Ellis v. Government Employee Ins. Co. ( 2023 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 ----oo0oo---- 11 12 STANLEY ELLIS, NO. 2:22-cv-01580 WBS JDP 13 Plaintiff, 14 v. 15 GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE INSURANCE COMPANY, a Maryland 16 corporation, 17 Defendant. 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 January 17, 2023, and makes the following findings 24 and orders without needing to consult with the parties any 25 further. 26 I. SERVICE OF PROCESS 27 All defendants have been served, and no further service 28 is permitted without leave of court, good cause having been shown 1 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16(b). 2 II. JOINDER OF PARTIES/AMENDMENTS 3 The court previously granted defendant’s motion for 4 partial judgment on the pleadings as to plaintiff’s claim for 5 breach of contract and gave plaintiff leave to amend. (Docket 6 No. 14.) On January 4, 2023, plaintiff filed his First Amended 7 Complaint, reasserting his claim for breach of contract. (Docket 8 No. 16.) 9 No further joinder of parties or amendments to 10 pleadings will be permitted except with leave of court, good 11 cause having been shown under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12 16(b). See Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604 13 (9th Cir. 1992). 14 III. JURISDICTION/VENUE 15 Jurisdiction over this insurance bad faith action is 16 predicated upon 28 U.S.C. § 1332, because there is complete 17 diversity between the parties and the amount in controversy 18 exceeds $75,000. Venue is undisputed and hereby found to be 19 proper. 20 IV. DISCOVERY 21 The parties agree to serve the initial disclosures 22 required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(1) on or before 23 February 17, 2023. 24 The parties shall disclose experts and produce reports 25 in accordance with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(2) by no 26 later than August 29, 2023. With regard to expert testimony 27 intended solely for rebuttal, those experts shall be disclosed 28 and reports produced in accordance with Federal Rule of Civil 1 Procedure 26(a)(2) on or before September 29, 2023. 2 All discovery, including depositions for preservation 3 of testimony, is left open, save and except that it shall be so 4 conducted as to be completed by October 30, 2023. The word 5 “completed” means that all discovery shall have been conducted so 6 that all depositions have been taken and any disputes relevant to 7 discovery shall have been resolved by appropriate order if 8 necessary and, where discovery has been ordered, the order has 9 been obeyed. All motions to compel discovery must be noticed on 10 the magistrate judge’s calendar in accordance with the local 11 rules of this court and so that such motions may be heard (and 12 any resulting orders obeyed) not later than October 30, 2023. 13 V. MOTION HEARING SCHEDULE 14 All motions, except motions for continuances, temporary 15 restraining orders, or other emergency applications, shall be 16 filed on or before December 15, 2023. All motions shall be 17 noticed for the next available hearing date. Counsel are 18 cautioned to refer to the local rules regarding the requirements 19 for noticing and opposing such motions on the court’s regularly 20 scheduled law and motion calendar. 21 VI. FINAL PRETRIAL CONFERENCE 22 The Final Pretrial Conference is set for February 26, 23 2024, at 1:30 p.m. in Courtroom No. 5. The conference shall be 24 attended by at least one of the attorneys who will conduct the 25 trial for each of the parties and by any unrepresented parties. 26 Counsel for all parties are to be fully prepared for 27 trial at the time of the Pretrial Conference, with no matters 28 remaining to be accomplished except production of witnesses for 1 oral testimony. Counsel shall file separate pretrial statements, 2 and are referred to Local Rules 281 and 282 relating to the 3 contents of and time for filing those statements. In addition to 4 those subjects listed in Local Rule 281(b), the parties are to 5 provide the court with: (1) a plain, concise statement which 6 identifies every non-discovery motion which has been made to the 7 court, and its resolution; (2) a list of the remaining claims as 8 against each defendant; and (3) the estimated number of trial 9 days. 10 In providing the plain, concise statements of 11 undisputed facts and disputed factual issues contemplated by 12 Local Rule 281(b)(3)-(4), the parties shall emphasize the claims 13 that remain at issue, and any remaining affirmatively pled 14 defenses thereto. If the case is to be tried to a jury, the 15 parties shall also prepare a succinct statement of the case, 16 which is appropriate for the court to read to the jury. 17 VII. TRIAL SETTING 18 The jury trial is set for April 30, 2024 at 9:00 a.m. 19 The parties estimate that the trial will last 7 days. 20 VIII. SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE 21 A Settlement Conference will be set at the time of the 22 Pretrial Conference. All parties should be prepared to advise 23 the court whether they will stipulate to the trial judge acting 24 as settlement judge and waive disqualification by virtue thereof. 25 Counsel are instructed to have a principal with full 26 settlement authority present at the Settlement Conference or to 27 be fully authorized to settle the matter on any terms. At least 28 seven calendar days before the Settlement Conference counsel for eee ee ERIE II I OEE OE EEE EO OE 1 each party shall submit a confidential Settlement Conference 2 Statement for review by the settlement judge. If the settlement 3 judge is not the trial judge, the Settlement Conference 4 Statements shall not be filed and will not otherwise be disclosed 5 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: January 13, 2023 bitte A habe WILLIAM B. SHUBB 14 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28