STIPULATED MOTION AND ORDER TO EXTEND INITIAL SCHEDULING DEADLINES

RICARDO S. MARTINEZ, Chief District Judge.

STIPULATED MOTION

The parties jointly request that the Court extend by 30 days the deadlines for the FRCP 26(f) Conference, Initial Disclosures, and Joint Status Report and Discovery Plan outlined in the Court's May 1, 2017, Order (Dkt. # 9).

Service of process on a federal officer sued in an individual capacity requires service on the officer, the Attorney General's Office, and the local United States Attorney's Office. See FRCP 4(i). In this case, the last of these three steps was accomplished on April 19, 2016. (See Dkt. # 10-1.) As a result, Border Patrol Agent Erik Egbert's deadline to answer the Complaint is June 19. See FRCP 12(a)(3) (providing federal officers 60 days to answer).

The Initial Scheduling Order (Dkt. # 9), however, requires the parties to submit a Joint Status Report and Discovery Plan and exchange Initial Disclosures before Agent Egbert's Answer is due. The current schedule would also allow the parties to commence discovery before the Answer is filed.

Since Agent Egbert's Answer—which may contain counterclaims—will clarify the issues and help define the scope of necessary disclosures and discovery, it would be much more efficient to postpone the initial deadlines until after the Answer is due.

Accordingly, good cause having been shown, the parties request the Court extend the deadlines in the Initial Scheduling Order (Dkt. # 9) by 30 days as outlined below.

ORDER

Based on the foregoing stipulation, IT IS SO ORDERED.