Santor v. Laster

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA LEANN SANTOR, No. 1:19-cv-01593-AWI-SKO Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING PARTIES’ STIPULATION TO CONSOLIDATE v. CASES KATHRYN M. HARWELL, et al., Defendants.

A.L., a minor by and through her No. 1:21-cv-01732-AWI-SKO guardian ad litem

Korey Santor, Plaintiff, v. COUNTY OF STANISLAUS, et al., Defendants.

On April 8, 2022, counsel in the above-captioned cases filed a stipulation seeking to consolidate (1) Leann Santor v. Kathryn M. Harwell, et al., Case No. 1:19-cv-01593-AWI-SKO (“Santor”) and (2) A.L. v. County of Stanislaus, et al., Case No. 1:21-cv-01732-AWI-SKO (“A.L.”). (Santor, Doc. 63; A.L., Doc. 13.) Pursuant to Rule 42(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, “[i]f actions before the court involve a common question of law or fact, the court may: (1) join for hearing or trial any or all matters at issue in the actions; (2) consolidate the actions; or (3) issue any other orders to avoid unnecessary cost or delay.” In exercising its discretion, the court “weighs the saving of time and effort consolidation would produce against any inconvenience, delay, or expense that it would cause.” Huene v. United States, 743 F.2d 703, 704 (9th Cir. 1984). Here, the Court finds that the above-captioned actions involve the same or similar parties, claims, and questions of fact or law, and that consolidation will avoid unnecessary costs and duplication of proceedings. Thus, good cause exists to grant the parties’ stipulation and consolidate these cases. The parties also request that the Scheduling Order in Santor (Santor, Doc. 54) be vacated, and that the Initial Scheduling Conference in A.L. proceed as set to schedule new case management deadlines in the consolidated action. (See Santor, Doc. 63; A.L., Doc. 13.) Currently, in Santor, non-expert discovery has closed, and trial is set for March 7, 2023, whereas in A.L., no case schedule has been set, with the Initial Scheduling Conference set for May 17, 2022. (Santor, Doc. 54; A.L., Doc. 10.) In light of the consolidation of the above-referenced cases and in order to avoid unnecessary cost and use of resources, the Court finds good cause to vacate the Scheduling Order issued in Santor in order to sets a consolidated case schedule. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b)(4); Fed. R. Civ. P. 42(a)(3). Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 1. The above-referenced cases shall be consolidated for all purposes, including trial, pursuant to Rule 42(a); 2. The Clerk of the Court is directed to file this order in each of the above-referenced cases; 3. Going forward, the parties and the Clerk of the Court are directed to file documents under only the lead case number. Future captions should indicate the lead case number followed by the member case number as follows: Lead Case: 1:19-cv-01593-AWI-SKO Member Case: 1:21-cv-01732-AWI-SKO 4. The Scheduling Order in Santor (Santor, Doc. 54) is VACATED; 5. Due to the press of business, the Initial Scheduling Conference in A.L., currently set for May 17, 2022, is CONTINUED to May 24, 2022, at 10:15 a.m. in Courtroom 7 (SKO) before Magistrate Judge Sheila K. Oberto. A joint scheduling report, carefully prepared and executed by all counsel, shall be electronically filed in full compliance with the requirements set forth in the Order Setting Mandatory Scheduling Conference (Santor, Doc. 6; A.L., Doc. 4) no later than seven (7) days prior to the Scheduling Conference, and a copy shall be emailed, in Word format, to skoorders@caed.uscourts.gov, and 6. In light of the consolidation of the cases, the Pre-Settlement Conference, currently set for June 15, 2022, and Settlement Conference, currently set for July 5, 2022, in Santor are hereby VACATED. The parties shall propose new settlement conference dates in their joint scheduling report.

Dated: April 12, 2022 /s/ Sheila K. Oberto . UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE