Freeman et al v. Wilshire Commercial Capital L.L.C.

Filing 19

ORDER signed by Senior Judge William B. Shubb on 10/30/15 ORDERING that (1) proceedings in this action shall be, and the same hereby are, STAYED until February 22, 2016 pending the resolution of Defendant's motion to dismiss for lack of sta nding in Banarji v. Wilshire Commercial Capital, LLC dba Wilshire Consumer Credit, Civ. No. 3:14-2967 BEN KSC (S.D. Cal.); (2) this case is set for a Status Conference on February 22, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. in Courtroom 5; and (3) the parties shall file a Joint Status Report with this court no later than February 8, 2016 setting forth the status of discovery in this case and the progress of the Banarji action in the Southern District of California. (Becknal, R)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 ----oo0oo---- 10 11 12 13 VERINA FREEMAN and VALECEA DIGGS, individually and on behalf of all similarly situation, 16 17 ORDER Plaintiffs, 14 15 CIV. NO. 2:15-1428 WBS AC v. WILSHIRE COMMERCIAL CAPITAL L.L.C., a California limited liability company, dba WILSHIRE CONSUMER CREDIT, 18 Defendant. 19 ----oo0oo---- 20 This matter came on for status conference on October 21 22 26, 2015. Because the issues in this case substantially overlap 23 those in Banarji v. Wilshire Commercial Capital, LLC dba Wilshire 24 Consumer Credit, Civ. No. 3:14-2967 BEN KSC (“Banarji”) (S.D. 25 Cal. filed Dec. 17, 2014), a putative class action presently 26 pending in the Southern District of California, this court is 27 contemplating either dismissing the present action or 28 transferring it to the Southern District of California. 1 The Banarji case appears to be well under way. 1 In July 2 2015, Magistrate Judge Karen S. Crawford held a case management 3 conference in Banarji and issued an order requiring defendant to 4 file its motion to dismiss for lack of standing by no later than 5 November 23, 2015. 6 Defendant anticipates that Judge Crawford will issue a ruling on 7 its motion by January 2016. At the October 26, 2015 status conference, the parties 8 9 (Minute Order, Banarji, ECF No. 22.)1 agreed and stipulated to stay all proceedings in this action, 10 with the exception of certain limited discovery, pending the 11 resolution of defendant’s motion to dismiss in Banarji. 12 court agrees that the relevant interests weigh in favor of such a 13 stay in this case. 14 case to continue in this district if Banarji proceeds in the 15 Southern District of California, staying this action will 16 conserve the parties’ and the court’s limited resources on 17 pretrial matters that may prove moot should defendant’s motion to 18 dismiss be denied in Banarji and the court transfers this case to 19 the Southern District of California. 20 Alliant Tax Credit V, Inc., Civ. No. C04-3201 SI, 2005 WL 21 1562807, at *3 (N.D. Cal. June 29, 2005) (holding that “it would 22 be a poor use of judicial resources to proceed” when an extrinsic 23 proceeding could have a preclusive effect on the case). Because the court is reluctant to allow this See Canal Props. LLC v. If, on the other hand, Judge Crawford dismisses Banarji 24 25 This for lack of standing, this court will be inclined to lift the 26 27 28 1 In August 2015, Judge Crawford also issued a broad protective order over all disclosure and discovery materials in the Banarji action. (See Protective Order ¶¶ 2.2, 3, Banarji, ECF No. 24.) 2 1 stay here and allow plaintiffs’ case to proceed in this district. 2 Cf. Alltrade, Inc. v. Uniweld Products, Inc., 946 F.2d 622, 629 3 (9th Cir. 1991) (“[W]here the first-filed action presents a 4 likelihood of dismissal, the second-filed suit should be stayed, 5 rather than dismissed.”). 6 orderly for the court to stay all proceedings in this case until 7 after the ruling on defendant’s motion to dismiss in Banarji. 8 In the meantime, the parties have agreed to conduct 9 It would thus be more efficient and limited discovery on the issue of the dialing system that 10 defendant used to call plaintiffs and the putative class members 11 in this action. 12 disputes that would need to be resolved by this court prior to 13 the new Status Conference date. 14 expressly limit the parties’ discovery in this Order. The parties do not anticipate any discovery Accordingly, this court will not 15 IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that: 16 (1) proceedings in this action shall be, and the same 17 hereby are, STAYED until February 22, 2016 pending the resolution 18 of Defendant’s motion to dismiss for lack of standing in Banarji 19 v. Wilshire Commercial Capital, LLC dba Wilshire Consumer Credit, 20 Civ. No. 3:14-2967 BEN KSC (S.D. Cal.); (2) this case is set for a Status Conference on 21 22 February 22, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. in Courtroom 5; and (3) the parties shall file a Joint Status Report with 23 24 this court no later than February 8, 2016 setting forth the 25 status of discovery in this case and the progress of the Banarji 26 action in the Southern District of California. 27 Dated: October 30, 2015 28 3

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