JOINT STATUS REPORT AND ORDER

DONNA M. RYU, Magistrate Judge.

The parties to the above-entitled action jointly submit this JOINT STATUS REPORT and PROPOSED ORDER following the status report filed November 12, 2104.

1. Request for Additional Time

The parties report that they are in substantial agreement about the primary terms of the settlement. On November 12, 2014, the Defendants requested additional time to properly establish a guardian ad litem for Defendant T.S., a minor child. To date, the guardian ad litem has not yet been appointed, and Defendants require additional time to set up the guardianship arrangement.

The Petition to establish a guardian ad litem for Defendant T.S., a minor child, was to be filed in San Joaquin County were the minor resides. As of December, the parties had agreed upon a guardian. However, in the process of preparing the Petition, one of the proposed guardians was reluctant to act without additional clarification of the terms of the settlement and thus would not sign the Petition for Appointment of Guardian Ad Litem and counsel was thus unable to file the Petition.

That proposed Guardian ad Litem has spoken now to all counsel, and he is now willing to proceed. The Parties anticipate the Petition will be filed within the next two weeks and granted shortly after that. The Guardian Ad Litem will then Petition this court for an order approving the settlement, and distributing the funds to a blocked account or trust to be distributed when the minor turns 25.

Until the guardian is selected and the appropriate guardianship account set up, the settlement cannot be finalized and submitted to the Court. Defendants estimate that they will require until April 1, 2015 to make the guardianship arrangements and to finalize a settlement agreement with the Plaintiffs. Therefore, the parties jointly request that the Court allow them until April 1, 2015 to submit a settlement agreement or, if necessary, a status report and a request for a case management conference.

2. In the Alternative, Request for A Case Management Conference

In the event that the parties are unable to complete the petition for guardian ad litem, the parties request the opportunity to file a further joint status report on April 1, 2015 and request case management conference on April 15, 2015.

ORDER (AS MODIFIED)

In light of the above JOINT STATUS REPORT, the Court orders that the parties submit a settlement agreement no later than March 1, 2015. If no settlement agreement is submitted by March 1, 2015, the Court orders that the parties submit another joint status report on April 1, 2015 and appear for a further case management conference on April 15, 2015.

IT IS SO ORDERED.