Cre8tive Technology and Design v. Arnhart ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 CRE8TIVE TECHNOLOGY AND Case No.: 19cv1814-AJG-AHG DESIGN, 12 ORDER GRANTING JOINT Plaintiff, MOTION TO AMEND 13 SCHEDULING ORDER v. 14 REGULATING DISCOVERY MARY ARNHART, AND OTHER PRE-TRIAL 15 PROCEEDINGS Defendant. 16 17 AND RELATED COUNTERCLAIM. [ECF No. 48] 18 19 By joint motion, the parties request that the Court amend the schedule in this case, 20 which was set in the original scheduling order (ECF No. 24) and amended twice since then 21 (ECF Nos. 42, 47). The parties explain that they held off on completing some discovery in 22 an effort to save costs before participating in a mediation session with the Honorable Leo 23 Papas. ECF No. 48 at 2. Though the parties mediated for fourteen hours on 24 November 4, 2020, they were unable to resolve the dispute. Id. However, because the 25 parties continue to work towards settling the case, and because Defendant is expected to 26 undergo surgery requiring a lengthy recovery, the parties seek to continue the deadlines in 27 this case. Id. 28 /// 1 Parties seeking to continue dates in a case must demonstrate good cause. See 2 Chmb.R. at 2 (stating that any request for continuance requires “[a] showing of good cause 3 for the request”); Fed. R. Civ. P 6(b) (“When an act may or must be done within a specified 4 time, the court may, for good cause, extend the time”); Fed. R. Civ. P 16(b)(4) (“[a] 5 schedule may be modified only for good cause and with the judge’s consent”). “Good 6 cause” is a non-rigorous standard that has been construed broadly across procedural and 7 statutory contexts. Ahanchian v. Xenon Pictures, Inc., 624 F.3d 1253, 1259 (9th Cir. 2010). 8 The good cause standard focuses on the diligence of the party seeking to amend the 9 scheduling order and the reasons for seeking modification. Johnson v. Mammoth 10 Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 609 (9th Cir. 1992). 11 In this case, the parties contend that good cause exists because they have pursued 12 discovery diligently thus far and they anticipate continuing to work towards settlement over 13 the next week. ECF No. 48 at 2-3. Additionally, they seek to accommodate Defendant’s 14 scheduled surgery. Id. 15 Upon due consideration, the Court finds that the parties have sufficiently established 16 good cause to GRANT the joint motion and AMEND the schedule as follows: 17 1. The parties must disclose the identity of rebuttal experts must be on or before 18 December 28, 2020. The written designations must include the name, address and 19 telephone number of the expert and a reasonable summary of the testimony the expert is 20 expected to provide. The list must also include the normal rates the expert charges for 21 deposition and trial testimony. The parties must identify any person who may be used 22 at trial to present evidence pursuant to Fed. R. Evid. 702, 703 and 705, respectively. 23 This requirement is not limited to retained experts. 24 2. Any party shall supplement its disclosure regarding contradictory or rebuttal 25 evidence under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2)(c) by December 28, 2020. 26 3. Please be advised that failure to comply with this section or any other 27 discovery order of the court may result in the sanctions provided for in Fed. R. Civ. 28 P. 37 including a prohibition on the introduction of experts or other designated 1 matters in evidence. 2 4. All fact discovery must be completed by all parties on or before 3 January 29, 2021. All expert discovery must be completed by all parties on or before 4 January 29, 2021. “Completed” means that all discovery under Rules 30-36 of the Federal 5 Rules of Civil Procedure, and discovery subpoenas under Rule 45, must be initiated a 6 sufficient period of time in advance of the cut-off date, so that it may be completed by 7 the cut-off date, taking into account the times for service, notice and response as set forth 8 in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Counsel shall promptly and in good faith meet 9 and confer with regard to all discovery disputes in compliance with Local Rule 10 26.1(a). A failure to comply in this regard will result in a waiver of a party’s discovery 11 issue. Absent an order of the court, no stipulation continuing or altering this 12 requirement will be recognized by the court. The Court expects counsel to make every 13 effort