Taylor v. Government Employees Insurance Company et al, No. 3:2023cv00675 - Document 21 (S.D. Cal. 2023)
Court Description: ORDER Granting 20 Joint Motion to Extend Discovery Deadlines, and Issuing FIRST AMENDED SCHEDULING ORDER. (Settlement Conference set for 4/12/2024 09:30 AM before Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard. Mandatory Settlement Conference set for 10/11/20 24 09:30 AM before Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard. Proposed Pretrial Order due by 12/4/2024. Final Pretrial Conference set for 12/18/2024 09:00 AM before District Judge William Q. Hayes). Signed by Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard on 12/5/2023. (hmw)
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Taylor v. Government Employees Insurance Company et al Doc. 21 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 12 JOUNTAVIA TAYLOR, Case No.: 3:23-cv-00675-WQH-AHG Plaintiffs, 13 14 v. 15 GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES INSURANCE COMPANY, 16 17 ORDER: (1) GRANTING JOINT MOTION TO EXTEND DISCOVERY DEADLINES, and Defendant. (2) ISSUING FIRST AMENDED SCHEDULING ORDER 18 19 [ECF No. 20] 20 21 22 23 24 Before the Court is the parties’ Joint Motion to Extend Scheduling Order Deadlines. 25 ECF No. 20. The parties request a 90-day continuance of the fact discovery cutoff, as well 26 as all other remaining case management deadlines. Id. at 2. 27 Parties seeking to continue deadlines in the scheduling order, or other deadlines set 28 forth by the Court, must demonstrate good cause. FED. R. CIV. P. 16(b)(4) (“A schedule 1 3:23-cv-00675-WQH-AHG Dockets.Justia.com 1 may be modified only for good cause and with the judge’s consent”); FED. R. CIV. P. 6(b) 2 (“When an act may or must be done within a specified time, the court may, for good cause, 3 extend the time”); see also ECF No. 15 at 6 (Scheduling Order, stating that “[t]he dates [] 4 set forth herein will not be modified except for good cause shown”); Chmb.R. at 2 (stating 5 that any request for continuance requires “[a] showing of good cause for the request”). 6 “Good cause” is a non-rigorous standard that has been construed broadly across 7 procedural and statutory contexts. Ahanchian v. Xenon Pictures, Inc., 624 F.3d 1253, 1259 8 (9th Cir. 2010). The good cause standard focuses on the diligence of the party seeking to 9 amend the scheduling order and the reasons for seeking modification. Johnson v. Mammoth 10 Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 609 (9th Cir. 1992) (“[T]he focus of the inquiry is upon 11 the moving party’s reasons for seeking modification. . . . If that party was not diligent, the 12 inquiry should end.”) (internal citation omitted). Therefore, “a party demonstrates good 13 cause by acting diligently to meet the original deadlines set forth by the court.” Merck v. 14 Swift Transp. Co., No. CV-16-01103-PHX-ROS, 2018 WL 4492362, at *2 (D. Ariz. Sept. 15 19, 2018). 16 The parties represent to the Court that shortly before the December 15, 2023, fact 17 discovery cutoff, Defendant learned that Plaintiff had surgery on her shoulder, when her 18 work restrictions had been based only on injuries to her wrist and back. ECF No. 20-1 at 19 2. Thus, the parties seek additional time to conduct discovery regarding Plaintiff’s shoulder 20 injuries and any work restrictions related thereto. Id. As such, the parties request a 90-day 21 continuance of the fact discovery deadline and all other scheduling order deadlines. 22 Though the parties did not adequately explain why the shoulder injury was disclosed 23 at such a late juncture, upon due consideration, and good cause appearing, the Court 24 GRANTS1 the parties’ joint motion. ECF No. 20. The Court issues the following First 25 Amended Scheduling Order: 26 27 1 28 The Court notes, however, that it did not adopt all dates requested by the parties due to calendaring conflicts. 2 3:23-cv-00675-WQH-AHG 1 1. The Court VACATES the Second Early Neutral Evaluation Conference set 2 for January 3, 2024. The Court SETS a Settlement Conference for April 12, 2024 at 3 9:30 a.m. via videoconference before Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard. The Court 4 requires attendance of all named parties, party representatives with full settlement 5 authority, including claims adjusters for insured defendants, and the primary attorney(s) 6 responsible for the litigation via videoconference 7 a. 8 9 Counsel for the parties must meet and confer regarding settlement in person, via videoconference, or by phone no later than March 26, 2024. b. Each party must submit a Confidential Settlement Conference Letter to 10 the 11 by April 4, 2024. 12 c. Court via email (to efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov) No later than April 4, 2024, counsel for each party shall send an email 13 to the Court (at efile goddard@casd.uscourts.gov) containing: (1) the 14 name and title of each participant (2) an email address for each 15 participant, and (3) a cell phone number for that party’s preferred point 16 of contact. Court staff will send the Zoom invitation to all participants 17 in advance of the conference. 