1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 12 ESTATE OF WILLIAM HAYDEN Case No.: 3:23-cv-00785-DMS-AHG SCHUCK, et al., 13 ORDER GRANTING IN PART Plaintiffs, JOINT MOTION TO MODIFY THE 14 SCHEDULING ORDER v. 15 COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO, et al., [ECF Nos. 54, 56] 16 Defendants. 17 18 Before the Court is the parties’ joint motion to modify the scheduling order. ECF 19 No. 56; see also ECF No. 54. The parties seek an order from the Court extending the expert 20 discovery deadline and pretrial motion filing deadline by approximately three months. Id. 21 Parties seeking to continue deadlines in the scheduling order must demonstrate good 22 cause. FED. R. CIV. P. 16(b)(4) (“A schedule may be modified only for good cause and with 23 the judge’s consent”); ECF No. 47 at 5 (Amended Scheduling Order, stating that “[t]he 24 dates [] set forth herein will not be modified except for good cause shown”); see also 25 Chmb.R. at 2 (stating that any request for continuance requires “[a] showing of good cause 26 for the request”). 27 “Good cause” is a non-rigorous standard that has been construed broadly across 28 procedural and statutory contexts. Ahanchian v. Xenon Pictures, Inc., 624 F.3d 1253, 1259 1 (9th Cir. 2010). The good cause standard focuses on the diligence of the party seeking to 2 amend the scheduling order and the reasons for seeking modification. Johnson v. Mammoth 3 Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 609 (9th Cir. 1992) (“[T]he focus of the inquiry is upon 4 the moving party’s reasons for seeking modification. . . . If that party was not diligent, the 5 inquiry should end.”) (internal citation omitted). Therefore, “a party demonstrates good 6 cause by acting diligently to meet the original deadlines set forth by the court.” Merck v. 7 Swift Transp. Co., No. CV-16-01103-PHX-ROS, 2018 WL 4492362, at *2 (D. Ariz. Sept. 8 19, 2018). 9 Here, the parties have represented to the Court that they need more time to conduct 10 discovery. ECF No. 56 at 2. Specifically, the parties explain that they need to “review 11 voluminous discovery and adequately prepare for numerous depositions.” Id.; ECF No. 12 56-1 at 4 (case file contains “days’ worth of video recordings and audio interview 13 recordings” and the “parties are in the process of coordinating ten depositions”). The 14 parties later provided more detailed reasons for their extension request, which showed their 15 diligence by listing when discovery requests have been served and responded to, and more 16 thoroughly explained the scheduling conflicts alluded to in the joint motion. Email to 17 Chambers (Mar. 4, 2024, at 12:35 PM). As such, the parties request a three-month 18 extension of the scheduling order deadlines. ECF No. 56 at 2; Email to Chambers (Mar. 4, 19 2024, at 12:35 PM) (requesting additional deadlines be extended). 20 Despite the joint motion’s shortcomings,1 the Court appreciates that the parties are 21 working together and concludes that the parties have demonstrated diligence. Upon due 22 23 24 1 The Court notes that the parties’ original motion (ECF No. 54) was a stipulation of dates 25 and contained no explanation. As such, court staff reminded the parties of the Court’s Chambers Rules and the parties filed their amended joint motion (ECF No. 56). However, 26 the amended motion—while better than the first—did not contain sufficient detail to 27 support such a large, three-month extension. The parties then emailed court staff additional information. 28 1 consideration, the Court finds good cause to GRANT IN PART the motion. The Court 2 issues the following First Amended Scheduling Order: 3 1. All fact discovery must be completed by all parties by July 11, 2024. 4 “Completed” means that all discovery requests governed by Rules 30-36 of the Federal 5 Rules of Civil Procedure, and discovery subpoenas under Rule 45, must be propounded 6 sufficiently in advance of the discovery cut-off date so that they may be completed by 7 that date, taking into account the time permitted in the Rules for service, notice, and 8 responses. If any discovery disputes arise, counsel must meet and confer promptly and 9 in good faith in compliance with Local Rule 26.1(a). A failure to comply in this regard 10 will result in a waiver of a party’s discovery issue. Absent an order of the court, no 11 stipulation continuing or altering this requirement will be recognized by the Court. 12 The Court expects counsel to make every effort to resolve all disputes without court 13 intervention through the meet-and-confer process. If the parties reach an impasse on any 14 discovery issue, the movant must email chambers at efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov no 15 later than 45 days after the date of service of the written discovery response that is in 16 dispute, seeking a telephonic conference with the Court to discuss the discovery dispute. 