De Alba v. Cogir Management USA Inc ( 2022 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 XENIA CESILIA DE ALBA, No. 2:22-cv-01568-TLN-AC individually and on behalf of 12 all others similarly situated, 13 Plaintiff, AMENDED PRETRIAL SCHEDULING ORDER 14 v. 15 COGIR MANAGEMENT USA INC., and WELLTOWER COGIR TENANT, LLC., 16 Defendants. 17 18 After reviewing the parties’ Joint Status Report, the Court 19 hereby amends the Pretrial Scheduling Order. 20 I. SERVICE OF PROCESS 21 All named Defendants have been served and no further service 22 is permitted without leave of court, good cause having been 23 shown. 24 II. ADDITIONAL PARTIES/AMENDMENTS/PLEADINGS 25 No joinder of parties or amendments to pleadings is 26 permitted without leave of court, good cause having been shown. 27 /// 28 /// 1 III. JURISDICTION/VENUE 2 Jurisdiction is predicated upon 28 U.S.C. §§ 1332(a), 3 (d)(2). Jurisdiction and venue are not contested. 4 5 PHASE I - CLASS CERTIFICATION 6 7 IV. DISCOVERY 8 The Court finds that bifurcation is necessary in order to 9 best determine if the elements of class certification are met. 10 Accordingly, the Court hereby bifurcates the discovery process. 11 All discovery in Phase I shall be limited to facts that are 12 relevant to whether this action should be certified as a class 13 action and shall be completed by April 14, 2023. In this 14 context, “completed” means that all discovery shall have been 15 conducted so that all depositions have been taken and any 16 disputes relative to discovery shall have been resolved by 17 appropriate order if necessary and, where discovery has been 18 ordered, the order has been obeyed. All motions to compel 19 discovery must be noticed on the magistrate judge’s calendar in 20 accordance with the local rules of this Court. 21 V. DISCLOSURE OF EXPERT WITNESSES 22 All counsel are to designate in writing, file with the 23 Court, and serve upon all other parties the name, address, and 24 area of expertise of each expert that they propose to tender for 25 class certification purposes not later than May 15, 2023.1 The 26 designation shall be accompanied by a written report prepared and 27 1 The discovery of experts will include whether any motions based on Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (1993) and/or 28 Kumho Tire Co. v. Carmichael, 119 S. Ct. 1167 (1999) are anticipated. 1 signed by the witness. The report shall comply with Fed. R. Civ. 2 P. 26(a)(2)(B). 3 Within thirty (30) days after the designation of expert 4 witnesses, any party may designate a supplemental list of expert 5 witnesses who will express an opinion on a subject covered by an 6 expert designated by an adverse party. The right to designate a 7 supplemental expert for rebuttal purposes only shall apply to a 8 party who has not previously disclosed an expert witness on the 9 date set for expert witness disclosure by this Pretrial 10 Scheduling Order. 11 For purposes of this Pretrial Scheduling Order, an “expert” 12 is any person who may be used for purposes of class certification 13 or opposing class certification to present evidence under Rules 14 702, 703, and 705 of the Federal Rules of Evidence, which include 15 both “percipient experts” (persons who, because of their 16 expertise, have rendered expert opinions in the normal course of 17 their work duties or observations pertinent to the issues in the 18 case) and “retained experts” (persons specifically designated by 19 a party to be a testifying expert for the purposes of 20 litigation). 21 Each party shall identify whether a disclosed expert is 22 percipient, retained, or both. It will be assumed that a party 23 designating a retained expert has acquired the express permission 24 of the witness to be so listed. Parties designating percipient 25 experts must state in the designation who is responsible for 26 arranging the deposition of such persons. 27 All experts designated are to be fully prepared at the time 28 of designation to render an informed opinion, and give their nee ee eee ene nnn nn nn enn ne OE IS I 1 | bases for their opinion, so that they will be able to give full 2 and complete testimony at any deposition taken by the opposing 3 party. 4 VI. CLASS CERTIFICATION 5 The Motion for Class Certification shall be filed by July 6 14, 2023. The parties are responsible for ensuring that all 7 | motions are filed to allow for proper notice of the hearing under 8 the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and/or Local Rules. Local 9 | Rule 230 governs the calendaring and procedures of civil motions. 10 Failure to comply with Local Rule 230(c), may be deemed 11 consent to the motion and the Court may dispose of the motion 12 summarily. 13 VII. POST-CERTIFICATION CASE ACTIVITY 14 All other necessary dates and deadlines, including dates for 15 the Final Pretrial Conference and Trial, along with all deadlines 16 | associated therewith, will be set by a Supplemental Pretrial 17 Scheduling Order to be issued following the Court’s ruling on 18 Plaintiffs’ Class Certification Motion. 19 VIII. OBJECTIONS TO PRETRIAL SCHEDULING ORDER 20 This Pretrial Scheduling Order will become final without 21 further order of the Court unless objections are filed within 22 fourteen (14) days of service of this Order. 23 IT IS SO ORDERED. /) 24 | DATED: October 11, 2022 \ } jf “ / Lbs □□ 25 ies AWN SS 26 Troy L. Nunley } United States District Judge 27 28