Allied World Insurance Company v. New Paradigm Property Management, LLC

Filing 41

ORDER signed by District Judge Morrison C. England, Jr. on 1/9/19 ORDERING that Expert Deposition Deadline: 4/29/2019. Dispositive Motions filed by 4/29/2019. All other deadlines in the Pretrial Order remain unchanged. (Kaminski, H) Modified on 1/10/2019 (Benson, A.).

1 RONALD W. HOPKINS (Bar No. 100895)
CHRISTIAN J. GASCOU (Bar No. 209957)
2 GASCOU HOPKINS LLP
9696 Culver Boulevard, Suite 302
3 Culver City, California 90232
Telephone: [phone]
4 Facsimile: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
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Attorneys for Plaintiff
ALLIED WORLD INSURANCE COMPANY
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BRITTANY RUPLEY HAEFELE (Bar No. 276208)
7 WILLIAM L. PORTER (Bar No. 133968)
PORTER LAW GROUP, INC.
8 7801 Folsom Boulevard, Suite 101
Sacramento, California 95826
9 Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
10 Email: [e-mail]
Email: [e-mail]
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Attorneys for Defendant
12 NEW PARADIGM PROPERTY MANAGEMENT, LLC
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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SACRAMENTO DIVISION
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ALLIED WORLD INSURANCE COMPANY,
a Delaware corporation,

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Plaintiff,
v.
NEW PARADIGM PROPERTY
MANAGEMENT, LLC, a California
Corporation, and DOES 1 through 20, inclusive,

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Case No. 2:16-CV-02992-MCE-GGH
Ex Parte Motion for Request to Modify
Pretrial Order By Stipulation to Extend
Certain Deadlines By An Additional Ninety
Days to Permit Mediation Under the VDRP
Program

Defendants.

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NEW PARADIGM PROPERTY
MANAGEMENT, LLC, a California
Corporation,
Plaintiff,

Case No. 2:17-cv-00552-KJM-CKD
(Administratively and consolidated with case
2:16-CV-02992-MCE-GGH)

v.
ALLIED WORLD INSURANCE COMPANY,
a Delaware corporation, and DOES 1 through
200, inclusive
Defendants.

-1STIPULATED REQUEST TO MODIFY THE PRETRIAL ORDER

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Pursuant to Local Rule 143 and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (FRCP) 16(b)(4),

2 Defendant, NEW PARADIGM PROPERTY MANAGEMENT, LLC (hereinafter Defendant),
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and Plaintiff, ALLIED WORLD INSURANCE COMPANY (hereinafter Plaintiff) by and
through the undersigned counsel, hereby jointly stipulate and request this Court to issue an Order
to modify the Initial Pretrial Scheduling Order (ECF No. 3) (hereinafter “Initial Pretrial
Scheduling Order” or “Pretrial Order”) for case 2:16-CV-02992-MCE-GGH, by extending the
dates for conclusion of expert witness discovery and the deadline for filing of dispositive

9 motions by 90 days from the current deadline of January 29, 2019 to April 29, 2019, with all
10 other deadlines to remain as governed by the Initial Pretrial Scheduling Order.
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The purpose of this request is to permit the parties to engage in mediation under the

12 VDRP program and to avoid the expense of anticipated lengthy expert depositions and/or the
13 filing of potential dispositive motions pending the results of mediation. The mediation would
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need to occur in February or March of 2019—as the principal of one of the parties will be out of
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the country through the first week of February.
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The Initial Pretrial Scheduling Order allocated 365 days for fact discovery until
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December 22, 2017 (ECF No. 3). Discovery including initial Rule 26(f) disclosures was then
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19 placed on hold pending ruling on Defendant’s Motion to Compel Arbitration (ECF No. 23),
20 which was denied on September 28, 2017. Shortly after denial of the motion on October 16,
21 2017, the court granted a joint request to extend fact discovery by 120 days to April 20, 2018
22 (ECF No. 28) and by 60 days to June 19, 2018 (ECF No. 35). Fact discovery was later extended
23 to August 3, 2018 (ECF No. 35.)
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The parties have to date diligently engaged in discovery consisting of the exchange
of several rounds of very lengthy written discovery, including amended and supplemental
responses after meet and confers, and the exchange of several binders of documents concerning
the construction project obtained both from the parties and from third parties through subpoena.

-2STIPULATED REQUEST TO MODIFY THE PRETRIAL ORDER

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The last of the responses to document production requests was accomplished in early

2 March. Since that exchange and in April and May of 2018, the parties have exchanged additional
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lengthy rounds of written discovery and produced thousands of pages of additional documents
pursuant to follow-up requests. Numerous PMQ and fact witness depositions were taken in the
summer of 2018.
Following the conclusion of fact discovery, the parties have at great expense
designated four experts on the complex construction and suretyship issues, who have exchanged

9 six lengthy reports.
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The parties jointly believe that it may be productive to mediate at this point prior to

11 incurring the expense of expert deposition discovery and/or the filing of any dispositive motions,
12 and will file a stipulation for referral to the VDRP program—with mediation to occur after the
13 owner of one party returns to the United States in early February. The stipulation would permit
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the parties to devote resources to settlement rather than to litigation, and is also likely to
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conserve judicial resources.
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FRCP 16(b)(4) allows a court to modify a scheduling order upon a showing of “good
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cause.” According to the Ninth Circuit Court, the “good cause” standard required is primarily
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19 concerned with the diligence taken by the party seeking the extension. Johnson v. Mammoth
th
20 Recreations, Inc, 975 F.2d 604, 609 (9 Cir. 1992). A court may modify the scheduling order

21 should the given deadlines not be reasonably able to be met, despite diligent efforts. Jackson v.
22 Laureate, Inc., 186 F.R.D. 605, 608 (E.D. CA 1999).
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This Stipulated Request to Modify the Pretrial Order is supported by good cause.
The parties hereby respectfully request that this Court modify the Pretrial Order by extending the
expert deposition and dispositive motion deadline by an additional ninety days.
This would result in the following new deadlines:
Expert Deposition Deadline: April 29, 2019.
Dispositive Motion Filing Deadline: April 29, 2019
-3STIPULATED REQUEST TO MODIFY THE PRETRIAL ORDER

1 All other deadlines in the Pretrial Order remain unchanged.
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GASCOU HOPKINS LLP
Dated: January 4, 2019

By: _________/Ronald Hopkins/________
RONALD W. HOPKINS
Attorneys for Plaintiff/Counter-Defendant
ALLIED WORLD INSURANCE COMPANY

Dated: January 4, 2019

PORTER LAW GROUP, INC.

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By: _______/Brittany Rupley Haefe/____
BRITTANY RUPLEY HAEFELE
Attorneys for Defendant/Counter-Claimant
NEW PARADIGM PROPERTY
MANAGEMENT, LLC

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ORDER
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: January 9, 2019

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-4STIPULATED REQUEST TO MODIFY THE PRETRIAL ORDER