18 d. During the Settlement Conference, all participants shall display the 19 same level of professionalism during the conference and be prepared to 20 devote their full attention to the conference as if they were attending in 21 person, i.e., cannot be driving or in a car while speaking to the Court. 22 Because Zoom may quickly deplete the battery of a participant’s 23 device, each participant should ensure that their device is plugged in or 24 that a charging cable is readily available during the video conference. 25 e. Counsel are also advised that although the Settlement Conference will 26 take place on Zoom, all participants shall appear and conduct 27 themselves as if it is proceeding in a courtroom, i.e., all participants 28 must dress in appropriate courtroom attire. 3 3:23-cv-00675-WQH-AHG 1 2. All fact discovery must be completed by all parties by March 15, 2024. 2 “Completed” means that all discovery requests governed by Rules 30-36 of the Federal 3 Rules of Civil Procedure, and discovery subpoenas under Rule 45, must be propounded 4 sufficiently in advance of the discovery cut-off date so that they may be completed by 5 that date, taking into account the time permitted in the Rules for service, notice, and 6 responses. If any discovery disputes arise, counsel must meet and confer promptly and 7 in good faith in compliance with Local Rule 26.1(a). A failure to comply in this regard 8 will result in a waiver of a party’s discovery issue. Absent an order of the court, no 9 stipulation continuing or altering this requirement will be recognized by the Court. 10 The Court expects counsel to make every effort to resolve all disputes without court 11 intervention through the meet-and-confer process. If the parties reach an impasse on any 12 discovery issue, the movant must email chambers at efile goddard@casd.uscourts.gov no 13 later than 45 days after the date of service of the written discovery response that is in 14 dispute, seeking a telephonic conference with the Court to discuss the discovery dispute. 15 The email must include: (1) at least three proposed times mutually agreed upon by the 16 parties for the telephonic conference; (2) a neutral statement of the dispute; and (3) one 17 sentence describing (not arguing) each parties’ position. The movant must copy opposing 18 counsel on the email. No discovery motion may be filed until the Court has conducted its 19 pre-motion telephonic conference, unless the movant has obtained leave of Court. All 20 parties are ordered to read and to fully comply with the Chambers Rules of 21 Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard, which can be found on the district court website 22 and at: 23 https://www.casd.uscourts.gov/judges/goddard/docs/Goddard%20Civil%20Pretrial%20Pr 24 ocedures.pdf. 25 3. The parties must designate their respective experts in writing by 26 April 30, 2024. The parties must identify any person who may be used at trial to present 27 evidence pursuant to Rules 702, 703 or 705 of the Fed. R. Evid. This requirement is not 28 limited to retained experts. The date for exchange of rebuttal experts must be by 4 3:23-cv-00675-WQH-AHG 1 May 30, 2024. The written designations must include the name, address and telephone 2 number of the expert and a reasonable summary of the testimony the expert is expected to 3 provide. The list must also include the normal rates the expert charges for deposition and 4 trial testimony. 5 4. By April 30, 2024, each party must comply with the disclosure provisions in 6 Rule 26(a)(2)(B) and (C) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. This disclosure 7 requirement applies to all persons retained or specially employed to provide expert 8 testimony, or whose duties as an employee of the party regularly involve the giving of 9 expert testimony. Except as provided in the paragraph below, any party that fails to 10 make these disclosures will not, absent substantial justification, be permitted to use 11 evidence or testimony not disclosed at any hearing or at the time of trial. In addition, 12 the Court may impose sanctions as permitted by Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(c). 13 14 15 5. Any party must supplement its disclosure regarding contradictory or rebuttal evidence under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2)(D) by May 30, 2024. 6. All expert discovery must be completed by all parties by July 1, 2024. The 16 parties must comply with the same procedures set forth in the paragraph governing fact 17 discovery. Failure to comply with this section or any other discovery order of the court 18 may result in the sanctions provided for in Fed. R. Civ. P. 37, including a prohibition on 19 the introduction of experts or other designated matters in evidence. 20 7. All other pretrial motions must be filed by August 4, 2023. Counsel for the 21 moving party must obtain a motion hearing date from the law clerk of the judge who will 22 hear the motion. The period of time between the date you request a motion date and the 23 hearing date may vary from one district judge to another. Please plan accordingly. Failure 24 to make a timely request for a motion date may result in the motion not being heard. 25 Motions in limine are to be filed as directed in the Local Rules, or as otherwise set by the 26 district judge. 27 8. 