Frias v. County of San Diego

Opinion

JOSEPH FRIAS, Case No.: 3:22-cv-00675-JO-AHG

Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING JOINT v. MOTION TO EXTEND DEADLINE TO CONTACT THE COURT COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO, et al., REGARDING DISCOVERY Defendants. DISPUTE

[ECF No. 71] Before the Court is the parties’ joint motion to extend the deadline to raise discovery disputes with the Court. ECF No. 71. Under the Court’s 45-Day Rule (see AHG.Chmb.R. at 2–3), the parties would have been required to bring any discovery dispute regarding Defendant’s responses1 to the Court’s attention by January 18, 2024. The parties seek an order from the Court extending the deadline by approximately two weeks. ECF No. 71 at 2. Parties seeking to continue deadlines must demonstrate good cause. Chmb.R. at 2 (stating that any request for continuance requires “[a] showing of good cause for the 1 Defendant’s responses at issue here regard Plaintiff’s fifth set of special interrogatories, which Plaintiff propounded on October 19, 2023, and Defendant responded to on request’); see also FED. R. Civ. P. 6(b) (“When an act may or must be done within a specified time, the court may, for good cause, extend the time’). “Good cause” is a non-rigorous standard that has been construed broadly across procedural and statutory contexts. Ahanchian v. Xenon Pictures, Inc., 624 F.3d 1253, 1259 (9th Cir. 2010). The good cause standard focuses on the diligence of the party seeking to amend the scheduling order and the reasons for seeking modification. Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 609 (9th Cir. 1992) (“[T]he focus of the inquiry is upon moving party’s reasons for seeking modification. .. . If that party was not diligent, the inquiry should end.”) (internal citation omitted). Here, the parties have represented to the Court that they are actively meeting and }conferring on regarding Defendant’s discovery responses, and have “reached a compromise reached a compromise whereby County agreed to complete further investigation in an effort to determine whether the County needed to supplement its response.” ECF No. 71 at 2. Hence, the parties seek an order from the Court extending the deadline raise their dispute by two weeks, to facilitate a cooperative resolution. Id. The Court appreciates that the parties have been working together to resolve their disputes without judicial intervention. Good cause appearing, the Court GRANTS the motion. Thus, the parties must bring any discovery dispute regarding Defendant’s /responses to Plaintiff's fifth set of special interrogatories to the Court’s attention in the manner described in ECF No. 69 at 2 n.1 no later than February 1, 2024. Dated: January 18, 2024 _ Apion. Honorable Allison H. Goddard United States Magistrate Judge