Ramos v. Williams Unified School District

Filing 21

STIPULATION and ORDER signed by District Judge John A. Mendez on 12/19/17: Expert witness disclosure date is continued to March 12, 2018, and the discovery cut-off date is continued to May 9, 2018. Plaintiff's motion for leave to file amended complaint is hereby deemed to be un-opposed by Defendants, and the motion is ordered vacated from the Courts January 16, 2018 hearing calendar. (Kaminski, H)

1
2
3
4
5
6

James K. Ward, Esq. (SBN 117639)
Eric Garner, Esq. (SBN 131232)
EVANS, WIECKOWSKI & WARD, LLP
745 University Avenue
Sacramento, CA 95825
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
Attorneys for Defendants
Williams Unified School District, Public Entity

7
8

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
9

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

10
11

ARMANDO RAMOS,
Plaintiff,

12
13

vs.

14
15
16
17
18
19

WILLIAMS UNIFED SCHOOL DISTRICT
and DOES 1 through 50,
Defendants.

)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)

Case No. 2:16-CV-01941 JAM EFB

STIPULATION REGARDING
DEFENDANT’S NON-OPPOSITION TO
PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO AMEND
AND REQUEST TO MODIFY PRETRIAL SCHEDULING ORDER
(DOCUMENT 8) RE (1) EXPERT
DISCLOSURE DEADLINE AND (2)
DISCOVERY CUT-OFF;
DECLARATIONS IN SUPPORT
THEREOF; ORDER

20

IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by Plaintiff, ARMANDO RAMOS, by and through his
21
22

attorneys, and Defendant WILLIAMS UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT, by and through its

23

attorneys, that the January 12, 2018, expert disclosure date set forth in the Court’s October 19,

24

2016, Pre-Trial Scheduling Order (Document 8) be continued to March 12, 2018 and that the

25

March 9, 2018, discovery cut-off deadline be continued to May 9, 2018. The parties request all
26
27

other Pre-Trial Scheduling Order dates remain the same. This stipulation is based upon the

28

STIPULATION AND ORDER - 1

1
2

following facts which the parties submit show good cause to modify the Pretrial Scheduling
Order:

3

1.

That on October 19, 2016, the Court issued its Pre-Trial Scheduling Order

4
5

(Document 8), establishing, among other things, that the last day to make expert disclosures shall

6

be January 12, 2018, and that all discovery shall be completed by March 9, 2018.

7

2.

On August 21, 2017, Daniel P. Jay left the employ of defendant’s counsel Evans,

8

Wieckowski, Ward & Scoffield, LLP. Since that date, defendant’s counsel James Ward has
9
10

diligently attempted to hire another lawyer to assist with this case and other cases. In addition,

11

on October 20, 2017, Attorney Ward’s secretary, Andrea Cervantes, began a leave of absence to

12

care for her terminally ill mother. On or about December 4, 2017, defendant’s counsel hired

13

attorney Eric Garner. In addition, Ms. Cervantes returned to work on December 6, 2017.

14

Accordingly, Attorney Ward had no attorney assistance from August to December 2017 and little
15
16

to no administrative assistance between October 20, 2017, and December 6, 2017. In large part

17

because of Mr. Jay’s departure and Ms. Cervantes’ absence, Defendants have been unable to

18

make arrangements to take plaintiff’s deposition.

19

3.

On November 21, 2017, plaintiff filed a motion for leave to amend his complaint

20

to add a cause of action for defamation related to a statement attributed to a Dr. Dhesi which
21
22

plaintiff contends is false. The hearing date for the motion is January 16, 2018. Fairly soon after

23

the motion was served defense counsel reached out to plaintiff’s counsel to determine plaintiff’s

24

and counsel’s availability for plaintiff’s deposition. The parties and their counsel ultimately

25

agreed on January 25, 2018, which is nearly two weeks after the expert witness disclosure
26
27

deadline.

28

STIPULATION AND ORDER - 2

1
2

4.

The parties have also been trying to schedule the deposition of Dr. Dhesi. As of

the date this stipulation was filed, Dr. Dhesi’s deposition is scheduled for January 4, 2018.

3

5.

Counsel for the parties have met and conferred vis-à-vis plaintiff’s motion for

4
5

leave to amend. Defendant, through its counsel, has agreed to not oppose plaintiff’s motion in

6

exchange for an agreement to modify the court’s Pre-Trial Scheduling Order consistent with the

7

stipulation of the parties, as stated above.

8

Based upon the foregoing, the parties submit that good cause exists to modify the court’s
9
10
11
12

Pre-Trial Scheduling Order as set forth above.
IT IS SO STIPULATED.
Dated: December 18, 2017

EVANS, WIECKOWSKI & WARD, LLP

13

/s/ James K. Ward
___________________________________
JAMES K. WARD
ERIC GARNER
Attorneys for Defendants WILLIAMS
UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

14
15
16
17
18
19
20

Dated: December 18, 2017

LAW OFFICES OF JILL TELFER

21
22
23

/s/ Jill Telfer
___________________________________
JILL TELFER
Attorney for Plaintiff ARMANDO RAMOS

24
25
26
27
28

STIPULATION AND ORDER - 3

1
2

DECLARATION OF ERIC GARNER
I, Eric Garner, do hereby declare and say the following:

3

1.

I am one of the attorneys of record for the Defendants in the above-entitled action.

4
5

I have prepared this Declaration as evidence in support of the parties’ stipulation and request to

6

this Court to continue the expert witness disclosure deadline to March 9, 2018 discovery cutoff

7

date to May 9, 2018. The facts stated in the stipulation set forth above are true and correct and

8

based upon my personal knowledge.
9
10

I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that the

11

facts stated above in the stipulation of the parties is true and correct. This Declaration was

12

executed on December 18, 2017 in Sacramento, California.

13

/s/ Eric Garner
_____________________________

14
15
16

DECLARATION OF JILL TELFER
I, Jill Telfer, do hereby declare and say the following:

17

1.

I am the attorney of record for Plaintiff in the above-entitled action. I have

18
19

prepared this Declaration as evidence in support of the parties’ stipulation and request to this

20

Court to continue the expert witness disclosure deadline to March 9, 2018 and discovery cutoff

21

date to May 9, 2018. The facts stated in the stipulation set forth above are true and correct and

22

based upon my personal knowledge.

23

I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that the
24
25

facts stated above in the stipulation of the parties is true and correct. This Declaration was

26

executed on December 18, 2017 in Sacramento, California.

27
28

/s/ Jill Telfer
_____________________________

STIPULATION AND ORDER - 4

1
2

ORDER

3

Based upon the stipulation of the parties and good cause appearing, the Court orders that
4
5

the Pre-Trial Scheduling Order is hereby modified as follows:

6

Expert witness disclosure date is continued to March 12, 2018, and the discovery cut-off

7

date is continued to May 9, 2018. Plaintiff’s motion for leave to file amended complaint is

8

hereby deemed to be un-opposed by Defendants, and the motion is ordered vacated from the
9
10

Court’s January 16, 2018 hearing calendar.

11
12
13
14

IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: 12/19/2017

___/s/ John A. Mendez_____________________
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT JUDGE

15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28

STIPULATION AND ORDER - 5