28 A Mandatory Settlement Conference will be conducted on October 11, 2024 at 9:30 a.m. in the chambers of Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard. Plaintiff must 5 3:23-cv-00675-WQH-AHG 1 serve on Defendant a written settlement proposal, which must include a specific demand 2 amount, no later than September 19, 2024. The defendant must respond to the plaintiff in 3 writing with a specific offer amount prior to the Meet and Confer discussion. The parties 4 should not file or otherwise copy the Court on these exchanges. Rather, the parties must 5 include their written settlement proposals in their respective Settlement Conference 6 Statements to the Court. Counsel for the parties must meet and confer in person, via 7 videoconference, or by phone no later than September 26, 2024. Each party must prepare 8 a Settlement Conference Statement, which will be served on opposing counsel and lodged 9 with the Court no later than October 2, 2024. The Statement must be lodged in .pdf format 10 via email to efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov (not filed). The substance of the Settlement 11 Conference Statement must comply fully with Judge Goddard’s Mandatory Settlement 12 Conference Rules (located at 13 https://www.casd.uscourts.gov/Judges/goddard/docs/Goddard%20Mandatory%20Settlem 14 ent%20Conference%20Rules.pdf). Each party may also prepare an optional Confidential 15 Settlement Letter for the Court’s review only, to be lodged with the Court no later than 16 October 2, 2024. The Letter must be lodged in .pdf format via email to 17 efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov (not filed). Should a party choose to prepare a Letter, 18 the substance of the Settlement Conference Letter must comply fully with Judge Goddard’s 19 Mandatory Settlement Conference Rules. All parties are ordered to read and to fully 20 comply with the Chambers Rules and Mandatory Settlement Conference Rules of 21 Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard. 22 23 9. In jury trial cases before Judge Hayes, neither party is required to file Memoranda of Contentions of Fact and Law. 24 10. Counsel shall comply with the pre-trial disclosure requirements of Fed. R. 25 Civ. P. 26(a)(3) by November 6, 2024. 26 requirements could result in evidence preclusion or other sanctions under Fed. R. Civ. 27 P. 37. 28 // Failure to comply with these disclosure 6 3:23-cv-00675-WQH-AHG 1 11. Counsel shall meet and take the action required by Local Rule 16.1(f)(4) by 2 November 13, 2024. At this meeting, counsel shall discuss and attempt to enter into 3 stipulations and agreements resulting in simplification of the triable issues. Counsel shall 4 exchange copies and/or display all exhibits other than those to be used for impeachment. 5 The exhibits shall be prepared in accordance with Local Rule 16.1(f)(4)(c). Counsel shall 6 note any objections they have to any other parties’ Pretrial Disclosures under Fed. R. Civ. 7 P. 26(a)(3). Counsel shall cooperate in the preparation of the proposed pretrial conference 8 order. 9 12. Counsel for plaintiff will be responsible for preparing the pretrial order and 10 arranging the meetings of counsel pursuant to Civil Local Rule 16.1(f). 11 November 20, 2024, plaintiff’s counsel must provide opposing counsel with the proposed 12 pretrial order for review and approval. Opposing counsel must communicate promptly with 13 plaintiff’s attorney concerning any objections to form or content of the pretrial order, and 14 both parties shall attempt promptly to resolve their differences, if any, concerning the order. 15 13. By The Proposed Final Pretrial Conference Order, including objections to any 16 other parties’ Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(3) Pretrial Disclosures shall be prepared, served and 17 lodged with the assigned district judge by December 4, 2024, and shall be in the form 18 prescribed in and comply with Local Rule 16.1(f)(6). 19 14. The final Pretrial Conference is scheduled on the calendar of the Honorable 20 William Q. Hayes on December 18, 2024 at 9:00 a.m. The Court will set a trial date 21 during the pretrial conference. The Court will also schedule a motion in limine hearing date 22 during the pretrial conference. 23 24 25 26 27 28 15. The parties must review the chambers’ rules for the assigned district judge and magistrate judge. 16. A post trial settlement conference before a magistrate judge may be held within 30 days of verdict in the case. 17. The dates and times set forth herein will not be modified except for good cause shown. 7 3:23-cv-00675-WQH-AHG 1 18. Briefs or memoranda in support of or in opposition to all motions noticed for 2 the same motion day shall not exceed twenty-five (25) pages in length, per party, without 3 leave of the judge who will hear the motion. No reply memorandum shall exceed ten (10) 4 pages without leave of a district court judge. Briefs and memoranda exceeding ten (10) 5 pages in length shall have a table of contents and a table of authorities cited. 6 7 8 IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: December 5, 2023 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 8 3:23-cv-00675-WQH-AHG
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