17 The email must include: (1) at least three proposed times mutually agreed upon by the 18 parties for the telephonic conference; (2) a neutral statement of the dispute; and (3) one 19 sentence describing (not arguing) each parties’ position. The movant must copy opposing 20 counsel on the email. No discovery motion may be filed until the Court has conducted its 21 pre-motion telephonic conference, unless the movant has obtained leave of Court. All 22 parties are ordered to read and to fully comply with the Chambers Rules of 23 Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard, which can be found on the district court website 24 25 26 2 In their motion, the parties state that they “do not anticipate that the request for an 27 extension on the dates list above will affect the remaining dates in the scheduling order.” ECF No. 56 at 3. However, the dates requested by the parties do impact the remaining dates 28 1 and at: 2 https://www.casd.uscourts.gov/judges/goddard/docs/Goddard%20Civil%20Pretrial%20Pr 3 ocedures.pdf. 4 2. The parties must designate their respective experts in writing by 5 August 15, 2024. The parties must identify any person who may be used at trial to present 6 evidence pursuant to Rules 702, 703 or 705 of the Fed. R. Evid. This requirement is not 7 limited to retained experts. The date for exchange of rebuttal experts must be by 8 September 19, 2024. The written designations must include the name, address and 9 telephone number of the expert and a reasonable summary of the testimony the expert is 10 expected to provide. The list must also include the normal rates the expert charges for 11 deposition and trial testimony. 12 3. By October 17, 2024, each party must comply with the disclosure provisions 13 in Rule 26(a)(2)(B) and (C) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. This disclosure 14 requirement applies to all persons retained or specially employed to provide expert 15 testimony, or whose duties as an employee of the party regularly involve the giving of 16 expert testimony. Except as provided in the paragraph below, any party that fails to 17 make these disclosures will not, absent substantial justification, be permitted to use 18 evidence or testimony not disclosed at any hearing or at the time of trial. In addition, 19 the Court may impose sanctions as permitted by Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(c). 20 4. Any party must supplement its disclosure regarding contradictory or rebuttal 21 evidence under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2)(D) by November 21, 2024. 22 5. All expert discovery must be completed by all parties by December 19, 2024.
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 12 ESTATE OF WILLIAM HAYDEN Case No.: 3:23-cv-00785-DMS-AHG SCHUCK, et al., 13 ORDER GRANTING IN PART Plaintiffs, JOINT MOTION TO MODIFY THE 14 SCHEDULING ORDER v. 15 COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO, et al., [ECF Nos. 54, 56] 16 Defendants. 17 18 Before the Court is the parties’ joint motion to modify the scheduling order. ECF 19 No. 56; see also ECF No. 54. The parties seek an order from the Court extending the expert 20 discovery deadline and pretrial motion filing deadline by approximately three months. Id. 21 Parties seeking to continue deadlines in the scheduling order must demonstrate good 22 cause. FED. R. CIV. P. 16(b)(4) (“A schedule may be modified only for good cause and with 23 the judge’s consent”); ECF No. 47 at 5 (Amended Scheduling Order, stating that “[t]he 24 dates [] set forth herein will not be modified except for good cause shown”); see also 25 Chmb.R. at 2 (stating that any request for continuance requires “[a] showing of good cause 26 for the request”). 27 “Good cause” is a non-rigorous standard that has been construed broadly across 28 procedural and statutory contexts. Ahanchian v. Xenon Pictures, Inc., 624 F.3d 1253, 1259 1 (9th Cir. 2010). The good cause standard focuses on the diligence of the party seeking to 2 amend the scheduling order and the reasons for seeking modification. Johnson v. Mammoth 3 Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 609 (9th Cir. 1992) (“[T]he focus of the inquiry is upon 4 the moving party’s reasons for seeking modification. . . . If that party was not diligent, the 5 inquiry should end.”) (internal citation omitted). Therefore, “a party demonstrates good 6 cause by acting diligently to meet the original deadlines set forth by the court.” Merck v. 7 Swift Transp. Co., No. CV-16-01103-PHX-ROS, 2018 WL 4492362, at *2 (D. Ariz. Sept. 8 19, 2018). 9 Here, the parties have represented to the Court that they need more time to conduct 10 discovery. ECF No. 56 at 2. Specifically, the parties explain that they need to “review 11 voluminous discovery and adequately prepare for numerous depositions.” Id.; ECF No. 12 56-1 at 4 (case file contains “days’ worth of video recordings and audio interview 13 recordings” and the “parties are in the process of coordinating ten depositions”). The 14 parties later provided more detailed reasons for their extension request, which showed their 15 diligence by listing when discovery requests have been served and responded to, and more 16 thoroughly explained the scheduling conflicts alluded to in the joint motion. Email to 17 Chambers (Mar. 4, 2024, at 12:35 PM). As such, the parties request a three-month 18 extension of the scheduling order deadlines. ECF No. 56 at 2; Email to Chambers (Mar. 4, 19 2024, at 12:35 PM) (requesting additional deadlines be extended). 