Pliego v. Walmart, Inc.

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 EDUARDO GARCIA PLIEGO, Case No. 1:23-cv-00858-ADA-CDB 12 Plaintiff, SCHEDULING ORDER (Fed. R. Civ. P. 16) 13 v. Discovery Deadlines: 14 WALMART, INC. -Amend Pleadings: September 29, 2023 -Expert Disclosures: March 18, 2024 15 Defendant. -Rebuttal Expert Disclosures: April 1, 2024 -Fact Discovery: March 4, 2024 16 -Expert Discovery: May 1, 2024 -Mid-Discovery Status Conference: January 16, 17 2024, at 9:00 a.m. 18 Non-Dispositive Motion Deadlines: -Filing: May 15, 2024 19 -Hearing: On or before June 17, 2024, at 10:30 a.m., in Bakersfield Federal Courthouse 20 Dispositive Motion Deadlines: 21 -Filing: July 15, 2024 -Hearing: On or before August 26 2024, at 22 1:30 p.m, in Robert E. Coyle Federal Courthouse, Fresno, Courtroom 1, 8th Floor 23 Pre-Trial Conference: February 3, 2025, at 24 1:30 p.m., in Fresno Federal Courthouse 25 Trial: April 1, 2025, at 8:30 a.m, in Fresno Federal Courthouse 26 27 28 1 In this action removed from state court on June 5, 2023, (Doc. 1), Plaintiff Eduardo Garcia 2 Pliego (“Plaintiff”) asserts claims of premises liability against Defendant Walmart, Inc. 3 (“Defendant”). (Doc. 1-1). The parties convened before the Court via Zoom videoconference for 4 a scheduling conference on August 31, 2023, before Magistrate Judge Christopher D. Baker. Nia 5 Gamble made a special appearance on behalf of Eean Boles for Plaintiff and Sean N. Costa 6 appeared on behalf of Defendant. 7 I. Magistrate Judge Consent: 8 The parties do not consent to magistrate judge jurisdiction. (Doc. 6). 9 Notice of Congested Docket and Court Policy of Trailing 10 Due to the District Judges’ heavy caseload, the adopted policy of the Fresno Division of the 11 Eastern District is to trail all civil cases. The parties are hereby notified that for a trial date set before a 12 District Judge, the parties will trail indefinitely behind any higher priority criminal or older civil case 13 set on the same date until a courtroom becomes available. The trial date will not be reset. 14 The Magistrate Judges’ availability is far more realistic and accommodating to parties than that 15 of the District Judges who carry the heaviest caseloads in the nation and who must prioritize criminal 16 and older civil cases over more recently filed civil cases. A Magistrate Judge may conduct trials, 17 including entry of final judgment, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c), Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 73, 18 and Local Rule 305. Any appeal from a judgment entered by a Magistrate Judge is taken directly to the 19 United States Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit. 20 Therefore, the parties are directed to consider consenting to Magistrate Judge jurisdiction to 21 conduct all further proceedings, including trial, and to file a consent/decline form (provided by the 22 Court at the inception of this case) indicating whether they will consent to the jurisdiction of the 23 Magistrate Judge. 24 II. Pleading Amendment 25 Any motions to amend the pleadings must be filed by September 29, 2023. The parties are 26 advised that filing a motion and/or stipulation requesting leave to amend the pleadings does not reflect 27 on the propriety of the amendment or imply good cause to modify the existing schedule, if necessary. 28 All proposed amendments must (A) be supported by good cause pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b) if the 1 amendment requires any modification to the existing schedule, see Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, 2 Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 609 (9th Cir. 1992), and (B) establish, under Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a), that such an 3 amendment is not (1) prejudicial to the opposing party, (2) the product of undue delay, (3) proposed in 4 bad faith, or (4) futile, see Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178, 182 (1962). 5 III. Discovery Plan and Cut-Off Date 6 The parties are ordered to complete all discovery pertaining to non-experts by March 4, 2024, 7 and all discovery pertaining to experts by May 1, 2024. 8 The parties are directed to disclose all expert witnesses1, in writing, by March 18, 2024, and to 9 disclose all rebuttal experts by April 1, 2024. The written designation of retained and non-retained 10 experts shall be made pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. Rule 26(a)(2), (A), (B), and (C) and shall include all 11 information required thereunder. Failure to designate experts in compliance with this order may result 12 in the Court excluding the testimony or other evidence offered through such experts that are not 13 disclosed pursuant to this order. 