JOINT STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER REGARDING VACATION OF THE CLASS CERTIFICATION MOTION AS MODIFIED BY THE COURT

RICHARD SEEBORG, District Judge.

The parties jointly present this stipulation to request that the Court vacate the class certification motion briefing schedule and hearing date and calendar a further case management conference.

1. The parties last updated the Court via a joint stipulation filed on December 13, 2019. The stipulation informed the Court that the parties to this case, who are also parties to a case in Monterey County, had been involved in recent law and motion proceedings in the state court case. The court informally ordered the parties to mediate the ongoing dispute in that case and attempt to reach a global resolution encompassing this case.

2. In the December 13 stipulation, the parties informed the Court that mediation was tentatively scheduled for mid-January 2020. As such, the parties stipulated to continue Plaintiff's motion for class certification, with initial papers being due on March 16, 2020, and the hearing set for July 2, 2020. This Court approved those dates in the attendant Order entered on December 13, 2019.

3. The mediation, estimated to have been conducted in mid-January, is now finalized for March 3, 2020. Scheduling the mediation took longer than anticipated, because large quantities of data had to be disclosed through the mediation privilege and there were scheduling conflicts.

4. The parties agree that if they are not able to settle this case at the March 3 mediation, then the current class certification motion and briefing schedule ought to be vacated, rather than continued. In discussions in advance of mediation, a number of issues have been raised that the parties would like to address with the Court prior to proceeding with a class certification motion. Specifically, the parties have recognized that it would like the Court's guidance and input as to a) the terms of a protective order; b) the scope and timing of discovery; and c) a motion schedule that accounts for both Plaintiff's motion for class certification and Defendants' anticipated motion to bifurcate the issue of arbitration and class certification. If the mediation is not successful, the parties believe that judicial economy would be preserved by addressing these issues in a further case management conference before beginning the class certification motion.

5. In light of the foregoing, the parties propose the following:

IT IS SO STIPULATED.

[PROPOSED] ORDER

PER THE PARTIES' STIPULATION, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT:

1. Plaintiff's Motion for Class Certification scheduled to be heard by this Court on July 2, 2020, at 1:30 p.m., and all attendant briefing deadlines are hereby VACATED.

2. A further case management conference is set in this Court for Thursday, April 2, 2020, at 10:00 a.m.

3. A joint case management conference statement shall be filed on or before March 26, 2020, advising the Court whether a settlement was reached and if not, the issues to be addressed with the Court at the CMC.

IT IS SO ORDERED.