United States District Court, E.D. California
SCHEDULING ORDER (FED. R. CIV. P. 16)
JENNIFER L. THURSTONUNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE.
I.
Date of Scheduling Conference
December
17, 2019.
II.
Appearances of Counsel
No
appearance by the plaintiff.
Tomio
Narita appeared on behalf of the defendant.
III.
Magistrate Judge Consent: Notice of Congested Docket and
Court Policy of Trailing
Due to
the District Judges' heavy caseload, the adopted policy
of the Fresno Division of the Eastern District is to trail
all civil cases. The parties are hereby notified that for a
trial date set before a District Judge, the parties will
trail indefinitely behind any higher priority criminal or
older civil case set on the same date until a courtroom
becomes available. The trial date will not be reset.
The
Magistrate Judges' availability is far more realistic and
accommodating to parties than that of the U.S. District
Judges who carry the heaviest caseloads in the nation and who
must prioritize criminal and older civil cases over more
recently filed civil cases. A United States Magistrate Judge
may conduct trials, including entry of final judgment,
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c), Federal Rule of Civil
Procedure 73, and Local Rule 305. Any appeal from a judgment
entered by a United States Magistrate Judge is taken directly
to the United States Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit.
The
Fresno Division of the Eastern District of California,
whenever possible, is utilizing United States Article III
District Court Judges from throughout the nation as Visiting
Judges. Pursuant to the Local Rules, Appendix A, such
reassignments will be random, and the parties will receive no
advance notice before their case is reassigned to an Article
III District Court Judge from outside of the Eastern District
of California.
Therefore,
the parties are directed to consider consenting to Magistrate
Judge jurisdiction to conduct all further proceedings,
including trial. Within 10 days of
the date of this order, counsel SHALL file a
consent/decline form (provided by the Court at the inception
of this case) indicating whether they will consent to the
jurisdiction of the Magistrate Judge.
IV.
Pleading Amendment Deadline
Any
requested pleading amendments are ordered to be filed, either
through a stipulation or motion to amend, no later than
January 20, 2020.
V.
Discovery Plan and Cut-Off Date
The
parties have exchanged initial disclosures.
The
parties are ordered to complete all discovery pertaining to
non-experts on or before May 4, 2020, and
all discovery ...