Soler v. County of San Diego

          ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF'S REQUEST FOR NEW TRIAL DATE [ECF NO. 206]; FIFTH AMENDED SCHEDULING ORDER REGULATING DISCOVERY AND OTHER PRE-TRIAL PROCEEDINGS

          HON. RUBEN B. BROOKS, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

         On December 21, 2019, Plaintiff filed a notice with the Court to advise of his counsel's conflict with the January 12, 2021 trial date and to request that the trial be advanced to mid-December 2020. (ECF No. 206.) Defendants Wilkins and Hobbs filed a response to Plaintiff's request on December 23, 2019, in which they indicated they did not object to moving the trial date but requested that it be reset for February 2021 or thereafter. (ECF No. 207.) The San Diego County Defendants did not file a response to Plaintiff's request. After consulting with the chambers of the Honorable Michael M. Anello and upon good cause appearing, the Court hereby GRANTS Plaintiff's request for a trial date in December 2020, modifies the motion in limine deadlines, the pretrial conference date, and the deadlines associated with the pretrial conference, and enters the following Fifth Amended Scheduling Order:

         1. The deadline for Plaintiff to file a motion for leave to file an amended complaint is January 17, 2020.^[1]

         2. A Mandatory Settlement Conference will be conducted on March 18, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. in the chambers of Magistrate Judge Ruben B. Brooks. Counsel must submit confidential settlement briefs directly to the magistrate judge's chambers by March 11, 2020. All parties, claims adjusters for insured defendants and non-lawyer representatives with complete authority to enter into a binding settlement, as well as the principal attorneys responsible for the litigation, must be present and legally and factually prepared to discuss and resolve the case at the mandatory settlement conference and at all settlement conferences. Retained outside corporate counsel shall not appear on behalf of a corporation as the party representative who has the authority to negotiate and enter into a settlement. Failure to attend or obtain proper excuse will be considered grounds for sanctions.

         3. Discovery between Plaintiff and all County of San Diego-related defendants is closed. Paragraphs 4 through 10 below pertain only to discovery relating to Plaintiff's claims against Defendants Wilkins and Hobbs and to these defendants' defenses.

         4. All fact discovery must be completed by May 15, 2020. “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.

         5. All motions for discovery shall be filed no later than thirty (30) days following the date upon which the event giving rise to the discovery dispute occurred. The 30-day deadline will not be extended without a prior Court order; counsel cannot unilaterally extend the deadline. For example, ongoing meet-and-confer efforts, rolling document productions, or supplemental discovery responses do not extend the deadline. A failure to comply will bar the party from filing a corresponding discovery motion. For oral discovery, the event giving rise to the discovery dispute is the completion of the transcript of the affected portion of the deposition. For written discovery, the event giving rise to the discovery dispute is the service of the response. All interrogatories, requests for admission, and document production requests must be served by January 17, 2020.

         6. The parties must designate their respective experts in writing by May 29, 2020. The parties must identify any person who may be used at trial to present evidence pursuant to Rules 702, 703 or 705 of the Fed.R.Evid. This requirement is not limited to retained experts. The date for exchange of rebuttal experts must be by June 12, 2020. The written designations must include the name, address and telephone number of the expert and a reasonable summary of the testimony the expert is expected to provide. The list must also include the normal rates the expert charges for deposition and trial testimony.

         7. By June 26, 2020, each party must comply with the disclosure provisions in Rule 26(a)(2)(A) and (B) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. This disclosure requirement applies to all persons retained or specially employed to provide expert testimony, or whose duties as an employee of the party regularly involve the giving of expert testimony. Except as provided in the paragraph below, any party that fails to make these disclosures will not, absent substantial justification, be permitted to use evidence or testimony not disclosed at any hearing or at the time of trial. In addition, the Court may impose sanctions as permitted by Fed.R.Civ.P. 37(c).

         8. Any party must supplement its disclosure regarding contradictory or rebuttal evidence under Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(a)(2)(D) by July 10, 2020.

         9. All expert discovery must be completed by August 7, 2020. The parties must comply with the same procedures set forth in the paragraph governing fact discovery.

         10. 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.

         11. All dispositive pretrial motions, including motions for summary judgment and motions addressing Daubert issues, must be filed by August 24, 2020. 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.

         12. Motions in limine are due October 19, 2020, and will be heard at the Pretrial Conference. Oppositions to motions in limine are due November ...