Wright et al v. Tehachapi Unified School District

Filing 9

ORDER RE: INFORMAL DISCOVERY; ORDER REFERRING THE MATTER TO VDRP, signed by Magistrate Judge Jennifer L. Thurston on 11/15/2016. Case REFERRED to VDRP. The process of selecting the neutral SHALL not begin until 12/16/2016 to allow the informal discovery to be completed. (Hall, S)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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BUDDY WRIGHT, et al.,

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Plaintiffs,
v.
TEHACHAPI UNIFIED SCHOOL
DISTRICT,

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Defendants.
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Case No.: 1:15-cv-01328 JLT
ORDER RE: INFORMAL DISCOVERY
ORDER REFERRING THE MATTER TO VDRP

On November 15, 2016, the Court held the scheduling conference. Rather than scheduling the

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case, the Court verified the parties wished to be referred to the Court’s Voluntary Dispute Resolution

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program.

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To facilitate the possible success of the case in the VDRP, the Court discussed with counsel the

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discovery needs before the VDRP mediation could occur. The defendant expressed that it had no need

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for discovery before the mediation. However, because this case, at its core, is one only for attorney’s

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fees expended in the administrative process, the plaintiffs seek information about the time records of

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counsel for the defendants. The plaintiffs expressed that they wished to be able to perform a

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comparison of the work expended by each side in order to counter the expected claims that their

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attorneys’ fees are unreasonable. Thus, the Court ORDERS:

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1.

No later than December 15, 2016, counsel for the defendant SHALL identify to counsel

for the plaintiffs (via e-mail) the items on the plaintiffs’ attorney billing records that the defendant
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contends are unreasonable;
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As to any item of attorney billing records identified, no later than December 15, 2016,

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the defendant SHALL produce (via email) the time records for its attorney to complete the

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corresponding work1, if there was any corresponding work;
3.

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The matter is REFERRED to the VDRP. The process of selecting the neutral SHALL

not begin until December 16, 2016, to allow the informal discovery, described above, to be completed.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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Dated:

November 15, 2016

/s/ Jennifer L. Thurston
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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For example, if the defendant contends that the time spent by the plaintiffs’ lawyer on a particular motion was
unreasonable and the defendant filed an opposition to the same motion, the defendant must produce the time records
detailing its attorney’s work opposing the motion. If any records are withheld based upon privilege, the defendant
SHALL provide a thorough privilege log.

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