Norton v. Fresno Credit Bureau ( 2023 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 GAYLE NORTON, Case No. 1:22-cv-00984-JLT-BAM 12 Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING STIPULATION AND JOINT REQUEST TO EXTEND MUTUAL 13 v. DISCOVERY CUTOFF WITHOUT PREJUDICE 14 FRESNO CREDIT BUREAU d/b/a CREDITORS BUREAU USA d/b/a (Doc. 20) 15 CBUSA, 16 Defendant. 17 18 On May 31, 2023, the parties filed a stipulation and joint request to modify the Scheduling 19 Order and extend the non-expert and expert discovery deadlines, including expert disclosure 20 deadlines, an additional sixty (60) days. The current non-expert discovery deadline is July 15, 21 2023, and the parties report that they have not yet “served written discovery upon on another. 22 However, the parties have been engaged in good faith settlement discussions and informally 23 exchanged information pursuant to those discussions.” (Doc. 20 at p. 1.) The parties now seek 24 additional time to complete discovery, indicating that they are actively discussing settlement and 25 “believe that this case may be able to settle with more time to conduct discovery, depositions, and 26 the settlement conference.” (Id.) 27 Having considered the parties’ stipulation, the Court does not find good cause to grant the 28 requested modification of the Scheduling Order issued on January 30, 2023. Fed. R. Civ. P. 1 16(b)(4) (“A schedule may be modified only for good cause and with the judge’s consent.”). 2 Settlement discussions, in and of themselves, are not good cause to modify a scheduling order. 3 See Gerawan Farming, Inc. v. Rehrig Pacific Co., 2013 WL 645741, at *5 (E.D. Cal. Feb. 21, 4 2013). The parties fail to explain why the non-expert and expert discovery deadlines cannot be 5 met and why discovery cannot be completed in the time allotted. See Johnson v. Mammoth 6 Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 609 (9th Cir. 1992) (indicating district court may modify pretrial 7 schedule “if it cannot reasonably be met despite the diligence of the party seeking the 8 extension.”). Accordingly, the parties’ stipulation is DENIED without prejudice. 9 IT IS SO ORDERED. 10 11 Dated: June 1, 2023 /s/ Barbara A. McAuliffe _ UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28