United States District Court, S.D. California
ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION TO CONTINUE SCHEDULING
ORDER AND PRETRIAL PROCEEDING DATES [ECF No. 157]
JILL
L. BURKHARDT, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
Before
the Court is a Joint Motion to Continue Scheduling Order and
Pretrial Proceeding Dates. (ECF No. 157.) For good cause
shown, the Joint Motion is GRANTED.
Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED:
1. All
discovery, including expert discovery, must be completed by
all parties by April 10,
2020.[1] “Completed” means that all
discovery under Rules 30-36 of the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure, and discovery subpoenas under Rule 45, must be
initiated a sufficient period of time in advance of the
cut-off date, so that it may be completed by
the cut-off date, taking into account the times for service,
notice and response as set forth in the Federal Rules of
Civil Procedure. Counsel must promptly and in good
faith meet and confer with regard to all discovery disputes
in compliance with Local Rule 26.1(a). The Court
expects counsel to make every effort to resolve all disputes
without court intervention through the meet and confer
process. If the parties reach an impasse on any discovery
issue, counsel must file an appropriate motion within the
time limit and procedures outlined in the undersigned
magistrate judge's chambers rules. A failure to
comply in this regard will result in a waiver of a
party's discovery issue. Absent an order of the court, no
stipulation continuing or altering this requirement will be
recognized by the court.
Discovery
motions must be filed in the time and manner directed by
Magistrate Judge Burkhardt (see Judge
Burkhardt's Civil Chambers Rules on Discovery Disputes
available on the Court's website). All discovery motions
must be filed within 30 days of the service of an objection,
answer, or response which becomes the subject of dispute, or
the passage of a discovery due date without response or
production, and only after counsel (and any unrepresented
parties) have met and conferred to resolve the dispute
and complied with Section IV.B. of
Judge Burkhardt's Civil Chambers Rules.
2.
Failure to comply with this section or any other discovery
order of the court may result in the sanctions provided for
in Fed.R.Civ.P. 37, including a prohibition on the
introduction of experts or other designated matters in
evidence.
3. All
dispositive pretrial motions, including motions for summary
judgment and motions addressing Daubert issues, must
be filed by May 8,
2020.[2] Counsel for the moving party must obtain a
motion hearing date from Judge Anello's law clerk. The
period of time between the date you request a motion date and
the hearing date may vary from one district judge to another.
Please plan accordingly. Failure to make a timely request for
a motion date may result in the motion not being heard.
4. If
appropriate, following the filing of an order ruling on a
motion for summary judgment or other dispositive pretrial
motion, or in the event no such motion is filed, after the
expiration of the deadline set forth in paragraph 3, supra,
Judge Anello will issue a pretrial scheduling order setting a
pretrial conference, trial date, and all related pretrial
deadlines. The parties must review and be familiar with Judge
Anello's Civil Chambers Rules, which provide additional
information regarding pretrial scheduling.
5. A
Mandatory Settlement Conference will be conducted on
April 9, 2020 at 1:45
p.m. in the chambers of Magistrate Judge Jill
L. Burkhardt. Counsel or any party representing himself or
herself must submit confidential settlement briefs directly
to the magistrate judge's chambers by March
30, 2020. All parties are ordered to read and
fully comply with the Chambers Rules of the assigned
Magistrate Judge.
The
confidential settlement statements should be
lodged by e-mail to efileBurkhardt@casd.uscourts.gov. Each
party's settlement statement shall concisely set forth
the following: (1) the party's statement of the case; (2)
the controlling legal issues; (3) issues of liability and
damages; (4) the party's settlement position, including
the last offer or demand made by that party; (5) a separate
statement of the offer or demand the party is prepared to
make at the settlement conference; and (6) a list of
all attorney and non-attorney conference attendees
for that side, including the name(s) and title(s)/position(s)
of the party/party representative(s) who will attend and have
settlement authority at the conference. If exhibits are
attached and the total submission amounts to more than 20
pages, a hard copy must also be delivered directly to
Magistrate Judge Burkhardt's chambers. Settlement
conference statements shall not be filed with the Clerk of
the Court. Settlement conference statements may be exchanged
confidentially with opposing counsel within the parties'
discretion.
Pursuant
to Civil Local Rule 16.3, all party representatives and
claims adjusters for insured defendants with full and
unlimited authority[3] to negotiate and enter into a
binding settlement, as well as the principal attorney(s)
responsible for the litigation, must be present and legally
and factually prepared to discuss and resolve the case at the
mandatory settlement conference. In the case of an entity, an
authorized representative of the entity who is not
retained outside counsel must be present and must have
discretionary authority to commit the entity to pay an amount
up to the amount of the Plaintiff's prayer (excluding
punitive damages prayers). The purpose of this requirement is
to have representatives present who can settle the case
during the course of the conference without consulting a
superior.
Counsel
for a United States government entity may be excused
from this requirement so long as the government attorney who
attends the MSC conference (1) has primary responsibility for
handling the case, and (2) may negotiate settlement offers
which the attorney is willing to recommend to the government
official having ultimate settlement authority.
Failure
to attend the conference or obtain proper excuse will be
considered grounds for sanctions.
6. A
post trial settlement conference before a magistrate judge
may be held ...