14 The provisions of Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(4) and (5) shall apply to all discovery relating to experts 15 and their opinions. Experts must be fully prepared to be examined on all subjects and opinions 16 included in the designation. Failure to comply will result in the imposition of sanctions, which may 17 include striking the expert designation and preclusion of expert testimony. 18 The provisions of Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(e) regarding a party’s duty to timely supplement 19 disclosures and responses to discovery requests will be strictly enforced. 20 A mid-discovery status conference is scheduled for January 16, 2024, at 9:00 a.m. before 21 Magistrate Judge Baker. Counsel SHALL file a joint mid-discovery status conference report no later 22 than one week before the conference. Counsel also SHALL lodge the joint status report via e-mail to 23 CDBorders@caed.uscourts.gov. The joint status report SHALL outline the discovery counsel have 24 completed and that which needs to be completed as well as any impediments to completing the 25 discovery within the deadlines set forth in this order. Counsel SHALL discuss settlement and certify in 26 27 28 1 In the event an expert will offer opinions related to an independent medical or mental health evaluation, the examination SHALL occur sufficiently in advance of the disclosure deadline so the 1 the joint status report (1) that they have met/conferred regarding settlement, and (2) proposed dates for 2 convening a settlement conference before a U.S. magistrate judge. 3 IV. Pre-Trial Motion Schedule / Informal Discovery Dispute Conferences 4 All non-dispositive pre-trial motions, including any discovery motions, shall be filed by May 5 15, 20242 and heard on or before June 17, 2024. Discovery motions shall be set before Magistrate 6 Judge Baker. For these hearings and at the direction of the Courtroom Deputy Clerk, the Court may 7 direct counsel to appear remotely (via Zoom). For hearings noticed to occur in-person, the Court may 8 permit counsel to appear remotely (via Zoom) provided the Courtroom Deputy Clerk receives a written 9 notice of the request to appear remotely no later than five court days before the noticed hearing date. 10 No motion to amend or stipulation to amend the case schedule will be entertained unless it is 11 filed at least three days before the first deadline the parties wish to extend. 12 No written discovery motions shall be filed without the prior approval of Magistrate Judge 13 Baker. A party with a discovery dispute must first confer with the opposing party in a good faith effort 14 to resolve by agreement the issues in dispute. If that good faith effort is unsuccessful, the requesting 15 party promptly shall seek a conference with all involved parties and Magistrate Judge Baker. To 16 schedule this conference, the parties should contact the Courtroom Deputy Clerk, Susan Hall, at (661) 17 326-6620 or via email at SHall@caed.uscourts.gov. At least two days before the conference, counsel 18 SHALL file a joint, informal letter brief detailing each party’s position. Each party’s narrative shall not 19 exceed three pages, excluding exhibits. At the commencement of the conference, if the parties jointly 20 agree to Magistrate Judge Baker’s consideration and resolution of the discovery disputes outside the 21 formal Local Rule 251 procedures, the Court will entertain arguments by the parties and issue a ruling. 22 If the parties do not jointly agree to the informal discovery dispute resolution procedures set forth 23 herein, the requesting party may then seek relief through motion to compel. Counsel must comply with 24 Local Rule 251 with respect to discovery disputes or the motion will be denied without prejudice and 25 removed from the Court’s calendar. 26 27 28 2 Non-dispositive motions related to non-expert discovery SHALL be filed within a reasonable time of discovery of the dispute, but in no event later than 30 days after the expiration of the non- 1 All dispositive pre-trial motions shall be filed by July 15, 2024, and heard on or before August 2 26, 2024, in Courtroom 1 at 1:30 p.m. before the Honorable Ana de Alba, United States District Judge. 3 In scheduling such motions, counsel shall comply with Fed. R. Civ. P. 56 and Local Rules 230 and 260. 4 V. Motions for Summary Judgment or Summary Adjudication 5 At least 21 days before filing a motion for summary judgment or motion for summary 6 adjudication, the parties are ORDERED to meet, in person or by telephone, to confer about the issues to 7 be raised in the motion. 