Gray v. County of Kern

Filing 17

ORDER GRANTING IN PART 16 Stipulation to Vacate Settlement Conference and to Amend Case Schedule, signed by Magistrate Judge Jennifer L. Thurston on 4/23/2015. Settlement Conference set for 4/27/2015 at 09:30 AM is VACATED. Non-Expert Discovery Cutoff 5/15/2015. Expert Discovery Cutoff 7/17/2015; Expert Disclosure 5/29/2015; Rebuttal Experts 6/19/2015. Non-Dispositive Motion Deadlines: Filed by 7/24/2015; Hearing by 8/21/2015. (Hall, S)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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Plaintiff,

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Case No.: 1: 14-CV-00204 - LJO - JLT

ARTHUR GRAY,

ORDER GRANTING IN PART STIPULATION
TO VACATE SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE
AND TO AMEND CASE SCHEDULE

v.
COUNTY OF KERN, et al.,

(Doc. 16)
Defendants.

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Before the Court is the stipulation of counsel to vacate the settlement conference and to

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amend the case schedule. (Doc. 16) Counsel explain the case is not in a settlement posture due

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incomplete discovery. Id. at 1. Thus, the Court will vacate the settlement conference. The parties

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may request the conference be rescheduled in the future, if they agree a conference is likely to be

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fruitful.

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As to the stipulation to amend the case schedule, the Court has not been provided little

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information to justify the request. Counsel report they engaged in discovery efforts late in the

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process—defendants’ production request to Plaintiff and subpoena(s) duces tecum to third parties

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were served on March 11 and the Fed. R. Civ. P. 30(b)(6) deposition of the County of Kern which

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occurred on April 10. (Doc. 16 at 1-2) As a result, counsel has had insufficient time to process the

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discovery produced through these efforts and their experts have not adequately prepared their

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reports. Id.
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What is not explained in the stipulation is why, despite having been provided a year of non-

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expert discovery time, the parties waited until so late in the process to conduct this discovery. Of

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course, stipulations to amend the case schedule must demonstrate good cause and a determination

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whether this has been shown is informed by the diligence of the parties in conducting this

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discovery; unfortunately, this latter information has not been detailed in the stipulation. Indeed,

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the last information on the topic was provided in the joint mid-discovery status conference report

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which indicated the deadlines would be met, though difficulties—not documented in the current

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stipulation—were noted. (Doc. 14)
Scheduling orders are intended to alleviate case management problems. Johnson v.

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Mammoth Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 610 (9th Cir. 1992). As such, a scheduling order is

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“the heart of case management.” Koplove v. Ford Motor Co., 795 F.2d 15, 18 (3rd Cir. 1986).

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Further, scheduling orders are “not a frivolous piece of paper, idly entered, which can be cavalierly

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disregarded by counsel without peril.” Johnson, 975 F.2d at 610 (quoting Gestetner Corp. v. Case

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Equip. Co., 108 F.R.D. 138, 141 (D. Maine 1985)). Thus, parties must “diligently attempt to

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adhere to the schedule throughout the course of the litigation.” Jackson v. Laureate, Inc., 186

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F.R.D. 605, 607 (E.D. Cal. 1999). Because there is a minimal showing of good cause and no

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showing of diligence, the Court ORDERS:

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1.

The settlement conference, set on April 27, 2015 is VACATED;

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2.

The case schedule is amended as follows:
a.

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Non-expert discovery SHALL be completed no later than May 15, 2015 and
expert discovery SHALL be completed no later than July 17, 2015;

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b.

Experts SHALL be disclosed no later than May 29, 2015;

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c.

Rebuttal experts SHALL be disclosed no later than June 19, 2015;

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d.

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and heard no later than August 21, 2015.

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Non-dispositive motions SHALL be filed no later than July 24, 2015

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Absolutely no other amendments to the case schedule are authorized nor will any

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further requests to modify the case schedule be entertained absent a showing of exceptional

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good cause.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated:

April 23, 2015

/s/ Jennifer L. Thurston
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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