Jackson Family Farms, LLC v. Moore

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedSeptember 15, 2025
Docket3:24-cv-06763
StatusUnknown

This text of Jackson Family Farms, LLC v. Moore (Jackson Family Farms, LLC v. Moore) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jackson Family Farms, LLC v. Moore, (N.D. Cal. 2025).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION 7 8 JACKSON FAMILY FARMS, LLC, Case No. 24-cv-06763-TLT (PHK)

9 Plaintiff, ORDER RESOLVING DISPUTES RE: MOTIONS TO QUASH DEPOSITION 10 v. NOTICE AND THIRD-PARTY SUBPOENAS 11 JERRY MOORE, Re: Dkts. 82, 88, 89 12 Defendant.

13 14 This case has been referred to the undersigned for all discovery matters. See Dkt. 61. Now 15 pending before the Court are joint letter briefs regarding discovery disputes between Plaintiff 16 Jackson Family Farms, LLC (“JFF”) and Defendant Jerry Moore (“Mr. Moore”), the first concerns 17 JFF’s notice of deposition served on Mr. Moore, and the second concerns subpoenas for oral 18 depositions and document production served on two nonparties, Ian Donald and Tami Donald. 19 [Dkt. 82; Dkt. 88; Dkt. 89]. The Court finds the disputes suitable for resolution without oral 20 argument. See Civil L.R. 7-1(b). 21 LEGAL STANDARD 22 The Court has broad discretion and authority to manage discovery. U.S. Fidelity & Guar. 23 Co. v. Lee Inv. LLC, 641 F.3d 1126, 1136 n.10 (9th Cir. 2011) (“District courts have wide latitude 24 in controlling discovery, and their rulings will not be overturned in the absence of a clear abuse of 25 discretion.”); Laub v. U.S. Dep’t of Int., 342 F.3d 1080, 1093 (9th Cir. 2003). The Court’s 26 discretion extends to crafting discovery orders that may expand, limit, or differ from the relief 27 requested. See Crawford-El v. Britton, 523 U.S. 574, 598 (1998) (holding trial courts have “broad 1 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(1) provides that “[p]arties may obtain discovery 2 regarding any nonprivileged matter that is relevant to any party's claim or defense and 3 proportional to the needs of the case.” Information need not be admissible to be discoverable. Id. 4 Relevancy for purposes of discovery is broadly defined to encompass “any matter that bears on, or 5 that reasonably could lead to other matter that could bear on, any issue that is or may be in the 6 case.” In re Williams-Sonoma, Inc., 947 F.3d 535, 539 (9th Cir. 2020) (quoting Oppenheimer 7 Fund, Inc. v. Sanders, 437 U.S. 340, 350-51 (1978)); see also In re Facebook, Inc. Consumer 8 Privacy User Profile Litig., No. 18-MD-2843 VC (JSC), 2021 WL 10282215, at *4 (N.D. Cal. 9 Sept. 29, 2021) (“Courts generally recognize that relevancy for purposes of discovery is broader 10 than relevancy for purposes of trial.”) (alteration omitted). 11 ANALYSIS 12 I. Deposition Notice Directed to Defendant Moore 13 The Parties first dispute relates to Plaintiff JFF’s deposition notice seeking to notice the 14 deposition of Defendant Jerry Moore, which was served by JFF on August 21, 2025, setting this 15 deposition for September 16, 2025 in Napa, California. [Dkt. 88]. 16 Mr. Moore asks to the Court to “quash” the deposition notice, arguing that it is 17 procedurally and jurisdictionally defective. Id. at 4. Specifically, Mr. Moore argues that the 18 deposition notice is procedurally defective because it provides only twenty-six days’ notice, which 19 according to Mr. Moore, violates the advance notice requirements set forth in Section D of the 20 undersigned’s Discovery Standing Order. Id. In addition, Mr. Moore argues that the notice 21 violates the geographic proximity requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45(c), because 22 the notice commands Mr. Moore to appear for a deposition in Napa, California, which is more 23 than 1,500 miles away from where he lives, in Dallas, Texas. Id. Finally, Mr. Moore argues that 24 the deposition would be “unduly burdensome and duplicative,” because he previously sat for a 25 full-day deposition in JFF’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) proceeding and 26 responded to “extensive discovery” in both the TTAB and in this action. Id. at 5. 27 The arguments here are not persuasive for barring entirely Mr. Moore’s deposition. First, 1 arguments based on Rule 45 (such as the 100 mile geographic limit) are legally 2 inapposite. “Deposition of a party, however, may proceed by notice; a subpoena is not required. A 3 deposition of a party proceeding by notice is not governed by Rule 45.” Ewing v. Integrity Cap. 4 Sols., Inc., No. 16-cv-1469-JLS-MDD, 2018 WL 3729139, at *1 (S.D. Cal. Aug. 6, 2018) (citing 5 Jules Jordan Video, Inc. v. 144942 Can. Inc., 617 F.3d 1146, 1158-59 (9th Cir. 2010)) (remaining 6 citation omitted); see also Cont'l Baking Co. v. M & G Auto. Specialists, No. 92 C 3714, 1993 WL 7 75066, at * 1 (N.D. Ill. Mar. 15, 1993) (“[Rule] 45(d)(2) is not applicable to depositions of 8 parties[.]”). Further, while a subpoena may be quashed, a deposition notice of a party is not 9 “quashed”—procedurally, the proper vehicle here would be for a party to file a motion for a 10 protective order under Rule 26(c). Ewing, 2018 WL 3729139, at *1. There is no subpoena here in 11 the instant case to be quashed. Although Mr. Moore technically requested an order “quashing” his 12 deposition notice, the Court construes this procedurally as a request for a protective order with 13 regard to the location and timing of Mr. Moore’s deposition. The Court will not elevate form over 14 substance in this instance, where the substantive dispute fundamentally goes to the location and 15 date of Mr. Moore’s deposition (and not to the form of his requested relief). 16 As to the issue of the location of Mr. Moore’s deposition, the Court notes that “[t]he trial 17 court has great discretion in establishing the time and place of deposition.” Cont’l Baking, 1993 18 WL 75066, at * 1. Ordinarily, “the deposition of a party may be noticed wherever the deposing 19 party designates, subject to the Court's power to grant a protective order.” Fausto v. Credigy 20 Servs. Corp., 251 F.R.D. 427, 429 (N.D. Cal. 2008). “Once their protection is sought, district 21 courts have wide discretion to establish the time and place of depositions. Courts consider the 22 relative convenience of and hardships to the parties when determining whether there is good cause 23 to grant a protective order.” Id. (citation omitted). 24 In general, a party should be deposed where they reside. “In response to a motion for a 25 protective order under Rule 26(c), absent unusual circumstances, courts generally order the 26 deposition to occur at the place where the defendant resides or does business to avoid undue 27 burden and expense.” Ewing, 2018 WL 3729139, at *2. An individual’s preference that their 1 CV614-002, 2015 WL 4770190, at *2 (S.D. Ga. April 1, 2015) (citing In re Outsidewall Tire 2 Litig., 267 F.R.D. 466, 471 (E.D. Va. 2010)). 3 Second, as to the timing of the deposition notice, while this Court’s Discovery Standing 4 Order provides that depositions “may” be noticed with at least thirty calendar days’ notice, the 5 Discovery Standing Order also requires that all of the parties in the action meet and confer 6 “reasonably in advance” to schedule depositions at mutually convenient times and places. Neither 7 Party complied with that requirement here, because the Parties waited until near the end of the fact 8 discovery period to jointly discuss deposition scheduling.

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