8 The purpose of the meeting shall be to: 1) avoid filing motions for summary judgment where a 9 question of fact exists; 2) determine whether the respondent agrees that the motion has merit in whole 10 or in part; 3) discuss whether issues can be resolved without the necessity of briefing; 4) narrow the 11 issues for review by the court; 5) explore the possibility of settlement before the parties incur the 12 expense of briefing a motion; and 6) to develop a joint statement of undisputed facts. 13 The moving party SHALL initiate the meeting and SHALL provide a complete, proposed 14 statement of undisputed facts at least five days before the conference. The finalized joint statement of 15 undisputed facts SHALL include all facts that the parties agree, for purposes of the motion, may be 16 deemed true. In addition to the requirements of Local Rule 260, the moving party shall file the joint 17 statement of undisputed facts. 18 In the notice of motion, the moving party SHALL certify that the parties have met and 19 conferred as ordered above or set forth a statement of good cause for the failure to meet and confer. 20 Failure to comply may result in the motion being stricken. 21 VI. Pre-Trial Conference Date 22 February 3, 2025, at 1:30 p.m. in Courtroom 1 before the Honorable Ana de Alba, United 23 States District Judge. 24 The parties are ordered to file a Joint Pretrial Statement pursuant to Local Rule 281(a)(2). The 25 parties are further directed to submit a digital copy of their pretrial statement in Word format, directly 26 to Judge de Alba’s chambers, by email at ADAorders@caed.uscourts.gov. 27 Counsels’ attention is directed to Rules 281 and 282 of the Local Rules of Practice for the 28 Eastern District of California, as to the obligations of counsel in preparing for the pre-trial conference. 1 The Court will insist upon strict compliance with those rules. In addition to the matters set forth in the 2 Local Rules the Joint Pretrial Statement shall include a Joint Statement of the case to be used by the 3 Court to explain the nature of the case to the jury during voir dire. 4 VII. Trial Date 5 April 1, 2025, at 8:30 a.m. in Courtroom 1 before the Honorable Ana de Alba, United States 6 District Judge. 7 A. This is a jury trial. 8 B. Counsels’ Estimate of Trial Time: 7-10 days 9 C. Counsels’ attention is directed to Local Rules of Practice for the Eastern District of 10 California, Rule 285. 11 VIII. Settlement Conference 12 The parties are advised that Judge de Alba requires that a mandatory settlement conference be 13 conducted prior to trial. Where the parties filed a summary judgment/adjudication motion, a settlement 14 conference shall be scheduled 30 days after the motion is fully briefed. In cases where the parties do 15 not file a summary judgment/adjudication motions, a settlement conference shall be scheduled 30 days 16 after the last day for the filing of dispositive motions. Unless otherwise requested by the parties, the 17 Settlement Conference will be set before Magistrate Judge Baker. 18 IX. Request for Bifurcation, Appointment of Special Master, or other 19 Techniques to Shorten Trial 20 Not applicable at this time. 21 X. Related Matters Pending 22 There are no pending related matters. 23 XI. Compliance with Federal Procedure 24 All counsel are expected to familiarize themselves with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 25 and the Local Rules of Practice of the Eastern District of California, and to keep abreast of any 26 amendments thereto. The Court must insist upon compliance with these Rules if it is to efficiently 27 handle its increasing case load and sanctions will be imposed for failure to follow both the Federal 28 Rules of Civil Procedure and the Local Rules of Practice for the Eastern District of California. 1 XII. Effect of this Order 2 The foregoing order represents the best estimate of the court and counsel as to the agenda mo: 3 || suitable to dispose of this case. The trial date reserved is specifically reserved for this case. If the 4 || parties determine at any time that the schedule outlined in this order cannot be met, counsel are order 5 || to notify the court immediately of that fact so that adjustments may be made, either by stipulation or | 6 || subsequent status conference. 7 The dates set in this Order are considered to be firm and will not be modified absent a showin 8 || of good cause even if the request to modify is made by stipulation. Stipulations extending the deadlit 9 || contained herein will not be considered unless they are accompanied by affidavits or declarations, ans 10 || where appropriate attached exhibits, which establish good cause for granting the relief requested. 11 Failure to comply with this order may result in the imposition of sanctions. 12 IT IS SO ORDERED. 13 Dated: _ August 31, 2023 | hr Rr 14 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28