Fernandez v. Debt Assistance Network, LLC ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 IRMA FERNANDEZ, et al., Case No.: 19-cv-01442-MMA-JLB 12 Plaintiffs, ORDER: 13 v. (1) GRANTING JOINT MOTION TO 14 DEBT ASSISTANCE NETWORK, LLC, AMEND SCHEDULING ORDER; 15 AND 16 Defendant. (2) ISSUING AMENDED 17 SCHEDULING ORDER 18 [ECF Nos. 21; 34; 35] 19 20 Before the Court is the parties’ Joint Motion to Amend Scheduling Order. (ECF No. 21 35.) The parties request to extend the June 19, 2020 discovery cutoff by forty-five days 22 and continue all subsequent dates and deadlines accordingly. (Id. at 3.) The parties 23 represent that they require additional time to schedule multiple depositions, including the 24 deposition of Defendant’s Rule 30(b)(6) witness. (Id. at 2.) On June 17, 2020, the Court 25 held a telephonic, counsel-only Status Conference regarding the parties’ request. (ECF 26 No. 37.) 27 /// 28 /// 1 After conferring with counsel for the parties, the Court finds good cause to extend 2 the discovery cutoff by forty-five days and continue all subsequent dates and deadlines 3 accordingly. Therefore, the parties’ joint motion (ECF No. 35) is GRANTED, and the 4 Scheduling Order (ECF No. 21) and the Court’s Order resetting and converting the 5 Mandatory Settlement Conference (ECF No. 34) are amended as follows: 6 1. All fact discovery must be completed by all parties by August 3, 2020. 7 “Completed” means that all discovery under Rules 30-36 of the Federal Rules of Civil 8 Procedure, and discovery subpoenas under Rule 45, must be initiated a sufficient period of 9 time in advance of the cut-off date, so that it may be completed by the cut-off date, taking 10 into account the times for service, notice and response as set forth in the Federal Rules of 11 Civil Procedure. Counsel must promptly and in good faith meet and confer with 12 regard to all discovery disputes in compliance with Local Rule 26.1(a). The Court 13 expects counsel to make every effort to resolve all disputes without court intervention 14 through the meet and confer process. If the parties reach an impasse on any discovery 15 issue, counsel must file an appropriate motion within the time limit and procedures outlined 16 in the undersigned magistrate judge’s chambers rules. A failure to comply in this regard 17 will result in a waiver of a party’s discovery issue. Absent an order of the court, no 18 stipulation continuing or altering this requirement will be recognized by the court. 19 Discovery motions must be filed in the time and manner directed by Magistrate 20 Judge Burkhardt (see Judge Burkhardt’s Civil Chambers Rules on Discovery Disputes 21 available on the Court’s website). All discovery motions must be filed within 30 days of 22 the service of an objection, answer, or response which becomes the subject of dispute, or 23 the passage of a discovery due date without response or production, and only after counsel 24 25 26 1 The parties’ joint motion failed to address excusable neglect for filing the motion 27 less than ten calendar days in advance of the June 19, 2020 discovery cutoff, as required by § III.C. of Judge Burkhardt’s Civil Chambers Rules. The Court cautions the parties 28 1 (and any unrepresented parties) have met and conferred to resolve the dispute and 2 complied with Section IV.B. of Judge Burkhardt’s Civil Chambers Rules. 3 2. All expert discovery must be completed by all parties by August 3, 2020. The 4 parties must comply with the same procedures set forth in the paragraph governing fact 5 discovery. 6 3. Failure to comply with this section or any other discovery order of the court 7 may result in the sanctions provided for in Fed. R. Civ. P. 37, including a prohibition on 8 the introduction of experts or other designated matters in evidence. 9 4. All dispositive pretrial motions, including motions for summary judgment and 10 motions addressing Daubert issues, must be filed by August 31, 2020.2 Counsel for the 11 moving party must obtain a motion hearing date from Judge Anello’s law clerk. The period 12 of time between the date you request a motion date and the hearing date may vary from 13 one district judge to another. Please plan accordingly. Failure to make a timely request 14 for a motion date may result in the motion not being heard. 15 5. If appropriate, following the filing of an order ruling on a motion for summary 16 judgment or other dispositive pretrial motion, or in the event no such motion is filed, after 17 the expiration of the deadline set forth in paragraph 8, supra, Judge Anello will issue a 18 pretrial scheduling order setting a pretrial conference, trial date, and all related pretrial 19 deadlines. The parties must review and be familiar with Judge Anello’s Civil Chambers 20 Rules, which provide additional information regarding pretrial scheduling. 