to resolve all disputes without court intervention through the meet and confer 14 process. If the parties reach an impasse on any discovery issue, the movant must e-mail 15 chambers at efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov no later than 45 days after the date of 16 service of the written discovery response that is in dispute, seeking a telephonic conference 17 with the Court to discuss the discovery dispute. The email must include: (1) at least three 18 proposed times mutually agreed upon by the parties for the telephonic conference; (2) a 19 neutral statement of the dispute; and (3) one sentence describing (not arguing) each parties’ 20 position. The movant must copy opposing counsel on the email. No discovery motion may 21 be filed until the Court has conducted its pre-motion telephonic conference, unless the 22 movant has obtained leave of Court. All parties are ordered to read and to fully comply 23 with the Chambers Rules of Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard. 24 5. A Mandatory Settlement Conference will be conducted on March 25, 2021 25 at 2:00 p.m. in the chambers of Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard. Plaintiff must 26 serve on Defendant a written settlement proposal, which must include a specific demand 27 amount, no later than March 4, 2021. The defendant must respond to the plaintiff in 28 writing with a specific offer amount prior to the Meet and Confer discussion. The parties 1 should not file or otherwise copy the Court on these exchanges. Rather, the parties must 2 include their written settlement proposals in their respective Settlement Conference 3 Statements to the Court. Counsel for the parties must meet and confer in person or by 4 phone no later than March 11, 2021. Each party must prepare a Settlement Conference 5 Statement, which will be served on opposing counsel and lodged with the Court no later 6 than March 15, 2021. The Statement must be lodged in .pdf format via email to 7 efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov (not filed). The substance of the Settlement Conference 8 Statement must comply fully with Judge Goddard’s Mandatory Settlement Conference 9 Rules (located at https://www.casd.uscourts.gov/Judges/goddard/docs/Goddard%20Mand 10 atory%20Settlement%20Conference%20Rules.pdf). Each party may also prepare an 11 optional Confidential Settlement Letter for the Court’s review only, to be lodged with the 12 Court no later than March 15, 2021. The Letter must be lodged in .pdf format via email 13 to efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov (not filed). Should a party choose to prepare a Letter, 14 the substance of the Settlement Conference Letter must comply fully with Judge Goddard’s 15 Mandatory Settlement Conference Rules. All parties are ordered to read and to fully 16 comply with the Chambers Rules and Mandatory Settlement Conference Rules of 17 Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard. 18 6. All other dispositive motions, including those addressing Daubert issues, 19 must be filed on or before February 26, 2021. Please be advised that counsel for the 20 moving party must obtain a motion hearing date from the law clerk of the judge who will 21 hear the motion. Motions in Limine are to be filed as directed in the Local Rules, or as 22 otherwise set by Judge Battaglia. 23 7. Counsel must comply with the pre-trial disclosure requirements of Fed. R. 24 Civ. P. 26(a)(3) on or before April 15, 2021. 25 8. This order replaces the requirements under Civ. L. R. 16.1.f.6.c. No 26 Memoranda of Law or Contentions of Fact are to be filed. 27 9. The parties must meet and confer on or before April 22, 2021 and prepare a 28 proposed pretrial order in the form as set forth in Civ. L. R. 16.1.f.6. 1 The Court encourages the parties to consult with the assigned magistrate judge to 2 || work out any problems in preparation of the proposed pretrial order. The court will 3 entertain any questions concerning the conduct of the trial at the pretrial conference. 4 10. Objections to Pre-trial disclosures must be filed no later than April 29, 2021. 5 11. The Proposed Final Pretrial Conference Order as described above must be 6 || prepared, served and lodged with the assigned district judge on or before May 6, 2021. 7 12. ‘The final Pretrial Conference is scheduled on the calendar of the Honorable 8 || Anthony J. Battaglia on May 13, 2021 at 1:30pm. 9 13.