1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 12 CRISTIAN LOPEZ, Case No.: 3:23-cv-00429-L-AHG 13 Plaintiff, ORDER:
14 v. (1) GRANTING JOINT MOTION TO 15 SEAWORLD PARKS & AMEND SCHEDULING ORDER, and ENTERTAINMENT, INC., 16 (2) ISSUING SECOND AMENDED Defendant. 17 SCHEDULING ORDER
18 [ECF No. 33] 19 20 21 22 Before the Court is the parties’ joint motion to extend discovery deadlines and 23 amend the scheduling order. ECF No. 33. The parties seek an order from the Court 24 extending certain discovery deadlines by approximately 30 to 60 days. Id. at 4. 25 Parties seeking to continue deadlines in the scheduling order must demonstrate good 26 cause. FED. R. CIV. P. 16(b)(4) (“A schedule may be modified only for good cause and with 27 the judge’s consent”); see also ECF No. 22 at 8 (Amended Scheduling Order, stating that 28 “[t]he dates [] set forth herein will not be modified except for good cause shown”); 1 Chmb.R. at 2 (stating that any request for continuance requires “[a] showing of good cause 2 for the request”). 3 “Good cause” is a non-rigorous standard that has been construed broadly across 4 procedural and statutory contexts. Ahanchian v. Xenon Pictures, Inc., 624 F.3d 1253, 1259 5 (9th Cir. 2010). The good cause standard focuses on the diligence of the party seeking to 6 amend the scheduling order and the reasons for seeking modification. Johnson v. Mammoth 7 Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 609 (9th Cir. 1992) (“[T]he focus of the inquiry is upon 8 the moving party’s reasons for seeking modification. … If that party was not diligent, the 9 inquiry should end.”) (internal citation omitted). 10 Here, the parties represent to the Court that they have finalized the dates for 11 Plaintiff’s IME, Mr. Alnwick’s deposition, and Defendant’s Rule 30(b)(6) witness’s 12 (“PMK”) deposition—February 9, 12, and 13, respectively. ECF No. 33 at 3. Thus, the 13 parties seek an extension of the expert discovery deadlines, which are currently set to expire 14 before these depositions take place. Id. at 3–4. 15 The Court notes that the parties have unduly delayed the scheduling of the 16 depositions at issue. Compare ECF No. 29 (setting deadline of November 28, 2023, for 17 parties to set firm dates for Mr. Alnwick’s and PMK’s depositions) with ECF No. 33 (firm 18 dates set for Mr. Alnwick’s and PMK’s depositions on January 3, 2024). However, in light 19 of the case’s posture and the preference of courts to decide cases on the merits, the Court 20 finds good cause to GRANTS IN PART1 the parties’ motion to amend the scheduling 21 order. ECF No. 33. The Court issues the following Second Amended Scheduling Order: 22 1. The parties must review and familiarize themselves with the Civil Local Rules 23 of this District, the Electronic Case Filing Administrative Policies and Procedures, the 24 Standing Order for Civil Cases issued by the Hon. M. James Lorenz, and the undersigned 25 Magistrate Judge’s Chambers Rules, all of which are posted on this District’s website. 26
27 1 Though the Court grants the parties’ general request for an extension, it did not accept all 28 1 Discovery 2 2. October 23, 2023 remains the deadline for completion of fact discovery, 3 except for the following: 4 a. December 22, 2023 remains the deadline for the parties to have 5 finalized their responses to written discovery requests. 6 b. All depositions must be taken on or before March 1, 2024. 7 3. No later than March 1, 2024, the parties shall designate their respective 8 experts in writing. The parties must identify any person who may be used at trial to present 9 evidence pursuant to Rules 702, 703 or 705 of the Federal Rules of Evidence. This 10 requirement is not limited to retained experts. The date for exchange of rebuttal experts 11 shall be no later than March 22, 2024. The written designations shall include the name, 12 address and telephone number of each expert and a reasonable summary of the testimony 13 the expert is expected to provide. The list shall also include the normal rates the expert 14 charges for deposition and trial testimony. 15 4. No later than March 1, 2024, each party shall comply with Rule 26(a)(2)(A) 16 and (B) disclosure provisions. This disclosure requirement applies to all persons retained 17 or specially employed to provide expert testimony, or whose duties as a party's employee 18 regularly involve giving expert testimony. Except as provided in the paragraph below, 19 any party that fails to make these disclosures shall not, absent substantial 20 justification, be permitted to use the undisclosed evidence or testimony at any hearing 21 or at trial. In addition, the court may impose sanctions as permitted by Rule 37(c). 