20 Despite the joint motion’s shortcomings,1 the Court appreciates that the parties are 21 working together and concludes that the parties have demonstrated diligence. Upon due 22 23 24 1 The Court notes that the parties’ original motion (ECF No. 54) was a stipulation of dates 25 and contained no explanation. As such, court staff reminded the parties of the Court’s Chambers Rules and the parties filed their amended joint motion (ECF No. 56). However, 26 the amended motion—while better than the first—did not contain sufficient detail to 27 support such a large, three-month extension. The parties then emailed court staff additional information. 28 1 consideration, the Court finds good cause to GRANT IN PART the motion. The Court 2 issues the following First Amended Scheduling Order: 3 1. All fact discovery must be completed by all parties by July 11, 2024. 4 “Completed” means that all discovery requests governed by Rules 30-36 of the Federal 5 Rules of Civil Procedure, and discovery subpoenas under Rule 45, must be propounded 6 sufficiently in advance of the discovery cut-off date so that they may be completed by 7 that date, taking into account the time permitted in the Rules for service, notice, and 8 responses. If any discovery disputes arise, counsel must meet and confer promptly and 9 in good faith in compliance with Local Rule 26.1(a). A failure to comply in this regard 10 will result in a waiver of a party’s discovery issue. Absent an order of the court, no 11 stipulation continuing or altering this requirement will be recognized by the Court. 12 The Court expects counsel to make every effort to resolve all disputes without court 13 intervention through the meet-and-confer process. If the parties reach an impasse on any 14 discovery issue, the movant must email chambers at efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov no 15 later than 45 days after the date of service of the written discovery response that is in 16 dispute, seeking a telephonic conference with the Court to discuss the discovery dispute. 17 The email must include: (1) at least three proposed times mutually agreed upon by the 18 parties for the telephonic conference; (2) a neutral statement of the dispute; and (3) one 19 sentence describing (not arguing) each parties’ position. The movant must copy opposing 20 counsel on the email. No discovery motion may be filed until the Court has conducted its 21 pre-motion telephonic conference, unless the movant has obtained leave of Court. All 22 parties are ordered to read and to fully comply with the Chambers Rules of 23 Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard, which can be found on the district court website 24 25 26 2 In their motion, the parties state that they “do not anticipate that the request for an 27 extension on the dates list above will affect the remaining dates in the scheduling order.” ECF No. 56 at 3. However, the dates requested by the parties do impact the remaining dates 28 1 and at: 2 https://www.casd.uscourts.gov/judges/goddard/docs/Goddard%20Civil%20Pretrial%20Pr 3 ocedures.pdf. 4 2. The parties must designate their respective experts in writing by 5 August 15, 2024. The parties must identify any person who may be used at trial to present 6 evidence pursuant to Rules 702, 703 or 705 of the Fed. R. Evid. This requirement is not 7 limited to retained experts. The date for exchange of rebuttal experts must be by 8 September 19, 2024. The written designations must include the name, address and 9 telephone number of the expert and a reasonable summary of the testimony the expert is 10 expected to provide. The list must also include the normal rates the expert charges for 11 deposition and trial testimony. 12 3. By October 17, 2024, each party must comply with the disclosure provisions 13 in Rule 26(a)(2)(B) and (C) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. This disclosure 14 requirement applies to all persons retained or specially employed to provide expert 15 testimony, or whose duties as an employee of the party regularly involve the giving of 16 expert testimony. Except as provided in the paragraph below, any party that fails to 17 make these disclosures will not, absent substantial justification, be permitted to use 18 evidence or testimony not disclosed at any hearing or at the time of trial. In addition, 19 the Court may impose sanctions as permitted by Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(c). 20 4. Any party must supplement its disclosure regarding contradictory or rebuttal 21 evidence under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2)(D) by November 21, 2024. 22 5. All expert discovery must be completed by all parties by December 19, 2024. 23 The parties must comply with the same procedures set forth in the paragraph governing 24 fact discovery. Failure to comply with this section or any other discovery order of the court 25 may result in the sanctions provided for in Fed. R. Civ. P. 37, including a prohibition on 26 the introduction of experts or other designated matters in evidence. 27 6. All other pretrial motions must be filed by January 21, 2025. Counsel for 28 the moving party must obtain a motion hearing date from the law clerk of the judge who 1 will hear the motion. The period of time between the date you request a motion date and 2 the hearing date may vary from one district judge to another. Please plan accordingly. 