21 6. A Mandatory Settlement Conference will be conducted by video conference 22 on August 17, 2020, at 1:45 PM before Judge Burkhardt. The parties shall follow the 23 mandatory instructions set forth in the Court’s Order resetting and converting the 24 Mandatory Settlement Conference to a video conference. (ECF No. 34.) The parties must 25 /// 26 27 2 This deadline is not applicable to pretrial motions in limine. For further information 28 1 submit the required participant contact information to Judge Burkhardt’s chambers (see 2 ECF No. 34 ¶ 5) by August 13, 2020. 3 Counsel or any party representing himself or herself must submit confidential 4 settlement briefs to Judge Burkhardt’s chambers by August 7, 2020. The confidential 5 settlement statements should be lodged by e-mail to efile_Burkhardt@casd.uscourts.gov. 6 Each party’s settlement statement shall concisely set forth the following: (1) the party’s 7 statement of the case; (2) the controlling legal issues; (3) issues of liability and damages; 8 (4) the party’s settlement position, including the last offer or demand made by that party; 9 (5) a separate statement of the offer or demand the party is prepared to make at the 10 settlement conference; and (6) a list of all attorney and non-attorney conference 11 attendees for that side, including the name(s) and title(s)/position(s) of the party/party 12 representative(s) who will attend and have settlement authority at the conference. If 13 exhibits are attached and the total submission amounts to more than 20 pages, a hard copy 14 must also be delivered directly to Magistrate Judge Burkhardt’s chambers. Settlement 15 conference statements shall not be filed with the Clerk of the Court. Settlement 16 conference statements may be exchanged confidentially with opposing counsel within 17 the parties’ discretion. 18 Pursuant to Civil Local Rule 16.3, all party representatives and claims adjusters for 19 insured defendants with full and unlimited authority3 to negotiate and enter into a binding 20 settlement, as well as the principal attorney(s) responsible for the litigation, must be present 21 22 23 3 “Full authority to settle” means that the individuals at the settlement conference must be authorized to fully explore settlement options and to agree at that time to any settlement 24 terms acceptable to the parties. Heileman Brewing Co., Inc. v. Joseph Oat Corp., 871 F.2d 25 648 (7th Cir. 1989). The person needs to have “unfettered discretion and authority” to change the settlement position of a party. Pitman v. Brinker Int’l., Inc., 216 F.R.D. 481, 26 485–86 (D. Ariz. 2003). The purpose of requiring a person with unlimited settlement 27 authority to attend the conference includes that the person’s view of the case may be altered during the face to face conference. Id. at 486. A limited or a sum certain of authority is 28 1 |}and legally and factually prepared to discuss and resolve the case at the mandatory 2 ||settlement conference. In the case of an entity, an authorized representative of the entity 3 || who is not retained outside counsel must be present and must have discretionary authority 4 ||to commit the entity to pay an amount up to the amount of the Plaintiff's prayer (excluding 5 punitive damages prayers). The purpose of this requirement is to have representatives 6 || present who can settle the case during the course of the conference without consulting a 7 || superior. 8 Failure to attend the conference or obtain proper excuse will be considered grounds 9 || for sanctions. 10 7. A post trial settlement conference before a magistrate judge may be held 11 || within 30 days of verdict in the case. 12 8. The dates and times set forth herein will not be modified except for good cause 13 || shown. 14 9. Briefs or memoranda in support of or in opposition to any pending motion 15 not exceed twenty-five (25) pages in length without leave of a district court judge. 16 ||No reply memorandum will exceed ten (10) pages without leave of a district court judge. 17 || Briefs and memoranda exceeding ten (10) pages in length must have a table of contents 18 a table of authorities cited. 19 10. Plaintiff’s counsel must serve a copy of this order on all parties that enter this 20 || case hereafter. 21 IT IS SO ORDERED. 22 ||Dated: June 22, 2020 23 bande 24 n. Jill L. Burkhardt 5 ited States Magistrate Judge 26 27 28