22 5. No later than March 22, 2024, the parties shall supplement their disclosures 23 regarding contradictory or rebuttal evidence under Rule 26(a)(2)(D). 24 6. All expert discovery shall be completed by all parties no later than 25 May 16, 2024. The parties shall comply with the same procedures set forth in the paragraph 26 governing fact discovery. See ECF No. 12 at 3. Failure to comply with this section or any 27 other discovery order of the court may result in Rule 37 sanctions, including preclusion of 28 expert or other designated evidence. 1 Mandatory Settlement Conference 2 7. A Mandatory Settlement Conference shall be conducted on May 22, 2024 at 3 9:30 a.m. before Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard via videoconference. Plaintiff 4 must serve on Defendant a written settlement proposal, which must include a specific 5 demand amount, no later than May 1, 2024. The defendant must respond to the plaintiff in 6 writing with a specific offer amount prior to the Meet and Confer discussion. The parties 7 should not file or otherwise copy the Court on these exchanges. Rather, the parties must 8 include their written settlement proposals in their respective Settlement Conference 9 Statements to the Court. Counsel for the parties must meet and confer in person or by 10 phone no later than May 8, 2024. Each party must prepare a Settlement Conference 11 Statement, which will be served on opposing counsel and lodged with the Court no later 12 than May 15, 2024. The Statement must be lodged in .pdf format via email to 13 efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov (not filed). The substance of the Settlement Conference 14 Statement must comply fully with Judge Goddard’s Mandatory Settlement Conference 15 Rules (located on the court website at 16 https://www.casd.uscourts.gov/Judges/goddard/docs/Goddard%20Mandatory%20Settlem 17 ent%20Conference%20Rules.pdf). Each party may also prepare an optional Confidential 18 Settlement Letter for the Court’s review only, to be lodged with the Court no later than 19 May 15, 2024. The Letter must be lodged in .pdf format via email to 20 efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov (not filed). Should a party choose to prepare a Letter, 21 the substance of the Settlement Conference Letter must comply fully with Judge Goddard’s 22 Mandatory Settlement Conference Rules. No later than May 15, 2024, each party must 23 submit to the Court via email (not filed) (at efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov) the names, 24 titles, and email addresses of all attendees, and the cell phone number for each party’s 25 preferred point of contact. The parties are reminded that party representatives with full 26 settlement authority are required to attend the videoconference. All parties are ordered to 27 read and to fully comply with the Chambers Rules and Mandatory Settlement Conference 28 Rules of Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard. 1 Motion Briefing 2 8.
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 12 CRISTIAN LOPEZ, Case No.: 3:23-cv-00429-L-AHG 13 Plaintiff, ORDER:
14 v. (1) GRANTING JOINT MOTION TO 15 SEAWORLD PARKS & AMEND SCHEDULING ORDER, and ENTERTAINMENT, INC., 16 (2) ISSUING SECOND AMENDED Defendant. 17 SCHEDULING ORDER
18 [ECF No. 33] 19 20 21 22 Before the Court is the parties’ joint motion to extend discovery deadlines and 23 amend the scheduling order. ECF No. 33. The parties seek an order from the Court 24 extending certain discovery deadlines by approximately 30 to 60 days. Id. at 4. 25 Parties seeking to continue deadlines in the scheduling order must demonstrate good 26 cause. FED. R. CIV. P. 16(b)(4) (“A schedule may be modified only for good cause and with 27 the judge’s consent”); see also ECF No. 22 at 8 (Amended Scheduling Order, stating that 28 “[t]he dates [] set forth herein will not be modified except for good cause shown”); 1 Chmb.R. at 2 (stating that any request for continuance requires “[a] showing of good cause 2 for the request”). 3 “Good cause” is a non-rigorous standard that has been construed broadly across 4 procedural and statutory contexts. Ahanchian v. Xenon Pictures, Inc., 624 F.3d 1253, 1259 5 (9th Cir. 2010). The good cause standard focuses on the diligence of the party seeking to 6 amend the scheduling order and the reasons for seeking modification. Johnson v. Mammoth 7 Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 609 (9th Cir. 1992) (“[T]he focus of the inquiry is upon 8 the moving party’s reasons for seeking modification. … If that party was not diligent, the 9 inquiry should end.”) (internal citation omitted). 