigned to the case. Absent the 17 parties’ affirmatively requesting that the assigned Judge or 18 Magistrate Judge participate in the settlement conference AND 19 waiver, pursuant to Local Rule 270(b), a settlement judge will be 20 randomly assigned to the case. 21 In the event a settlement conference is set by the Court, 22 counsel are instructed to have a principal with full settlement 23 authority present at the Settlement Conference or to be fully 24 authorized to settle the matter on any terms. At least seven (7) 25 calendar days before the settlement conference, counsel for each 26 party shall submit to the chambers of the settlement judge a 27 confidential Settlement Conference Statement. Such statements 28 are neither to be filed with the Clerk nor served on opposing nee nn meen ene EOE EIEIO IDE IIE II ES

1 counsel. Each party, however, shall serve notice on all other 2 parties that the statement has been submitted. If the settlement 3 judge is not the trial judge, the Settlement Conference Statement 4 shall not be disclosed to the trial judge. 5 Xx. COURTESY COPIES 6 No party shall submit paper courtesy copies of pleadings or 7 exhibits to the Court unless expressly ordered to do so. 8 XI. VOLUNTARY DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROGRAM 9 Pursuant to Local Rule 271, parties may stipulate at any 10 stage in the proceedings to refer the action, in whole or in 11 part, to the Voluntary Dispute Resolution Program. 12 XII. MODIFICATION OF PRETRIAL SCHEDULING ORDER 13 The parties are reminded that pursuant to Rule 16(b) of the 14 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Pretrial Scheduling Order 15 shall not be modified except by leave of court upon a showing of 16 | good cause. Agreement by the parties pursuant to stipulation 17 alone to modify the Pretrial Scheduling Order does not constitute 18 good cause. Except in extraordinary circumstances, 19 | unavailability of witnesses or counsel will not constitute good 20 cause. 21 XIII. OBJECTIONS TO PRETRIAL SCHEDULING ORDER 22 This Pretrial Scheduling Order will become final without 23 further order of the Court unless objections are filed within 24 fourteen (14) days of service of this Order. 25 IT IS SO ORDERED. ry /) 26 | DATED: October 4, 2021 “ \ / fb 21 Troy L. Nunley 28 United States District Judge