STIPULATION, MOTION, AND PROPOSED ORDER TO AMEND SCHEDULE & PARTIAL STAY OF DISCOVERY

KIMBERLY J. MUELLER, District Judge.

The plaintiff and all of the defendants to this action ("Parties")—the United States of America and Roger J. LaPant, Jr., dba J&J Farms ("Mr. LaPant"), Goose Pond Ag, Inc., and Farmland Management Services (collectively, "Goose Pond Defendants")—hereby stipulate, move, and propose that the Court amend the controlling "Scheduling Order,"1 as set forth in Paragraphs 1 and 2 below. Further, the Parties to this action hereby stipulate, move, and propose that the Court impose a partial stay of discovery under the terms and conditions set forth below in Paragraphs 3 through 6 below.

Statement from the United States and the Goose Pond Defendants. The United States and the Goose Pond Defendants submit that good cause supports this stipulation, motion, and proposed Order. (Mr. LaPant did not draft and does not join this paragraph and the next one.) On August 7, 2018, the United States and Goose Pond Defendants reached an agreement in principle to resolve count two of the United States' complaint, subject to their completion and lodging of a proposed consent decree. The United States and the Goose Pond Defendants expect to complete a proposed consent decree as soon as possible and both share the goal of lodging any proposed consent decree by the end of August, 2018, subject to approval by authorized officials in the Department of Justice. If and when these parties execute a proposed consent decree, it will then be made available for public comment for a period of at least 30 days. See 28 C.F.R. § 50.7. Next, following the comment period (and assuming no changes to any decree ensue as a result of the comment process), the United States expects to move the Court to enter the decree in October, 2018. The Court's review period is estimated to take approximately 28 days (depending on the Court's schedule). The entire process for the United States/Goose Pond Defendants settlement is estimated to take approximately 90 days from August 7, 2018.

Assuming that a consent decree between the United States and the Goose Pond Defendants is entered in approximately 90 days, no claims against the Goose Pond Defendants would remain pending, and the Goose Pond Defendants would have no need to participate in any of the discovery and litigation proceedings that occur between the United States and Mr. LaPant. However, given the likelihood of settlement between the United States and the Goose Pond Defendants (and the narrowing of potential issues for trial between the United States and Mr. LaPant given the absence of the Goose Pond Defendants), it would likely be wasteful for the Goose Pond Defendants to participate in certain discovery and litigation proceedings.

Statement from Mr. LaPant. Mr. LaPant was not privy to any of the discussion and/or proposed terms of the pending United States/Goose Pond Defendants settlement. Mr. LaPant therefore joins in this stipulation and supports the proposed order based on information and belief that the United States and Goose Pond Defendants have accurately estimated the timing for completion of their settlement, and that the settlement by its terms will not present an issue requiring new areas of fact and expert discovery for the remaining parties. Further, Mr. LaPant has informed the United States and the Goose Pond Defendants that he supports this stipulation and proposed Order, subject to his continuing concerns about the higher cost, weather, and scheduling challenges of fact and expert depositions outside of California given that, under the new proposed scheduling order, these depositions have to be convened and completed during the Thanksgiving and December holiday period. Mr. LaPant reserves his rights to seek a further amendment to the scheduling order in the event that these time estimates prove unrealistic and/or he is prejudiced by the limitations (and delays) now being imposed on his right to complete fact and expert discovery.

Joint statement of the Parties. The Parties stipulate, move, and propose as follows:

2. No later than October 15, 2018, the Parties shall complete their meet and confer regarding the scheduling of all depositions and the "Equipment Inspection"3 such that there is an agreement as to the date and place for each event (including confirmation of availability by any fact or expert witness affiliated with a party). Depositions may start on November 7, 2018, and the Parties are permitted to serve deposition notices and/or subpoenas in accordance with that start date (or earlier upon agreement of the Parties). The Parties reserve the right to move the Court, jointly or unilaterally, to further amend the foregoing schedule based on good cause (e.g., if the United States' and the Goose Pond Defendants' 90-day estimation discussed above is exceeded and risks prejudicing any party). The Parties also reserve their right to oppose any requested amendment.

3. From now until the Court enters any consent decree between the United States and the Goose Pond Defendants (or the United States and/or the Goose Pond Defendants notify the Court that their settlement has failed), the Parties shall not: (a) propound or conduct any fact or expert discovery, written, oral, or otherwise, including but not limited to any depositions or any requests or subpoenas for documents, except as set forth in Paragraphs 4 through 6 below; and (b) conduct any law and motion practice, except for motion practice required to complete settlement between the United States and the Goose Pond Defendants (e.g., motion for entry of a proposed consent decree), discovery motions as referenced in Paragraphs 4 and 5 below, and motions to amend or for leave as referenced in Paragraph 2 above or Paragraph 6 below.

4. This stipulation, motion, and proposed Order does not prohibit the following discovery (and any related motion to compel or similar discovery motion) at any time:

5. This stipulation, motion, and proposed Order does not prohibit the United States and Mr. LaPant from taking any action to address or resolve disputes regarding any outstanding or future discovery requests solely between themselves, including any pending discovery motions or matters currently the subject of discussion among the Parties.

6. The Parties reserve their right to seek leave of Court for any appropriate relief from or related to the restrictions on discovery set forth in this stipulation, motion, and proposed Order upon a showing of good cause. By the same token, the Parties reserve their right to oppose any request for relief.

STIPULATED AND RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,

ORDER

Upon due consideration, and good cause shown, the Court approves and enters Paragraphs 1 through 6 of the foregoing stipulation and motion with the following modifications:

In all other respects, the Court's prior Status and Scheduling Orders remain in effect.