(PC) Brownlee v. Burnes ( 2024 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 BENJAMIN JUSTIN BROWNLEE, Case No. 1:23-cv-00376-JLT-HBK (PC) 12 Plaintiff, CASE MANAGEMENT SCHEDULING ORDER 13 v. Response to First Amended Complaint: 7/12/2024 14 J. BURNES, J. J. FLORES, M. RIVERA, Exhaustion-Based Motion: 9/17/2024 AND P. RODRIGUEZ, 15 Complete Non-Expert Discovery: 3/16/2025 Defendants. 16 Settlement Report: 4/15/2025 Dispositive Motion(s): 6/19/2025 17 On June 19, 2024, the Court granted Defendant’s request to opt out of early ADR. (Doc. 18 No. 37). The Court directs Defendants to file a response to the claims deemed cognizable in 19 Plaintiff’s First Amended Complaint (“FAC”) no later than July 12, 2024. (See Doc. Nos. 18, 20 21, 23, 24). Pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 1, 16, and 26-36, the Court sets forth 21 the following case management deadlines and discovery procedures for this case as follows: 22 I. Written Discovery: 23 Discovery requests shall be served by the parties in compliance with Rule 5 of the Federal 24 Rules of Civil Procedure (Fed. R. Civ. P.) and Eastern District of California Local Rule 135. 25 Discovery requests and responses shall not be filed with the Court unless required by Eastern 26 District California Local Rules 250.2, 250.3 and 250.4. Absent leave of Court, discovery is 27 limited as follows: 28 1 A. The parties are limited to 15 Requests for Admission (a request for admission is a 2 written request that the opposing party “admit, for purposes of the pending action only, the truth 3 of any matters within the scope of Rule 26(b)(1)” that relate to “(A) facts, the application of law 4 to fact, or opinions about either; [or] (B) the genuineness of any described documents.” Fed. R. 5 Civ. P. 36(a)(1)); 6 B. The parties are limited to 15 Requests for Production (a request for production is a 7 written request that the opposing party produce documents or electronically stored information, 8 “including writings, drawings, graphs, charts, photographs, sound recordings, images, and other 9 data or data compilations,” or a written request that the opposing party produce any designated 10 tangible things. Fed. R. Civ. P. 34(a)(1)). 11 Responses to documents shall include all documents within a party’s possession, custody, 12 or control. Fed. R. Civ. P. 34(a)(1). Documents are deemed within a party’s possession, custody, 13 or control if the party has actual possession, custody, or control thereof, or the legal right to 14 obtain the property on demand. Allen v. Woodford, 2007 WL 309945, at *2 (E.D. Cal. 2007). 15 Responses to written discovery, including the production of documents, shall be due 16 within forty-five (45) days after the request is served. Boilerplate objections are disfavored and 17 may be summarily overruled by the Court. All discovery must be completed by the above- 18 referenced discovery cut-off date. 19 The parties are required to act in good faith during discovery and are required to meet and 20 confer, via correspondence or telephonically, to resolve any discovery dispute prior to filing any 21 discovery motion. Any motions to compel should be filed promptly after the non-receipt or 22 receipt of the objectionable discovery; and, in all cases no later than fourteen (14) days before the 23 non-expert discovery deadline expires. Failure to timely file a motion to compel will result in a 24 waiver of any objections to discovery. The moving party must include certification that they have 25 complied with their duty to meet and confer. The failure to include a certification or show good 26 cause for failure to meet and confer will result in the motion being stricken. The fact that Plaintiff 27 is incarcerated does not constitute good cause to excuse either parties’ duty to fulfill the meet and 28 confer requirement. 1 II. Depositions 2 Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 30(a)(2)(B), Defendants may depose Plaintiff and any other 3 witness confined in a prison upon condition that, at least fourteen (14) days before such a 4 deposition, Defendants serve all parties with the notice required by Rule 30(b)(1). Pursuant to 5 Fed. R, Civ. P. 30(b)(4), the parties may take any deposition under this section by video 6 conference, relieving the court reporter of the requirement to be in the physical presence of the 7 witness under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 28(a)(1) during that deposition. Nothing herein 8 forecloses a party from bringing a motion for protective order pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c)(1) 9 if deemed necessary. 