3 Failure to make a timely request for a motion date may result in the motion not being heard. 4 Motions in limine are to be filed as directed in the Local Rules, or as otherwise set by the 5 district judge. 6 7. A Mandatory Settlement Conference will be conducted on March 26, 2025 7 at 9:30 a.m. in the chambers of Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard. Plaintiff must serve 8 on Defendant a written settlement proposal, which must include a specific demand 9 amount, no later than March 5, 2025. The defendant must respond to the plaintiff in 10 writing with a specific offer amount prior to the Meet and Confer discussion. The parties 11 should not file or otherwise copy the Court on these exchanges. Rather, the parties must 12 include their written settlement proposals in their respective Settlement Conference 13 Statements to the Court. Counsel for the parties must meet and confer in person or by phone 14 no later than March 12, 2025. Each party must prepare a Settlement Conference 15 Statement, which will be served on opposing counsel and lodged with the Court no later 16 than March 19, 2025. The Statement must be lodged in .pdf format via email to 17 efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov (not filed). The substance of the Settlement Conference 18 Statement must comply fully with Judge Goddard’s Mandatory Settlement Conference 19 Rules (located at 20 https://www.casd.uscourts.gov/Judges/goddard/docs/Goddard%20Mandatory%20Settlem 21 ent%20Conference%20Rules.pdf). Each party may also prepare an optional Confidential 22 Settlement Letter for the Court’s review only, to be lodged with the Court no later than 23 March 19, 2025. The Letter must be lodged in .pdf format via email to 24 efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov (not filed). Should a party choose to prepare a Letter, 25 the substance of the Settlement Conference Letter must comply fully with Judge Goddard’s 26 Mandatory Settlement Conference Rules. All parties are ordered to read and to fully 27 comply with the Chambers Rules and Mandatory Settlement Conference Rules of 28 Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard. 1 8. Counsel shall file their Memoranda of Contentions of Fact and Law and take 2 any other action required by Local Rule 16.1(f)(2) by May 30, 2025. 3 9. Counsel shall comply with the pre-trial disclosure requirements of Fed. R. 4 Civ. P. 26(a)(3) by May 30, 2025. Failure to comply with these disclosure requirements 5 could result in evidence preclusion or other sanctions under Fed. R. Civ. P. 37. 6 10. Counsel shall meet and take the action required by Local Rule 16.1(f)(4) by 7 June 6, 2025. At this meeting, counsel shall discuss and attempt to enter into stipulations 8 and agreements resulting in simplification of the triable issues. Counsel shall exchange 9 copies and/or display all exhibits other than those to be used for impeachment. The exhibits 10 shall be prepared in accordance with Local Rule 16.1(f)(4)(c). Counsel shall note any 11 objections they have to any other parties’ Pretrial Disclosures under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12 26(a)(3). Counsel shall cooperate in the preparation of the proposed pretrial conference 13 order. 14 11. Counsel for plaintiff will be responsible for preparing the pretrial order and 15 arranging the meetings of counsel pursuant to Civil Local Rule 16.1(f). By June 13, 2025, 16 plaintiff’s counsel must provide opposing counsel with the proposed pretrial order for 17 review and approval. Opposing counsel must communicate promptly with plaintiff’s 18 attorney concerning any objections to form or content of the pretrial order, and both parties 19 shall attempt promptly to resolve their differences, if any, concerning the order. 20 12. The Proposed Final Pretrial Conference Order, including objections to any 21 other parties’ Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(3) Pretrial Disclosures shall be prepared, served and 22 lodged with the assigned district judge by June 20, 2025, and shall be in the form 23 prescribed in and comply with Local Rule 16.1(f)(6). 24 13. The final Pretrial Conference is scheduled on the calendar of the Honorable 25 Dana M. Sabraw on June 27, 2025 at 10:30 a.m. The trial is scheduled to start on 26 August 4, 2025 at 9:00 a.m. 27 14. The parties must review the chambers’ rules for the assigned district judge 28 and magistrate judge. 1 15. A post trial settlement conference before a magistrate judge may be held 2 || within 30 days of verdict in the case. 3 16. The dates and times set forth herein will not be modified except for good cause 4 || shown. 5 17. Briefs or memoranda in support of or in opposition to any pending motion 6 ||shall not exceed twenty-five (25) pages in length without leave of a district court judge. 7 || No reply memorandum shall exceed ten (10) pages without leave of a district court judge. 8 || Briefs and memoranda exceeding ten (10) pages in length shall have a table of contents 9 || and a table of authorities cited. 10 IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: March 8, 2024 12 [Wow H. Kolar B Honorable Allison i. Goddard United States Magistrate Judge 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28