Filed: Mar. 25, 2015
Latest Update: Mar. 25, 2015
Summary: STIPULATION AND ORDER MODIFYING PRETRIAL SCHEDULING ORDER AND REQUEST FOR STAY PENDING MEDIATION MORRISON C. ENGLAND, Jr. , Chief District Judge . THE PARTIES, by and through their respective attorneys of record, and having agreed to and scheduled a mediation in this matter, hereby stipulate to and respectfully ask that the Court modify its Amended Pretrial Scheduling Order of November 18, 2014, and stay the case pending mediation, as follows: • That the Court set a status conference for a
Summary: STIPULATION AND ORDER MODIFYING PRETRIAL SCHEDULING ORDER AND REQUEST FOR STAY PENDING MEDIATION MORRISON C. ENGLAND, Jr. , Chief District Judge . THE PARTIES, by and through their respective attorneys of record, and having agreed to and scheduled a mediation in this matter, hereby stipulate to and respectfully ask that the Court modify its Amended Pretrial Scheduling Order of November 18, 2014, and stay the case pending mediation, as follows: • That the Court set a status conference for ap..
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STIPULATION AND ORDER MODIFYING PRETRIAL SCHEDULING ORDER AND REQUEST FOR STAY PENDING MEDIATION
MORRISON C. ENGLAND, Jr., Chief District Judge.
THE PARTIES, by and through their respective attorneys of record, and having agreed to and scheduled a mediation in this matter, hereby stipulate to and respectfully ask that the Court modify its Amended Pretrial Scheduling Order of November 18, 2014, and stay the case pending mediation, as follows:
• That the Court set a status conference for approximately two weeks after the mediation, set for July 13, 2015, as suits the Court's calendar.
• That formal discovery, except for the previously ordered physical and mental examinations of plaintiff by Drs. McNiel, Keram, and Atkin, be stayed and the relevant cut-off vacated, to be reset at the post-mediation status conference, if necessary, but without prohibiting to such voluntary discovery as the parties may wish to conduct and provide.
• That pursuant to Local Rule 303(b), the parties respectfully request that any requests for reconsideration and/or objections to the rulings on the motions to compel issued by the Hon. Drozd on March 16, 2015 (Doc. No. 81) be extended for filing to July 31, 2015.
• That the non-expert discovery cut-off currently set for May 8, 2015, be vacated pending the post-mediation status conference, to be reset at the post-mediation status conference, if necessary.
• That the expert witness disclosure cutoff currently set for June 8, 2015, be vacated pending the post-mediation status conference, to be reset at the post-mediation status conference, if necessary.
The remainder of the current schedule is consistent with the requested amendments. Trial is set for February 8, 2016.
ARGUMENT
A. LEGAL STANDARD.
"A schedule may be modified only for good cause and with the judge's consent." Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b). A formal motion is not necessary. Adv. Comm. Notes to 1983 Amendment to Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b). Good cause requires a showing of due diligence. Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 609 (9th Cir. 1992). A lesser showing of good cause is sufficient to modify the initial scheduling order entered early in the action than the showing required for a final pretrial conference order. Notes of Advisory Committee on Rule 16, 97 F.R.D. 165, 208.
B. GOOD CAUSE EXISTS TO MODIFY THE SCHEDULING ORDER TO ALLOW FOR MEDIATION AND POTENTIAL RESOLUTION
The parties seek these modifications because, with the participation of plaintiff's new counsel, they have determined that there is an opportunity to settle the case. There have been no meaningful settlement discussions to date. Significant discovery has been conducted, including the depositions of the officers directly involved in the incident, of the plaintiff, and of the supervising officers at CHP. Absent resolution additional discovery will be necessary, including requesting leave to lift the ten deposition cap so that plaintiff can depose the numerous additional percipient witnesses to the incident and its aftermath. The parties have agreed to mediate, upon a mediator, and upon a mediation date. The mediation is set for July 13, 2015, because the parties and mediator are available and because a date after July 1, 2015, begins the California Highway Patrol's fiscal year and provides the best opportunity for a settlement of this case.
Moreover, the parties are about to incur substantial additional costs of concluding discovery in this case, and of engaging and preparing experts for deposition and trial. The parties believe that avoiding those costs until after mediation increases the chances of a settlement.
Notably, the proposed changes to the schedule leave the trial date and non-discovery pre-trial dates intact.
IT IS SO STIPULATED.
ORDER
IT IS SO ORDERED.
