Mendoza v. Monsanto Company ( 2023 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 YOLANDA MENDOZA, Case No. 1:16-cv-00406-ADA-HBK 12 Plaintiff, ORDER TO FILE JOINT REPORT 13 v. MARCH 9, 2023 DEADLINE 14 MONSANTO COMPANY, TELEPHONIC SECOND STATUS AND/OR 15 Defendant. SCHEDULING CONFEREENCE 16 MARCH 23, 2022 AT 1:00 PM 17 18 19 20 On January 26, 2023, the Court1 telephonically conducted a status conference in this case. 21 (Doc. No. 123). Attorney Sandra A. Edwards, Winston & Strawn LLP, appeared on behalf of 22 Defendant Monsanto. Despite the status conference being noticed on January 10, 2023 (Doc. No. 23 121), no counsel appeared on behalf of Plaintiff.2 24 1 On February 10, 2022, the case was reassigned to the undersigned Magistrate Judge and District Judge Dale A. 25 Drozd. (Doc. No. 110). On August 24, 2022, the case was reassigned from to District Judge Dale A. Drozd to District Judge Ana de Alba. (Doc. No. 120). 26 2 Counsel, representing himself as counsel for Plaintiff, contacted the courtroom deputy after the conclusion of the hearing. On January 30, 2023, Devin L. Bolton entered an appearance on behalf of Plaintiff. (Doc. No. 122). 27 Although Attorney Edwards appeared on behalf of Monsanto, the docket at that time did not reflect either an appearance by Attorney Edwards or by any other attorney from Winston & Strawn LLP. Attorney Edwards entered 28 her appearance on January 31, 2023 (Doc. No. 124). Both parties are reminded that any counsel appearing on their 1 This action was initially filed in the Central District of California, Western Division, on 2 September 22, 2015 (Doc. No. 1); and, after the filing of an amended complaint (Doc. No.24), 3 Plaintiff Mendoza’s case was severed and transferred to this Court on March 24, 2016 (Doc. No. 4 63). After the court denied Defendant’s motion to dismiss (Doc. No. 97), and Defendant filed an 5 Answer (Doc. No. 98), the case was transferred to the MDL3 in the Northern District of California 6 on October 4, 2016. (Doc. No. 108). On January 24, 2022, a Suggestion of Remand to 7 Transferor Court issued (Doc. No. 109). On February 2, 2022, this matter was remanded to this 8 Court after no objections were filed to the Conditional Remand Order.4 On February 10, 2022, 9 the Clerk reopened the case in this Court. On February 18, 2022, the parties filed a Joint 10 Designation of the Record on Remand (Doc. Nos. 118-119). According to the Suggestion of 11 Remand the parties were unable to consummate a settlement, discovery is complete, and “the case 12 is ready for trial.” (Doc. No. 109 at 2). 13 The Court will direct the parties to file a joint report to provide a summary of the status of 14 this action and identify whether any further fact and/or expert (specific) discovery is required by 15 either party before setting this matter for trial. Further, the parties shall advise whether they are 16 amendable to engaging in further mediation. The joint report shall propose appropriate deadlines 17 for any further discovery and mediation, if appropriate. The Court will then set this matter for a 18 telephonic second status conference to set a limited scheduling order and identify a trial date. The 19 parties are further directed to respectively review their individual counsel identified on the docket 20 to ensure that all identified counsel remain current counsel of record. If any counsel has not yet 21 entered an appearance or any counsel is no longer counsel of record, the parties shall file 22 appropriate appearances, withdrawals or substitutions as set forth in E.D. Cal. Local Rule 182. 23 Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED: 24 1. The parties shall meet and confer to prepare a joint report as described above. The 25 joint report shall be filed no later than March 9, 2023. 26 behalf must comply with this Court’s Local Rules regarding appearances, substitutions, and withdrawal of counsel. See E.D. Cal. L.R. 182. 27 3 In re Roundup Products Liability Litigation, 214 F. Supp. 3d 1346 (J.P.ML. 2016); MDL No. 2741. 4 It appears the February 2, 202 order was not filed on the docket in this case. The Court will direct the Clerk to file 28 the February 2, 2022 order on the docket. 1 2. The Court will hold a second telephonic status conference on March 23, 2023, at 1:00 2 PM (PST) (Dial-In: 888-204-5984; Passcode: 4446176). 3 3. The Parties shall ensure that the docket correctly reflects only their respective current 4 counsel of record. 5 4. The Clerk of Court shall file the February 2, 2022 remand order issued in MDL No. 6 2741 (Doc. No. 2620) on the docket. 7 Dated: _ February 2.2023 Mile. Th fareh Hack 9 HELENA M. BARCH-KUCHTA 10 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28