Anderson et al v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company et al

Filing 50

ORDER signed by Chief Judge Morrison C. England, Jr. on 3/10/2014 ORDERING 48 the Court hereby AMENDS the scheduling order 43 ; discovery shall be due 60 days from the date of this order; and designation of expert witnesses shall be due 60 days f rom the date of this order. However, the Court DENIES Plaintiff's request to modify the date for hearing dispositive motions, the final pretrial conference date, and the trial date. In accordance with the Court's 11/25/2013, Amended Pretri al Scheduling Order, the last day to hear dispositive motions shall be 2/5/2015. The parties shall comply with the briefing schedule set forth in the Order 43 . The Final Pretrial Conference is set for 4/16/2015, at 2:00 PM, and trial is set for 6/1/2015, with trial briefs, evidentiary motions, and procedural motions to be filed in accordance with the Order 43 .(Reader, L)

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

9

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

10
11

DONALD ANDERSON, et al.,

12
13
14
15
16
17

No. 2:12-cv-01057-MCE-GGH

Plaintiffs,
v.

ORDER

NATIONWIDE MUTUAL INSURANCE
CO., et al.,
Defendants.
On December 19, 2012, this Court issued a Pretrial Scheduling Order requiring

18

that the parties designate experts by September 12, 2013 and setting January 23, 2014

19

as the last day to hear dispositive motions. ECF No. 26. On August 30, 2013, the

20

parties submitted a stipulation to amend the scheduling order to continue dates for

21

designation of experts and presentation of expert reports and for dispositive motions.

22

ECF No. 39. The parties stipulated to reset the date for designation of experts and

23

presentation of expert reports for October 28, 2013, and the date for hearing all

24

dispositive motions as March 4, 2014. Id.

25

On September 11, 2013, the Court issued an order granting the continuance of

26

expert reports and dispositive motions. ECF No. 40. This order reset the deadline for

27

designation of experts and presentation of expert reports for Oct. 28, 2013, and the date

28

for hearing all dispositive motions as March 4, 2014. The order also vacated the
1

1

March 20, 2014 pretrial conference, and May 12, 2014 jury trial, and stated that an

2

amended pretrial order would be forthcoming. Id.

3

On October 28, 2013, Plaintiff Donald Anderson filed his disclosure of expert

4

witnesses. ECF No. 41. On November 25, 2013, the Court issued an amended pretrial

5

scheduling order. This order set the following deadlines: (1) Discovery: July 12, 2014;

6

(2) disclosure of expert witnesses: October 28, 2014; (3) dispositive motions: February 5,

7

2015; (4) final pretrial conference: April 16, 2015; and (5) trial: June 1, 2015.

8
9

On November 27, 2013, Plaintiff filed objections to the pretrial scheduling order,
ECF No. 44, on the grounds that the Court’s amended pretrial scheduling order

10

essentially re-opened non-expert discovery and the time for expert disclosure, which had

11

been set for July and October 2013, after these deadlines had passed. Thus, Plaintiff

12

objected to the non-expert discovery deadline of July 12, 2014, and the resetting of the

13

expert disclosure date of October 28, 2014. Finally, Plaintiff objected to the trial being

14

continued to June 1, 2015, as the plaintiffs are residents of a retiree community and thus

15

may die or have health problems during that time.

16

Thereafter, on February 11, 2014, Plaintiffs filed a petition to modify the amended

17

scheduling order. Plaintiffs contend that they never requested a continuance of their

18

FPTC or their trial, only of the expert disclosure and dispositive motion dates. Plaintiffs

19

again contend that all non-expert discovery has been completed, expert disclosures

20

have been completed, and only three possible expert depositions remain to be taken.

21

Plaintiffs again assert that a trial date of June 1, 2015, prejudices Plaintiffs, who suffer

22

from progressively poor health. Accordingly, Plaintiffs petition the Court to modify the

23

Amended Pretrial Scheduling Order and reset the dispositive motion hearing date, final

24

pretrial conference date, and the trial date as soon as practical within 2014. Plaintiffs

25

submitted a proposed order, which advised the Court that discovery had effectively been

26

re-opened by the Court’s order. Plaintiffs further requested that the Court reset the

27

deadline for dispositive motions to May 23, 2014, and move the trial to an available date

28

in 2014.
2

1

After examination of the Court’s November 25, 2013, Amended Pretrial

2

Scheduling Order, the Court learned that, through an inadvertent error in the docketing

3

process, the 2013 discovery and expert disclosure deadlines had been changed to 2014,

4

thus reopening discovery. Because the parties have now relied on the Court’s Order

5

which moved these deadlines to 2014, the Court finds it would be unjust and

6

unreasonable to immediately close discovery and reinstate the original 2013 dates.

7

However, the Court also finds that a fair and just disposition of this issue requires that

8

the deadlines for discovery and expert disclosures be advanced from the currently set

9

dates of July 12, 2014, and October 28, 2014.

10

Accordingly, the Court hereby amends the scheduling order, ECF No. 43, as

11

follows: (1) discovery shall be due sixty (60) days from the date of this order; and (2)

12

designation of expert witnesses shall be due sixty (60) days from the date of this

13

order. However, the Court DENIES Plaintiff’s request to modify the date for hearing

14

dispositive motions, the final pretrial conference date, and the trial date. In accordance

15

with the Court’s November 25, 2013, Amended Pretrial Scheduling Order, the last day to

16

hear dispositive motions shall be February 5, 2015. The parties shall comply with the

17

briefing schedule set forth in the November 25 Order, ECF No. 43. The Final Pretrial

18

Conference is set for April 16, 2015, at 2:00 PM, and trial is set for June 1, 2015, with

19

trial briefs, evidentiary motions, and procedural motions to be filed in accordance with

20

the November 25 Order.

21
22

IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: March 10, 2014

23
24
25
26
27
28
3