10 Disagreement with any directive of security staff at the institution or prison at which the 11 deposition is scheduled is not a basis for the Plaintiff to refuse to answer questions. Further, the 12 failure of Plaintiff to attend, be sworn, or answer appropriate questions may result in sanctions, 13 including terminating the action as provided in Fed. R. Civ. P. 37. 14 III. Case Management Deadlines 15 The following deadlines shall govern this action: 16 A. Deadline to respond to First Amended Complaint: 7/12/2024 17 B. Deadline to challenge exhaustion of administrative remedies: 9/17/2024. 18 B. Deadline to complete non-expert discovery: 3/16/2025. Any motions to compel must 19 be filed no later than fourteen (14) days before the non-expert discovery deadline. The motion(s) 20 should include a copy of the request(s) and any response to the request(s) at issue. The responding 21 party may file a response to the motion no later than twenty-one days from the date the motion is 22 filed. If, after reviewing the motion(s) and response(s), the Court determines that a hearing will 23 be helpful, the Court will set a hearing on the motion(s) to compel. 24 C. Deadline to Advise of Settlement Potential: 4/15/2025. Defendant(s) shall confer 25 with Plaintiff,1 and no later than 4/15/2025, shall file a report indicating each party’s position on 26 whether a further settlement conference would be productive.2 27 1 The parties may confer by letter or telephonically. 28 2 If the parties request a settlement conference, the Court will stay the remaining deadlines. 1 D. Deadline to file pre-trial dispositive motions: 6/19/2025. The deadline to file 2 oppositions to dispositive motions, including motions for summary judgment, is thirty (30) days 3 from the date the motion is filed. The deadline to file replies to oppositions is fourteen (14) days 4 from the date the opposition is filed. If a party needs an extension to these deadlines, that party 5 may file a motion for an extension of time. 6 E. In addition to complying with the applicable rules, a motion and incorporated 7 memorandum and any responses in opposition shall not exceed twenty-five (25) pages in length, 8 exclusive of exhibits. A moving party’s reply brief shall not exceed seven (7) pages in length. A 9 party must move and show good cause for exceeding these page limitations before filing a motion 10 in excess of these pages. Any motions filed in excess of these page limitations may be struck. 11 F. Defendants shall lodge a Word version of any dispositive motion to chambers at: 12 hbkorders@caed.uscourts.gov and shall mail or deliver courtesy hard-copies of any motions with 13 exhibits that exceed twenty-five (25) pages in length to the Clerk of Court at 2500 Tulare St., 14 Fresno, CA 93721 and marked “to the Attention of: HBK Chambers.” Courtesy hard-copies shall 15 reflect the CM/ECF document numbers and pagination. 16 IV. Further Dates and Deadlines 17 If this case proceeds after dispositive motions have been resolved, or if no dispositive 18 motions are filed, the Court will set expert disclosure deadlines,3 a telephonic trial confirmation 19 hearing, pretrial deadlines, and a trial date. 20 V. Consent/Decline of U.S. Magistrate Jurisdiction 21 Plaintiff returned the Consent/Decline of U.S. Magistrate Judge Jurisdiction form on April 5, 22 2023. (Doc. No. 7). Defendant shall return the Consent/Decline of U.S. Magistrate Judge 23 Jurisdiction form no later than July 22, 2024. 24 VI. Effect of This Order 25 The deadlines set forth above are firm and will only be extended upon a showing of good 26 cause. Eleventh hours motions, i.e., motions filed on the eve of the deadline expiration, to extend 27 3 While the Court is not setting a deadline for expert disclosures at this time, the parties may provide their 28 expert disclosures at any time. 1 | deadline will only be granted only upon a showing of extraordinary circumstances. 2 * | Dated: _ June 20, 2024 lew □□□ fareh fackt 4 HELENA M. BARCH-KUCHTA ; UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28