10 Here, the parties represent to the Court that they have finalized the dates for 11 Plaintiff’s IME, Mr. Alnwick’s deposition, and Defendant’s Rule 30(b)(6) witness’s 12 (“PMK”) deposition—February 9, 12, and 13, respectively. ECF No. 33 at 3. Thus, the 13 parties seek an extension of the expert discovery deadlines, which are currently set to expire 14 before these depositions take place. Id. at 3–4. 15 The Court notes that the parties have unduly delayed the scheduling of the 16 depositions at issue. Compare ECF No. 29 (setting deadline of November 28, 2023, for 17 parties to set firm dates for Mr. Alnwick’s and PMK’s depositions) with ECF No. 33 (firm 18 dates set for Mr. Alnwick’s and PMK’s depositions on January 3, 2024). However, in light 19 of the case’s posture and the preference of courts to decide cases on the merits, the Court 20 finds good cause to GRANTS IN PART1 the parties’ motion to amend the scheduling 21 order. ECF No. 33. The Court issues the following Second Amended Scheduling Order: 22 1. The parties must review and familiarize themselves with the Civil Local Rules 23 of this District, the Electronic Case Filing Administrative Policies and Procedures, the 24 Standing Order for Civil Cases issued by the Hon. M. James Lorenz, and the undersigned 25 Magistrate Judge’s Chambers Rules, all of which are posted on this District’s website. 26
27 1 Though the Court grants the parties’ general request for an extension, it did not accept all 28 1 Discovery 2 2. October 23, 2023 remains the deadline for completion of fact discovery, 3 except for the following: 4 a. December 22, 2023 remains the deadline for the parties to have 5 finalized their responses to written discovery requests. 6 b. All depositions must be taken on or before March 1, 2024. 7 3. No later than March 1, 2024, the parties shall designate their respective 8 experts in writing. The parties must identify any person who may be used at trial to present 9 evidence pursuant to Rules 702, 703 or 705 of the Federal Rules of Evidence. This 10 requirement is not limited to retained experts. The date for exchange of rebuttal experts 11 shall be no later than March 22, 2024. The written designations shall include the name, 12 address and telephone number of each expert and a reasonable summary of the testimony 13 the expert is expected to provide. The list shall also include the normal rates the expert 14 charges for deposition and trial testimony. 15 4. No later than March 1, 2024, each party shall comply with Rule 26(a)(2)(A) 16 and (B) disclosure provisions. This disclosure requirement applies to all persons retained 17 or specially employed to provide expert testimony, or whose duties as a party's employee 18 regularly involve giving expert testimony. Except as provided in the paragraph below, 19 any party that fails to make these disclosures shall not, absent substantial 20 justification, be permitted to use the undisclosed evidence or testimony at any hearing 21 or at trial. In addition, the court may impose sanctions as permitted by Rule 37(c). 22 5. No later than March 22, 2024, the parties shall supplement their disclosures 23 regarding contradictory or rebuttal evidence under Rule 26(a)(2)(D). 24 6. All expert discovery shall be completed by all parties no later than 25 May 16, 2024. The parties shall comply with the same procedures set forth in the paragraph 26 governing fact discovery. See ECF No. 12 at 3. Failure to comply with this section or any 27 other discovery order of the court may result in Rule 37 sanctions, including preclusion of 28 expert or other designated evidence. 1 Mandatory Settlement Conference 2 7. A Mandatory Settlement Conference shall be conducted on May 22, 2024 at 3 9:30 a.m. before Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard via videoconference. Plaintiff 4 must serve on Defendant a written settlement proposal, which must include a specific 5 demand amount, no later than May 1, 2024. The defendant must respond to the plaintiff in 6 writing with a specific offer amount prior to the Meet and Confer discussion. The parties 7 should not file or otherwise copy the Court on these exchanges. Rather, the parties must 8 include their written settlement proposals in their respective Settlement Conference 9 Statements to the Court. Counsel for the parties must meet and confer in person or by 10 phone no later than May 8, 2024. Each party must prepare a Settlement Conference 11 Statement, which will be served on opposing counsel and lodged with the Court no later 12 than May 15, 2024. The Statement must