Villalobos v. Tiggs-Brown

          SCHEDULING CONFERENCE ORDER

         This Court conducted a scheduling conference on December 4, 2019. Counsel Benjamin Rudin telephonically appeared on behalf of Plaintiff. Counsel Vickie Whitney telephonically appeared on behalf of Defendant. Pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 16(b), this Court sets a schedule for this action.

         I. Amended Complaint Filing Deadline

         Plaintiff is granted leave to file the revised amended complaint set forth at ECF No. 32-2. Plaintiff shall filed the amended complaint no later than December 18, 2019. Defendant's previously filed answer (ECF No. 20) shall serve as the answer to the amended complaint.

         II. General Discovery Procedures

         The parties are now granted leave to serve discovery in addition to that provided as part of initial disclosures. No later than forty-five (45) days from the date of this order, Plaintiff shall provide Defendant copies of the documents listed in Plaintiff's initial disclosures to the extent such documents are in the possession, custody, or control of Plaintiff and copies can be provided in full or redacted form.

         Pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 1, 16, and 26-36, discovery shall proceed as follows:

         1. Discovery requests shall be served by the parties pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5 and Local Rule 135. Discovery requests and responses shall not be filed with the Court unless required by Local Rules 250.2, 250.3, or 250.4 (providing that discovery requests shall not be filed unless or until there is a proceeding in which the document or proof of service is at issue). A party may serve on any other party no more than 15 interrogatories, 15 requests for production of documents, and 15 requests for admission. On motion, these limits may be increased for good cause.

         2. Responses to written discovery requests shall be due forty-five (45) days after the request is first served. Boilerplate objections are disfavored and may be summarily overruled by the Court. Responses to document requests shall include all documents within a party's possession, custody or control. Fed.R.Civ.P. 34(a)(1). Documents are deemed within a party's possession, custody, or control if the party has actual possession, custody, or control thereof, or the legal right to obtain the property on demand.

         3. If any party or third party withholds a document on the basis of privilege, that party or third party shall provide a privilege log to the requesting party identifying the date, author, recipients, general subject matter, and basis of the privilege within thirty (30) days after the date that responses are due. The privilege log shall simultaneously be filed with the Court. Failure to provide and file a privilege log within this time shall result in a waiver of the privilege. Additionally, if a party is claiming a right to withhold witness statements and/or evidence gathered from investigation(s) into the incident(s) at issue in the complaint based on the official information privilege, the withholding party shall submit the withheld witness statements and/or evidence to the Court for in camera review, along with an explanation of why the witness statements and/or evidence is privileged.^[1] The witness statements and/or evidence shall be Bates stamped, and mailed to Judge Grosjean at 2500 Tulare Street, Sixth Floor, Fresno, CA 93721. The withholding party shall also file and serve a notice that they have complied with this order. All other claims of privilege, including claims of the official information privilege over information other than witness statements and/or evidence gathered from investigation(s) into the incident(s) at issue in the complaint, may be challenged via a motion to compel.

         III. Discovery Cutoffs and Limits

         A. Non-Expert Discovery

         All non-expert discovery shall be completed no later than July 2, 2020. The parties are advised that motions to compel must be filed no later than May 11, 2020, and any opposition to a motion to compel shall be filed no later than May 26, 2020, so that the Court may grant effective relief within the allotted discovery time.

         A telephonic status conference has been set for June 8, 2020, at 1:30 p.m., before Magistrate Judge Erica P. Grosjean. The parties are directed to file a joint report, of up to five (5) pages, outlining the status of the case, any additional discovery still planned, potential for settlement, and any other issues pending that would benefit from the Court's assistance/direction. The parties shall file the report one full week prior to the conference, and email a copy, in Word format, to epgorders@caed.uscourts.gov. To appear telephonically, each party shall dial 1 (888) 251-2909 and enter access code 1024453.

         B. Expert Discovery

         Initial expert witness disclosures shall be served no later than May 7, 2021. Rebuttal expert witness disclosures shall be served no later than June 11, 2021. Such disclosures must be made pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(a)(2)(A), (B) and (C), and shall include all information required thereunder. In addition, Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(b)(4) and Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(e) specifically apply to discovery relating to expert witnesses and their opinions. Each expert witness must be fully prepared to be examined on all subjects and opinions included in the disclosures. Failure to comply with these requirements will result in the imposition of appropriate sanctions, including the preclusion of the expert's testimony, or of other evidence offered through the expert.

         All expert discovery shall be completed no later than July 9, 2021.

         IV. Pretrial Motion Schedule

         A. General Information ...