Stage Nine Design, LLC v. Rock-It Cargo, LLC ( 2022 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 ----oo0oo---- 11 12 STAGE NINE DESIGN, LLC, No. 2:21-cv-00722 WBS AC 13 Plaintiff, 14 v. 15 VALUED FREIGHT SERVICES, LLC; SPN CARGO, INC.; and DOES 1 16 to 20, inclusive, 17 Defendants. 18 19 ----oo0oo---- 20 STATUS (PRETRIAL SCHEDULING) ORDER 21 After reviewing the parties’ Joint Status Report, the 22 court hereby vacates the Status (Pretrial Scheduling) Conference 23 scheduled for June 6, 2022, and makes the following findings and 24 orders without needing to consult with the parties any further. 25 I. SERVICE OF PROCESS 26 All named and active defendants have been served, and 27 no further service is permitted without leave of court, good 28 cause having been shown under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 1 16(b). 2 II. JOINDER OF PARTIES/AMENDMENTS 3 No further joinder of parties or amendments to 4 pleadings will be permitted except with leave of court, good 5 cause having been shown under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 6 16(b). See Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604 7 (9th Cir. 1992). 8 III. JURISDICTION/VENUE 9 Jurisdiction is predicated upon 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 10 1332, because plaintiff’s claims arise under 49 U.S.C. § 14706, 11 and there is complete diversity between the parties and the 12 amount in controversy exceeds $75,000. Venue is undisputed and 13 hereby found to be proper. 14 IV. DISCOVERY 15 The parties previously served initial disclosures 16 required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(1). 17 Plaintiff shall disclose experts and produce reports in 18 accordance with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(2) by no 19 later than November 18, 2022. Defendants shall do the same by no 20 later than December 23, 2022. With regard to expert testimony 21 intended solely for rebuttal, those experts shall be disclosed 22 and reports produced in accordance with Federal Rule of Civil 23 Procedure 26(a)(2) on or before January 27, 2023. 24 All discovery, including depositions for preservation 25 of testimony, is left open, save and except that it shall be so 26 conducted as to be completed by February 24, 2023. The word 27 “completed” means that all discovery shall have been conducted so 28 that all depositions have been taken and any disputes relevant to 1 discovery shall have been resolved by appropriate order if 2 necessary and, where discovery has been ordered, the order has 3 been obeyed. All motions to compel discovery must be noticed on 4 the magistrate judge’s calendar in accordance with the local 5 rules of this court and so that such motions may be heard (and 6 any resulting orders obeyed) not later than February 24, 2023. 7 V. MOTION HEARING SCHEDULE 8 All motions, except motions for continuances, temporary 9 restraining orders, or other emergency applications, shall be 10 filed on or before March 31, 2023. All motions shall be noticed 11 for the next available hearing date. Counsel are cautioned to 12 refer to the local rules regarding the requirements for noticing 13 and opposing such motions on the court’s regularly scheduled law 14 and motion calendar. 15 VI. FINAL PRETRIAL CONFERENCE 16 The Final Pretrial Conference is set for June 5, 2023, 17 at 1:30 p.m. in Courtroom No. 5 or via videoconference. The 18 Courtroom Deputy will notify the parties prior to the Conference 19 whether the Conference will be held in person of via 20 videoconference. The conference shall be attended by at least 21 one of the attorneys who will conduct the trial for each of the 22 parties and by any unrepresented parties. 23 Counsel for all parties are to be fully prepared for 24 trial at the time of the Pretrial Conference, with no matters 25 remaining to be accomplished except production of witnesses for 26 oral testimony. Counsel shall file separate pretrial statements, 27 and are referred to Local Rules 281 and 282 relating to the 28 contents of and time for filing those statements. In addition to 1 those subjects listed in Local Rule 281(b), the parties are to 2 provide the court with: (1) a plain, concise statement which 3 identifies every non-discovery motion which has been made to the 4 court, and its resolution; (2) a list of the remaining claims as 5 against each defendant; and (3) the estimated number of trial 6 days. 7 In providing the plain, concise statements of 8 undisputed facts and disputed factual issues contemplated by 9 Local Rule 281(b)(3)-(4), the parties shall emphasize the claims 10 that remain at issue, and any remaining affirmatively pled 11 defenses thereto. If the case is to be tried to a jury, the 12 parties shall also prepare a succinct statement of the case, 13 which is appropriate for the court to read to the jury. 14 VII. TRIAL SETTING 15 The jury trial is set for August 1, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. 16 The parties estimate that the trial will last four days. As no 17 party has demanded a jury, a bench trial will proceed before the 18 court sitting without a jury. 19 VIII. SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE 20 The parties have participated in the court’s VDRP 21 program, but have not as of yet been able to reach a settlement. 22 If a settlement has not been reached by the time of the final 23 Pretrial Conference, the court at that time will schedule a 24 settlement conference before a magistrate judge. Counsel are 25 instructed to have a principal with full settlement authority 26 present at the Settlement Conference or to be fully authorized to 27 settle the matter on any terms. At least seven calendar days 28 before the Settlement Conference counsel for each party shall eee eee I mE ISI I NE 1 submit a confidential Settlement Conference Statement for review 2 by the settlement judge. The Settlement Conference Statements 3 shall not be filed and will not otherwise be disclosed to the 4 trial judge. 5 IX. MODIFICATIONS TO SCHEDULING ORDER 6 Any requests to modify the dates or terms of this 7 Scheduling Order, except requests to change the date of the 8 trial, may be heard and decided by the assigned Magistrate Judge. 9 | All requests to change the trial date shall be heard and decided 10 only by the undersigned judge. 11 IT IS SO ORDERED. 12 Dated: June 1, 2022 13 . . ak. A ble, (hi.te— WILLIAM B. SHUBB 15 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28