Garcia v. Schlumberger Lift Solutions, LLC et al

Filing 52

STIPULATION and ORDER 51 Continuing Class Certification Deadlines, signed by Magistrate Judge Jennifer L. Thurston on 9/14/2020. Opposition due by 1/25/2021. Reply due by 3/1/2021. Motion Hearing CONTINUED to 4/12/2021 at 09:00 AM in Bakersfield, 510 19th Street before Magistrate Judge Jennifer L. Thurston. (Hall, S)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 PETER R. DION-KINDEM (SBN 95267) THE DION-KINDEM LAW FIRM PETER R. DION-KINDEM, P. C. 2945 Townsgate Road, Suite 200 Westlake Village, CA 19361 Telephone: (818) 883-4900 Fax: (818) 338-2533 Email: peter@dion-kindemlaw.com LONNIE C. BLANCHARD, III (SBN 93530) THE BLANCHARD LAW GROUP, APC 5211 East Washington Blvd., # 2262 Commerce, CA 90040 Telephone: (213) 599-8255 Fax: (213) 402-3949 Email: lonnieblanchard@gmail.com Attorneys for Plaintiff Cristobal Garcia 12 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 13 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 14 15 16 Cristobal Garcia, an individual, on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated, 17 Plaintiff, 18 Case No. 1:18-cv-01261-DAD-JLT (Assigned to the Hon. Dale A. Drozd) vs. 19 20 21 22 23 24 Joint Stipulation Continuing Class Certification Dates Schlumberger Lift Solutions LLC, a Delaware Limited Liability Company; Schlumberger Rod Lift Inc., a Delaware Corporation; and Does 1 through 10, Defendants. Plaintiff Cristobal Garcia and Defendants Schlumberger Lift Solutions LLC and Schlumberger Rod Lift, Inc. (“Defendants”) (collectively “the Parties”) jointly stipulate as follows: 25 WHEREAS, Plaintiff filed his Motion for Class Certification on July 10, 2020; 26 WHEREAS, Defendants’ deadline to oppose Plaintiff’s Motion is currently set for October 26, 27 2020 (Dkt. 48) based upon an earlier stipulation to continue dates; 28 Joint Stipulation Continuing Class Certification Dates 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 WHEREAS, the Court’s initial Scheduling Order, issued on November 29, 2018 (Dkt. 12), states that “defendant may conduct discovery as to the evidence relied upon by plaintiff for the motion for class certification … [d]uring the interval between the filing of the motion and the deadline for the opposition”; WHEREAS, originally for the first request for continuance, Defendants requested that 12 depositions of witnesses be taken. These witnesses were the 12 declarants submitted in support of Plaintiff’s motion for certification; WHEREAS, six of those depositions have already been taken – one of which Defendants want to continue to a second session. As a result, there are a total of seven depositions that remain to be taken out of 12 declarants; WHEREAS, Defendants wish to obtain statements from 10 additional witnesses with respect to Plaintiff’s Motion for Certification. Because those individuals are members of the settlement class which this Court preliminarily approved on July 16, 2020, and because Plaintiff objects to Defendants having direct contact with these individuals in light of their status as settlement class members, Defendants have requested to depose them. WHEREAS, this means that there are at least a total of 17 uncompleted depositions that Defendants want to take to oppose Plaintiff’s Motion for Certification; WHEREAS, Defendants have proposed a schedule to complete this discovery in time for the current October 26, 2020 opposition deadline but which Plaintiff’s counsel believes is functionally unworkable from a scheduling standpoint; WHEREAS, Plaintiff’s counsel represents that this schedule is functionally impossible due to issues related to the Coronavirus pandemic, the needs of other cases being handled by Plaintiff’s counsel, and other personal and business scheduling reasons; WHEREAS, the Parties agree that, because of the cited issues, it is agreeable to all counsel that Defendants have additional time to take discovery to oppose certification. The Parties propose the that Defendants’ Opposition to the Motion for Certification, Plaintiff’s Reply to the Opposition to the Motion for Certification and the hearing date on the motion be continued for approximately 90 days so 28 Joint Stipulation Continuing Class Certification Dates 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 that the discovery can be completed and the Opposition date does not fall within the end-of-the-year holiday season; WHEREAS, Defendants’ Opposition to the Motion for Certification is now scheduled for October 26, 2020. The parties propose that the new date be January 25, 2021. WHEREAS, Plaintiff’s deadline to Reply to Defendants’ Opposition is now November 30, 2020. The parties propose that the new date be March 1, 2021; WHEREAS, the Class Certification Motion hearing is set for January 4, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. The parties request a new hearing date on April 12, 2021; WHEREAS, the parties recognize that the Court has already granted one continuance of these dates. However, the parties assure the Court that there are very good reasons for the need for the continuance, that they are working diligently together to manage the issues that are making scheduling difficult, and that it is in fact functionally impossible to complete this discovery in enough time to meet Defendants’ October 26, 2020 opposition deadline; THEREFORE, the Parties, by and through their counsel of record, stipulate and request the following continuance for the reasons set forth above and propose new dates as follows: 1. 17 18 to January 25, 2021; 2. 19 20 21 22 That the deadline for Defendants to file their Opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion be continued That the deadline for Plaintiff to file a Reply to the Opposition be continued to March 1, 2021; 3. That the hearing date be continued to April 12, 2021 -- or such other date that the Court is available. Respectfully submitted by all Parties on this 14td day of September, 2020 23 24 25 26 /s/ Heather D. Hearne Counsel for Defendants /s/ Lonnie C. Blanchard Counsel for Plaintiff 27 28 Joint Stipulation Continuing Class Certification Dates 3 1 [PROPOSED] ORDER 2 3 Based upon the stipulation of the Parties, the Court ORDERS the case schedule to be amended as follows: 4 1. Defendants’ Opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion SHALL be filed no later than January 25, 7 2. Plaintiff’s Reply to the Opposition, if any, SHALL be filed no later than March 1, 2021; 8 3. The hearing on Plaintiff’s Motion for Class Certification is re-set for April 12, 2020 at 5 6 9 10 11 2021; 9:00 a.m. before Judge Thurston at the United States Courthouse located at 510 19th Street, Bakersfield, California. The Court does not anticipate granting any further extensions of time related to the class 12 13 certification motion, so counsel are strongly urged to comply with these new deadlines. 14 15 16 17 IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: September 14, 2020 /s/ Jennifer L. Thurston UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Joint Stipulation Continuing Class Certification Dates 4

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