JOINT STIPULATION REQUESTING MODIFICATION OF PRETRIAL DEADLINES AND TELEPHONIC APPEARANCE AT CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE; [PROPOSED] ORDER

EDWARD M. CHEN, District Judge.

The Parties to this action hereby agree to the following and seek an order (1) extending the deadlines for the pretrial filings set forth in the Court's Pretrial Instructions, Parts B & C (see ECF No. 96), from March 29, 2016, to April 12, 2016; and (2) permitting counsel for Defendants to appear by telephone at the Case Management Conference scheduled for Wednesday, March 23, 2016. As good cause for this request, the Parties state the following:

Last Friday, March 18, 2016, this Court issued its Order Granting in Part and Denying in Part Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment; and Denying Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment. See ECF No. 167. In so doing, the Court made rulings that will guide the parties' presentation of their cases at trial. See generally id. It also ordered the parties "to meet and confer, in order to reach a stipulation to undisputed facts (as found and set forth in this Order) for trial," and set a Case Management Conference for Wednesday, March 23, 2016, at 10:00 a.m. to delineate the scope and nature of the trial. Id. at p. 46.

Trial in this case is scheduled to begin May 23, 2016, and the Final Pretrial Conference is currently scheduled for April 19, 2016. See ECF No. 96 (scheduling order); ECF No. 107 (rescheduling Final Pretrial Conference to April 19, 2016). The required pretrial filings— including the Joint Pretrial Conference Statement, fully briefed Motions in Limine, Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, and Trial Briefs—are due on March 29, 2016. See ECF No. 96, Pretrial Instructions, Parts B&C. Plaintiffs are also taking a trial deposition of their own witness during the week of March 21, 2016, in Bakersfield, California as well as a deposition of Defendants' recently disclosed substitute expert witness on April 7, 2016.1

The Parties, through counsel, met and conferred regarding preparation of the Joint Pretrial Conference Statement and had agreed upon deadlines for the exchange of the components of that statement. The Parties agreed to staggered deadlines, many of which fall during the week of March 21, 2016, regarding the exchange of proposed undisputed facts, witness and exhibit lists, and deposition designations, and the objections and responses thereto, to allow time for the Parties to meet and confer prior to submitting disputes to the Court.

The Court's recent Order on Summary Judgment impacts these components of the Joint Pretrial Conference Statement, as well as the parties' Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law and Trial Briefs. The Parties now jointly request additional time to submit the pretrial filings in light of the Order on Summary Judgment. A continuance of the March 29 deadline would allow the Parties time to further evaluate the effect of the Order on the Joint Pretrial Conference Statement and related pretrial filings, to conform those filings, as necessary, to the Court's Order and further guidance provided at the Case Management Conference scheduled for May 23, to assert objections and responses thereto, and to engage in a meaningful meet and confer process before submitting objections or disputes to the Court. Specifically, the Parties respectfully request that the Court allow the Parties until April 12, 2016, to submit the Joint Pretrial Conference Statement and the Pretrial Materials listed in Part C of the Court's Pretrial Instructions.

Further, in light of the imminent pretrial deadlines and the preservation deposition currently scheduled to take place in Bakersfield, California, on March 23, 2016, the same day as the Case Management Conference, the Parties respectfully request that counsel for Defendants be permitted to appear by telephone at the Case Management Conference in order to minimize travel time and allow Defendants' counsel to focus on trial preparation.

[PROPOSED] ORDER

PURSUANT TO STIPULATION, IT IS SO ORDERED. Denied. All parties must appear in person at the 3/23/16, 10:00 a.m. status conference. Pretrial filings must be filed by 4/7/16.