Lamar v. Legoland California, LLC.

Opinion

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 WILLIAM LUM, individually and on behalf Case No.: 20cv1049-JAH (MSB) of all others similarly situated, 12 ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION TO Plaintiff, 13 CONTINUE EARLY NEUTRAL v. EVALUATION AND RELATED DATES 14 [ECF NO. 59] LEGOLAND CALIFORNIA, LLC, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 18 On June 20, 2023, the parties filed a “Joint Motion to Continue Early Neutral 19 Evaluation Conference and Related Dates.” (ECF No. 59.) Due to scheduling conflicts 20 with Defendants’ counsel and party representative, the parties ask the Court to 21 continue the Early Neutral Evaluation (“ENE”) and Case Management Conference 22 (“CMC”) from July 10, 2023 to August 16, 2023 or any date thereafter. (Id. at 2–3.) The 23 parties appreciate the importance of a swift ENE, but explain that Defendants’ counsel 24 and party representative have pre-planned travel and business obligations that they 25 cannot postpone. (Id.) Additionally, the parties request that the deadline to hold the 26 Rule 26(f) conference be continued by two weeks and that all other related dates be 27 continued to August 4, 2023. (Id. at 3–4.) 2 The ENE and CMC initially scheduled for July 10, 2023 are CONTINUED to August 16, 3 2023 at 1:30 p.m., to be held in the chambers of the Honorable Michael S. Berg, United 4 States Magistrate Judge, located at 221 West Broadway, second floor, San Diego, 5 California, 92101. All discussions at the ENE will be informal, off-the-record, privileged, 6 and confidential. Counsel for any non-English speaking party is responsible for 7 arranging for the appearance of an interpreter at the conference. The following rules 8 and deadlines apply: 9 1. Personal Appearance of Parties Required: All named parties, party 10 representatives, claims adjusters for insured defendants, and the principal attorney(s) 11 responsible for the litigation must be present in person and prepared to discuss and 12 resolve the case. Counsel appearing without their clients (whether counsel has been 13 given settlement authority) will be cause for immediate imposition of sanctions and may 14 also result in the immediate termination of the conference. 15 2. Full Settlement Authority Required: A party or party representative with 16 full settlement authority1 must be present at the conference. Retained outside 17 corporate counsel must not appear on behalf of a corporation as the party 18 representative who has the authority to negotiate and enter a settlement. A 19 government entity may be excused from this requirement so long as the government 20 attorney who attends the ENE has (1) primary responsibility for handling the case, and 21 (2) authority to negotiate and recommend settlement offers to the government 22 23 24 1 “Full settlement authority” means that the individuals at the settlement conference must be 25 authorized to fully explore settlement options and agree to any settlement terms acceptable to the parties. Heileman Brewing Co. v. Joseph Oat Corp., 871 F.2d 648, 653 (7th Cir. 1989). The person 26 needs to have “unfettered discretion and authority” to change the settlement position of a party. Pitman v. Brinker Int’l, Inc., 216 F.R.D. 481, 485–86 (D. Ariz. 2003). The purpose of requiring a person 27 with unlimited settlement authority to attend the conference contemplates that the person’s view of 2 3. Confidential ENE Statements Required: No later than August 9, 2023, the 3 parties must submit directly to Magistrate Judge Berg’s chambers (via hand delivery or 4 by e-mail to the Court at efile_berg@casd.uscourts.gov), confidential ENE statements. 5 The ENE statement is limited to five pages or less, and up to five pages of exhibits or 6 declarations. Each party’s ENE statement must outline (1) the nature of the case and 7 the claims, (2) position on liability or defense, (3) position regarding settlement of the 8 case with a specific demand/offer for settlement, and (4) any previous settlement 9 negotiations or mediation efforts. 10 If a party cannot make a specific demand or offer at the time the ENE statement is 11 submitted, then it must state why a demand or offer cannot be made. Further, the 12 party must explain when they will be prepared to state a demand or offer. A general 13 statement, such as a party will “negotiate in good faith,” is not a specific demand or 14 offer. The ENE statement should be submitted confidentially and need not be shared 15 with other parties. 16 4. New Parties Must be Notified by Plaintiff or Plaintiffs’ Counsel: Plaintiffs’ 17 counsel must give notice of the ENE to parties responding to the complaint after the 18 date of this notice. 19 5. Case Management Conference: If the case does not settle during the ENE, 20 the Court will conduct a Case Management Conference (“CMC”). In preparation for the 21 CMC, the parties must do the following: 22 a. Meet and confer pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(f) no later than August 23 2, 2023; 24 b. File a Joint Discovery Plan no later than August 9, 2023. Agreements 25 made in the Joint Discovery Plan will be treated as binding stipulations that are 26 effectively incorporated into the Court’s Scheduling Order. The Joint Discovery Plan

27 must be one document and must cover the parties’ views and proposals for each item 2 i. Service: A statement as to whether any parties remain to be 3 served and, if so, a proposed deadline for service; 4 ii. Amendment of Pleadings: The extent to which parties, claims, or 5 defenses are expected to be added or dismissed and a proposed deadline for amending 6 the pleadings; 7 iii. Protective Order: Whether a protective order is contemplated to 8 cover the exchange of confidential information and, if so, the date by which the 9 proposed order will be submitted to the Court; 10 iv. Privilege: The procedure the parties plan to use regarding claims 11 of privilege and whether an order pursuant to Fed. R. Evid. 502 will be sought; 12 v. Evidence Preservation: Whether the parties have discussed 13 issues related to the preservation of relevant evidence and if there are areas of 14 disagreement, how the parties are resolving them; 15 vi. Electronic Discovery: In addition to the requirements set forth in 16 Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(f)(3)(C), the parties must describe their agreements regarding 17 methodologies for locating and producing electronically stored information and the 18 production of metadata, and must identify any issues or agreements regarding 19 electronically stored information that may not be reasonably accessible (see Fed. R. Civ. 20 P. 26(b)(2)(B)); 21 vii. Discovery: In addition to the requirements of Fed. R. Civ. P. 22 26(f)(3)(B), the parties must describe the discovery taken to date (if any), any proposed 23 limitations or modifications of the discovery rules, and any identified discovery disputes; 24 and 25 viii. Related Cases: Any related cases or proceedings pending before 26 another judge of this court, or before another court or administrative body.

27 c. Exchange initial disclosures pursuant to Rule 26(a)(1)(A-D) no later than 1 6. Requests to Continue an ENE: Local Rule 16.1(c) requires that an ENE take 2 || place within forty-five days of the filing of the first answer. Requests to continue ENEs 3 || are rarely granted. An ENE may be rescheduled only upon a showing of good cause and 4 || adequate notice to the Court. Absent good cause, requests for continuances will not 5 || be considered unless submitted in writing no fewer than seven calendar days prior to 6 || the scheduled conference. 7 IT IS SO ORDERED. 8 Dated: June 21, 2023 _ a

10 Honorable Michael S. Berg United States Magistrate Judge 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28