Kincaid v. Education Credit Mgt. Corp. ( 2022 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 SHEILA KINCAID, individually, No. 2:21-cv-00863-TLN-JDP and on behalf of other 12 members of the general public similarly situated, 13 AMENDED PRETRIAL SCHEDULING Plaintiff, ORDER 14 v. 15 EDUCATIONAL CREDIT MANAGEMENT 16 CORPORATION, an unknown business entity; and ECMC 17 GROUP, an unknown business entity, 18 Defendants. 19 20 After reviewing the parties’ Joint Status Report, the Court 21 makes the following Pretrial Scheduling Order. 22 I. SERVICE OF PROCESS 23 All named Defendants have been served and no further service 24 is permitted without leave of court, good cause having been 25 shown. 26 II. ADDITIONAL PARTIES/AMENDMENTS/PLEADINGS 27 No joinder of parties or amendments to pleadings is 28 permitted without leave of court, good cause having been shown. 1 III. JURISDICTION/VENUE 2 Jurisdiction is predicated upon 28 U.S.C. § 1332. 3 4 PHASE I - CLASS CERTIFICATION 5 6 IV. DISCOVERY 7 The Court hereby bifurcates the discovery process. All 8 discovery in Phase I shall be limited to facts that are relevant 9 to whether this action should be certified as a class action and 10 shall be completed by February 10, 2023. In this context, 11 “completed” means that all discovery shall have been conducted so 12 that all depositions have been taken and any disputes relative to 13 discovery shall have been resolved by appropriate order if 14 necessary and, where discovery has been ordered, the order has 15 been obeyed. All motions to compel discovery must be noticed on 16 the magistrate judge’s calendar in accordance with the local 17 rules of this Court. 18 V. DISCLOSURE OF EXPERT WITNESSES 19 All counsel are to designate in writing, file with the 20 Court, and serve upon all other parties the name, address, and 21 area of expertise of each expert that they propose to tender at 22 class certification not later than March 10, 2023.1 The 23 designation shall be accompanied by a written report prepared and 24 signed by the witness. The report shall comply with Fed. R. Civ. 25 P. 26(a)(2)(B). 26 Within twenty (20) days after the designation of expert 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 witnesses, any party may designate a supplemental list of expert 2 witnesses who will express an opinion on a subject covered by an 3 expert designated by an adverse party. The right to designate a 4 supplemental expert for rebuttal purposes only shall apply to a 5 party who has not previously disclosed an expert witness on the 6 date set for expert witness disclosure by this Pretrial 7 Scheduling Order. 8 For purposes of this Pretrial Scheduling Order, an “expert” 9 is any person who may be used at trial to present evidence under 10 Rules 702, 703, and 705 of the Federal Rules of Evidence, which 11 include both “percipient experts” (persons who, because of their 12 expertise, have rendered expert opinions in the normal course of 13 their work duties or observations pertinent to the issues in the 14 case) and “retained experts” (persons specifically designated by 15 a party to be a testifying expert for the purposes of 16 litigation). 17 Each party shall identify whether a disclosed expert is 18 percipient, retained, or both. It will be assumed that a party 19 designating a retained expert has acquired the express permission 20 of the witness to be so listed. Parties designating percipient 21 experts must state in the designation who is responsible for 22 arranging the deposition of such persons. 23 All experts designated are to be fully prepared at the time 24 of designation to render an informed opinion, and give their 25 bases for their opinion, so that they will be able to give full 26 and complete testimony at any deposition taken by the opposing 27 party. 28 /// ene nnn ene nen nnn nn ne nnn nen nn enn oo nnn SN 1 VI. CLASS CERTIFICATION 2 The Motion for Class Certification shall be filed by May 10, 3 2023. The parties are responsible for ensuring that all motions 4 are filed to allow for proper notice of the hearing under the 5 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and/or Local Rules. Local Rule 6 230 governs the calendaring and procedures of civil motions. 7 Failure to comply with Local Rule 230(c), may be deemed 8 consent to the motion and the Court may dispose of the motion 9 summarily. 10 VII. POST-CERTIFICATION CASE ACTIVITY 11 All other necessary dates and deadlines, including dates for 12 the Final Pretrial Conference and Trial, along with all deadlines 13 associated therewith, will be set by a Supplemental Pretrial 14 Scheduling Order to be issued following the ruling on the Motion 15 for Class Certification. 16 VIII. OBJECTIONS TO PRETRIAL SCHEDULING ORDER 17 This Pretrial Scheduling Order will become final without 18 further order of the Court unless objections are filed within 19 fourteen (14) days of service of this Order. 20 IT IS SO ORDERED. /~ /) 21 | DaTED: July 18, 2022 ( | jf 22 “, MY Vu 23 Troy L. Nunley ] United States District Judge 24 25 26 27 28