Tapia v. NaphCare Inc

Opinion

1 THE HONORABLE KYMBERLY K. EVANSON 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 9 AT SEATTLE 10

11 JAVIER TAPIA, No. 2:22-cv-01141

12 Plaintiff, STIPULATED MOTION AND ORDER TO AMEND THE CASE 13 v. SCHEDULE 14 NAPHCARE, INC., and PIERCE COUNTY,

15 Defendants. 16 Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16(b)(4) and Local Civil Rule 16(b)(6), all 17 parties in this action jointly move the Court for entry of an order extending the remaining case 18 deadlines. The parties believe that there is good cause to extend the trial date, and related pretrial 19 deadlines, as the proposed schedule will ensure efficiency and conserve judicial resources. 20 “The decision to modify a scheduling order is within the broad discretion of the district 21 court,” and the Court may do so on a showing of good cause. White v. Ethicon, Inc., No. 20-952 , 22 2022 WL 596407, at *1 (W.D. Wash. Feb. 28, 2022); Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b)(4); see also LCR 23 16(b)(6). The good cause standard “primarily considers the diligence of the party seeking 24 amendment.” Ginzkey v. Nat’l Sec. Corp., No. 18-1773, 2022 WL 1110976, at *1 (W.D. Wash. 25 Mar. 10, 2022) (quoting Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 609 (9th Cir. 26 1 1992)). Good cause exists where the “schedule . . . cannot reasonably be met despite the diligence 2 of the parties seeking the extension.” Johnson, 975 F.2d at 609 (citing Fed. R. Civ. P. 16 advisory 3 committee’s notes (1983 amendment)). The rule is intended to “accomplish effective pretrial 4 procedures and to avoid wasting the time of the parties, counsel, and the court.” LCR 16(b)(4). 5 The Court’s Scheduling Order does not explicitly set forth deadlines for expert discovery 6 and Daubert motions. Dkt. No. 50 at 1. Good cause exists to extend the deadlines for dispositive 7 motions and other pretrial deadlines as the parties’ ability to prepare motions for summary 8 judgment, necessarily depends on the parties’ ability to develop a complete factual record and 9 assess the adequacy of the expert testimony. Accordingly, the extension will “accomplish effective 10 pretrial procedures,” and ensure the efficiency of trial, which will, in turn, “avoid wasting the time 11 of the parties, counsel, and the court.” LCR 16(b)(4). 12 Further, Defendants NaphCare and Pierce County believe good cause exists to sequence 13 Daubert motions and motions for summary judgment so that the Court can determine what expert 14 opinions are admissible before the parties submit dispositive motions, which will rely heavily on 15 expert opinions. Should the current schedule not provide the Court time to resolve the Daubert 16 motions in advance of the deadline to file motions for summary judgment, Defendants reserve 17 their right to request a further extension of the deadline to file motions for summary judgment. 18 Plaintiff does not believe such sequencing is necessary or beneficial. 19 Good cause, therefore, exists to extend the deadlines for dispositive motions, and extend 20 the remaining case deadlines as follows: 21 22 23 24 25 26 Perkins Coie LLP 1 Current Date Proposed New Date 2 Deadline for Expert Disclosures and March 15, 2024 3 Reports 4 Deadline for Rebuttal Expert April 15, 2024 5 Disclosures and Reports 6 Discovery Cut-Off March 15, 2024 May 15, 2024 7 Deadline to File Daubert Motions April 15, 2024 June 10, 2024 8 Mediation to be Completed April 1, 2024 July 1, 2024 9 Deadline to File Motions for April 15, 2024 September 16, 2024 10 Summary Judgment 11 Motions in Limine July 5, 2024 November 29, 2024 12 Pretrial Order July 5, 2024 November 29, 2024 Proposed Verdict Forms, Voir Dire, 13 July 8, 2024 December 2, 2024 and Jury Instructions 14 Trial Briefs July 11, 2024 December 5, 2024 15 Jury Trial July 15, 2024 December 9, 2024 16

