(PS) Ervin v. Jones ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 GARY WAYNE ERVIN, No. 2:19-cv-01883-KJM-CKD PS 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER STAYING DISCOVERY 14 SCOTT ROBERT JONES et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Presently pending before the court is defendants’ motion to dismiss. (ECF No. 21.) The 18 court previously granted plaintiff’s request to continue the hearing on defendants’ motion which 19 was originally set for May 13, 2020; the hearing is now set for July 22, 2020. (ECF Nos. 29 & 20 30.) Plaintiff then filed a request for the court to order discovery to proceed while the motion to 21 dismiss is pending, and defendants have filed a response to plaintiff’s request. (ECF Nos. 32, 33.) 22 The court orders that, in the interest of judicial economy, discovery in this action is STAYED as 23 outlined below. 24 District courts have broad discretion to stay discovery pending the resolution of a 25 potentially dispositive motion, including a motion to dismiss. Jarvis v. Regan, 833 F.2d 149, 155 26 (9th Cir.1987). Efficiency for the court and for litigants is a valid rationale to stay discovery 27 while a motion to dismiss is pending. See Little v. City of Seattle, 863 F.2d 681, 685 (9th Cir. 28 1988). wMAIDS 2 LDV OUUING NTN INES MVOC Or POR eye oe 1 In the present case defendants move to dismiss plaintiffs entire complaint, and 2 | defendants’ motion does not appear to include any allegations that would benefit from discovery. 3 | Thus, a stay of discovery is in line with the principles of judicial economy and the Federal Rules 4 | of Civil Procedure. See Song Fi v Google, 2016 WL 9185325 (N.D. Cal. April 27, 2016) 5 | (granting a stay of discovery prior to the resolution of a motion to dismiss on an amended 6 | complaint); Hall v Apollo Group, 2014 WL 4354420 (N.D. Cal. Sept. 2, 2014) (extending stay of 7 | discovery while the plaintiff worked on amending the complaint); see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(d) 8 | (“[A] party may not seek discovery from any source before the parties have conferred as required 9 | by Rule 26(f), except ... when authorized by these rules, by stipulation, or by court order.”). 10 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that all discovery and motion practice in this 11 | action are stayed pending resolution of defendants’ motion to dismiss. With the exception of 12 | plaintiffs opposition or filings related to the pending motion to dismiss, objections to any 13 | findings and recommendations from this court, and any non-frivolous motions for emergency 14 | relief, the court will not entertain or respond to any motions and other filings until the motion to 15 || dismiss is resolved. 16 | Dated: May 1, 2020 Gh rd f | Gx 7 CAROLYN K.DELANEY 7 18 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 19 20 || Jr.1883.stay 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28