Evanston Ins. Co. v. Harrison ( 2022 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 ----oo0oo---- 11 12 EVANSTON INSURANCE COMPANY, No. 2:20-cv-01672 WBS KJN an Illinois Corporation, 13 Plaintiff, 14 v. 15 BRIAN HARRISON, individually 16 and doing business as KINGDOM OF HARRON PRODUCTIONS, and 17 CHRISTOPHER GELMS, an individual, 18 Defendants. 19 20 ----oo0oo---- 21 STATUS (PRETRIAL SCHEDULING) ORDER 22 After reviewing the parties’ Joint Status Report, the 23 court hereby vacates the Status (Pretrial Scheduling) Conference 24 scheduled for February 28, 2022, and makes the following findings 25 and orders without needing to consult with the parties any 26 further. 27 I. SERVICE OF PROCESS 28 1 All defendants have been served, and no further service 2 is permitted without leave of court, good cause having been shown 3 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16(b). 4 II. JOINDER OF PARTIES/AMENDMENTS 5 No further joinder of parties or amendments to 6 pleadings will be permitted except with leave of court, good 7 cause having been shown under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8 16(b). See Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604 9 (9th Cir. 1992). 10 III. JURISDICTION/VENUE 11 Jurisdiction is predicated upon 28 U.S.C. § 1332, 12 because the parties are of diverse citizenship and the amount in 13 controversy exceeds $75,000. Venue is undisputed and hereby 14 found to be proper. 15 IV. DISCOVERY 16 The parties agree to serve the initial disclosures 17 required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(1) on or before 18 April 11, 2022. 19 The parties shall disclose experts and produce reports 20 in accordance with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(2) by no 21 later than August 9, 2023. With regard to expert testimony 22 intended solely for rebuttal, those experts shall be disclosed 23 and reports produced in accordance with Federal Rule of Civil 24 Procedure 26(a)(2) on or before September 12, 2023. 25 All discovery, including depositions for preservation 26 of testimony, is left open, save and except that it shall be so 27 conducted as to be completed by October 17, 2023. The word 28 “completed” means that all discovery shall have been conducted so 1 that all depositions have been taken and any disputes relevant to 2 discovery shall have been resolved by appropriate order if 3 necessary and, where discovery has been ordered, the order has 4 been obeyed. All motions to compel discovery must be noticed on 5 the magistrate judge’s calendar in accordance with the local 6 rules of this court and so that such motions may be heard (and 7 any resulting orders obeyed) not later than October 17, 2023. 8 V. MOTION HEARING SCHEDULE 9 All motions, except motions for continuances, temporary 10 restraining orders, or other emergency applications, shall be 11 filed on or before November 22, 2023. All motions shall be 12 noticed for the next available hearing date. Counsel are 13 cautioned to refer to the local rules regarding the requirements 14 for noticing and opposing such motions on the court’s regularly 15 scheduled law and motion calendar. 16 VI. FINAL PRETRIAL CONFERENCE 17 The Final Pretrial Conference is set for January 29, 18 2024, at 1:30 p.m. in Courtroom No. 5. The conference shall be 19 attended by at least one of the attorneys who will conduct the 20 trial for each of the parties and by any unrepresented parties. 21 Counsel for all parties are to be fully prepared for 22 trial at the time of the Pretrial Conference, with no matters 23 remaining to be accomplished except production of witnesses for 24 oral testimony. Counsel shall file separate pretrial statements, 25 and are referred to Local Rules 281 and 282 relating to the 26 contents of and time for filing those statements. In addition to 27 those subjects listed in Local Rule 281(b), the parties are to 28 provide the court with: (1) a plain, concise statement which 1 identifies every non-discovery motion which has been made to the 2 court, and its resolution; (2) a list of the remaining claims as 3 against each defendant; and (3) the estimated number of trial 4 days. 5 In providing the plain, concise statements of 6 undisputed facts and disputed factual issues contemplated by 7 Local Rule 281(b)(3)-(4), the parties shall emphasize the claims 8 that remain at issue, and any remaining affirmatively pled 9 defenses thereto. If the case is to be tried to a jury, the 10 parties shall also prepare a succinct statement of the case, 11 which is appropriate for the court to read to the jury. 12 VII. TRIAL SETTING 13 The jury trial is set for March 26, 2024, at 9:00 a.m. 14 The parties estimate that the trial will last four to six days. 15 VIII. SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE 16 In the Joint Status Report, defendant Harrison “asks 17 that the parties be directed to a settlement conference,” and 18 defendant Gelms states that he “is open to settlement conference 19 or panel mediation.” However, plaintiff states that it “believes 20 a panel mediation or settlement conference is not warranted at 21 this time.” Accordingly, a Settlement Conference will be set at 22 the time of the Pretrial Conference.1 23 Counsel are instructed to have a principal with full 24 settlement authority present at the Settlement Conference or to 25 be fully authorized to settle the matter on any terms. At least 26 27 1 If the parties all wish to have a settlement before the assigned magistrate judge earlier they may make such request of 28 the clerk. nnn en mene en ne nnn nnn nnn nnn nnn nn nn nnn eI OD OE 1 seven calendar days before the Settlement Conference counsel for 2 each party shall submit a confidential Settlement Conference 3 Statement for review by the settlement judge. The Settlement 4 Conference Statements shall not be filed and will not otherwise 5 | be disclosed to the trial judge. 6 IX. MODIFICATIONS TO SCHEDULING ORDER 7 Any requests to modify the dates or terms of this 8 Scheduling Order, except requests to change the date of the 9 trial, may be heard and decided by the assigned Magistrate Judge. 10 All requests to change the trial date shall be heard and decided 11 only by the undersigned judge. 12 IT IS SO ORDERED. . . 13 | Dated: February 23, 2022 ah hem A hh be WILLIAM B. SHUBB 14 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28