be lodged in .pdf format via email to 13 efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov (not filed). The substance of the Settlement Conference 14 Statement must comply fully with Judge Goddard’s Mandatory Settlement Conference 15 Rules (located on the court website at 16 https://www.casd.uscourts.gov/Judges/goddard/docs/Goddard%20Mandatory%20Settlem 17 ent%20Conference%20Rules.pdf). Each party may also prepare an optional Confidential 18 Settlement Letter for the Court’s review only, to be lodged with the Court no later than 19 May 15, 2024. The Letter must be lodged in .pdf format via email to 20 efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov (not filed). Should a party choose to prepare a Letter, 21 the substance of the Settlement Conference Letter must comply fully with Judge Goddard’s 22 Mandatory Settlement Conference Rules. No later than May 15, 2024, each party must 23 submit to the Court via email (not filed) (at efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov) the names, 24 titles, and email addresses of all attendees, and the cell phone number for each party’s 25 preferred point of contact. The parties are reminded that party representatives with full 26 settlement authority are required to attend the videoconference. All parties are ordered to 27 read and to fully comply with the Chambers Rules and Mandatory Settlement Conference 28 Rules of Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard. 1 Motion Briefing 2 8. Except for motions in limine, all pretrial motions must be filed no later than 3 June 7, 2024. As provided herein and in the Standing Order, certain motions, including 4 motions for class certification, must be filed well before this date. 5 9. Counsel for the moving party must obtain a motion hearing date from the law 6 clerk of the judge who will hear the motion. The period of time between the date of 7 requesting a motion date and the hearing date typically exceeds 30 days. Failure to make 8 a timely request for a motion date may result in the motion not being heard. 9 10. Motion briefing must comply with all applicable Rules, Local Rules, Standing 10 Order, Chambers Rules and court orders. 11 Final Pretrial Conference 12 11. Memoranda of Contentions of Fact and Law are not required and will not be 13 accepted. 14 12. No later than September 20, 2024, counsel shall comply with Rule 26(a)(3) 15 pre-trial disclosure requirements. Failure to comply could result in evidence preclusion or 16 other Rule 37 sanctions. 17 13. No later than September 27, 2024, counsel shall meet and take the action 18 required by Local Rule 16.1(f)(4) with a view to enter into stipulations and agreements to 19 simplify issues for trial. Counsel shall exchange copies and/or display all exhibits other 20 than those to be used for impeachment. The exhibits shall be prepared in accordance with 21 Local Rule 16.1(f)(4)(c). Counsel shall note any objections they have to other parties’ Rule 22 26(a)(3) pretrial disclosures. Counsel shall cooperate in the preparation of the proposed 23 final pretrial conference order. 24 14. Counsel for plaintiff is responsible for preparing the proposed final pretrial 25 conference order and arranging the meetings of counsel pursuant to Local Rule 16.1(f). No 26 later than October 4, 2024, plaintiff’s counsel must provide opposing counsel with the 27 draft proposed final pretrial order for review and approval. Opposing counsel must 28 communicate promptly with plaintiff’s counsel concerning any objections to form or 1 |/content. Both sides shall attempt promptly to resolve their differences, if any, concerning 2 proposed order. 3 15. The proposed final pretrial conference order, including objections to Rule 4 ||26(a)(3) pretrial disclosures, shall be served and lodged with Judge Lorenz no later than 5 || October 11, 2024, and shall comply with Local Rule 16.1(f)(6). 6 16. The Final Pretrial Conference is scheduled on the calendar of the Honorable 7 James Lorenz on October 21, 2024 at 11:00 a.m.. Trial briefs are not required for 8 cases tried to the jury. Leave to file a trial brief for a jury trial must be obtained from Judge 9 || Lorenz at the Final Pretrial Conference. 10 Additional Provisions 11 17. Upon parties' request, a post-trial settlement conference before a Magistrate 12 || Judge may be held within 30 days of verdict. 13 18. The dates and times set forth herein will not be modified except for good cause 14 || shown. 15 IT IS SO ORDERED. 16 || Dated: January 8, 2024 17 _ Anwar. □□ Honorable Allison H. Goddard 18 United States Magistrate Judge 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28