Muneer v. Seaworld Parks & Entertainment, Inc.

Opinion

MONHSEN MUNEER, by and through his Case No.: 24cv529-W (MSB) Guardian Ad Litem, MINHAJ MUNEER, ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION TO Plaintiff, CONTINUE EXPERT DISCOVERY AND v. PRETRIAL MOTIONS DEADLINES [ECF NO. 24] SEAWORLD PARKS & ENTERTAINMENT, INC., et al., Defendants. Pending before the Court is the parties’ “Joint Motion to Continue Expert Discovery Deadlines,” filed by Plaintiff Monhsen Muneer, Cross-Defendant and guardian ad litem Minhaj Muneer, and Defendant and Cross-Complainant SeaWorld LLC (hereinafter, “the Parties”). (ECF No. 24, “Joint Motion.”) The Parties request that the Court continue the expert discovery and pretrial motions deadlines to May 2, 2025, and June 2, 2025, respectively. (Id. at 3.) In support, the Parties explain that all fact discovery has been completed, and all expert designations and disclosures have been exchanged. (Id.) However, there have been problems scheduling the depositions of Plaintiff’s experts, Dr. Neil Ghodadra and Philip L. Rosescu, P.E., M.S., and 3-4.) Accordingly, the parties believe that continuing the expert discovery and pretrial motions deadlines by approximately forty-five days “will afford them the opportunity to complete expert depositions and adequately evaluate their respective positions” before the July 18, 2025, Mandatory Settlement Conference. (Id. at 4.) A scheduling order “may be modified only for good cause and with the judge’s consent.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b)(4). The good cause standard “primarily considers the diligence of the party seeking the amendment. The district court may modify the pretrial schedule ‘if it cannot reasonably be met despite the diligence of the party seeking the extension.’” Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 609 (9th Cir. 1992). Here, the parties have complied with Judge Berg’s Civil Chambers Rules by detailing the steps taken to comply with the current Scheduling Order deadlines and providing specific reasons why the deadlines cannot be met. (See Judge Berg’s Civil Chambers Rules, Rule V.) Finding good cause, the Court GRANTS the Joint Motion and CONTINUES the case schedule as follows: e All expert discovery must be completed by May 2, 2025. e All pretrial motions must be filed by June 2, 2025. Counsel for the moving party must obtain a motion hearing date from the law clerk of the judge who will hear the motion. All other guidelines in the Court’s original Scheduling Order [ECF No. 9] remain in place. Dated: March 3, 2025 = _2 Honorable Michael S. Berg United States Magistrate Judge