24 25 26 Perkins Coie LLP 1 DATED October 25, 2023 s/ David. A. Perez 2 David A. Perez, WSBA No. 43959 Juliana Bennington, WSBA No. 60357 3 Jedidiah K.R. Blake, WSBA No. 59610 Perkins Coie LLP 4 1201 Third Avenue, Suite 4900 Seattle, WA 98101-3099 5 Telephone: 206.359.8000 Facsimile: 206.359.9000 6 E-mail: Dperez@perkinscoie.com JBennington@perkinscoie.com 7 JBlake@perkinscoie.com

8 Jacob Dean (Admitted Pro Hac Vice) Perkins Coie LLP 9 1888 Century Park East, Suite 1700 Los Angeles, CA 90067-1721 10 Telephone: 310.788.3365 Facsimile: 310.788.3365 11 E-mail: JacobDean@perkinscoie.com

12 Attorneys for Defendant NaphCare, Inc. 13 s/ Kristal M. Cowger_____________________ 14 Kristal M. Cowger, WSBA # 43079 Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney 15 930 Tacoma Avenue South, Suite 946 Tacoma, WA 98402-2102 16 Telephone: 253.798.4265 Email: kristal.cowger@piercecountywa.gov 17

Attorney for Defendant Pierce County 18

19 s/ Ryan Dreveskracht_____________________ Ryan Dreveskracht, WSBA No. 42593 20 Corinne Sebren, WSBA No. 58777 Galanda Broadman, PLLC 21 8606 35th Avenue NE, Ste. L1 P. O. Box 15146 22 Seattle, WA 98115 Telephone: 206.909.3842 23 Facsimile: 206.299.7690 E-mail: ryan@galandabroadman.com 24 E-mail: corinne@galandabroadman.com

25 Attorneys for Plaintiff 26 Perkins Coie LLP 1 ORDER 2 IT IS SO ORDERED. 3 Dated this 26th day of October, 2023 4 A 5 Kymberly K. Evanson 6 United States District Judge

7 Presented by: 8

9 s/ David. A. Perez_____________ 10 David A. Perez, WSBA No. 43959 Juliana Bennington, WSBA No. 60357 11 Jedidiah K.R. Blake, WSBA No. 59610 Perkins Coie LLP 12 1201 Third Avenue, Suite 4900 Seattle, WA 98101-3099 13 Telephone: 206.359.8000 14 Facsimile: 206.359.9000 E-mail: Dperez@perkinscoie.com 15 JBennington@perkinscoie.com JBlake@perkinscoie.com 16 Jacob Dean (Admitted Pro Hac Vice) 17 Perkins Coie LLP 1888 Century Park East, Suite 1700 18 Los Angeles, CA 90067-1721 19 Telephone: 310.788.3365 Facsimile: 310.788.3365 20 Email: JacobDean@perkinscoie.com

21 Attorneys for Defendant NaphCare, Inc.

22 s/ Kristal M. Cowger_______________ Kristal M. Cowger, WSBA # 43079 23 Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney 930 Tacoma Avenue South, Suite 946 24 Tacoma, WA 98402-2102 Telephone: 253.798.4265 25 Email: kristal.cowger@piercecountywa.gov

26 Attorney for Defendant Pierce County Perkins Coie LLP 1

2 s/ Ryan Dreveskracht_______________ Ryan Dreveskracht, WSBA No. 42593 3 Corinne Sebren, WSBA No. 58777 Galanda Broadman, PLLC 4 8606 35th Avenue NE, Ste. L1 P. O. Box 15146 5 Seattle, WA 98115 Telephone: 206.909.3842 6 Facsimile: 206.299.7690 E-mail: ryan@galandabroadman.com 7 E-mail: corinne@galandabroadman.com

8 Attorneys for Plaintiff 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Perkins Coie LLP