Pet Food Express Limited v. Royal Canin USA Inc

Filing 84

STIPULATION AND ORDER: Jury Selection/ Jury Trial reset for 4/26/2011 08:30 AM in Courtroom 15, 18th Floor, San Francisco; Pretrial Conference reset for 4/21/2011 02:30 PM in Courtroom 15, 18th Floor, San Francisco; Signed by Judge Marilyn Hall Patel on 10/28/2010. (awb, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 10/29/2010)

Pet Food Express Limited v. Royal Canin USA Inc

Doc. 84

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IAN C. BALLON (SBN: 141819) KAREN ROSENTHAL (SBN 209419) CINDY HAMILTON (SBN 217951) GREENBERG TRAURIG, LLP 1900 University Avenue, Fifth Floor East Palo Alto, California 94303 Telephone: [phone]; Facsimile: [phone] Email: [e-mail]; [e-mail]; [e-mail] STEVEN M. SCHNEEBAUM (admitted pro hac vice) MICHAEL J. QUARTARONE (admitted pro hac vice) GREENBERG TRAURIG, LLP 2101 l Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037 Telephone: [phone]; Facsimile: [phone] Email: [e-mail]; [e-mail] Attorneys for Defendant/Counter-claimant Royal Canin USA, Inc. JOHN DOUGLAS MOORE (SBN: 095655) HENN, ETZEL & MOORE, INC. 1970 Broadway, Ste. 950 Oakland, CA 94612-2228 Telephone: [phone]; Facsimile: [phone] Email: [e-mail] FRANCIS O. SCARPULLA (SBN: 041059) JUDITH A. ZAHID (SNB: 215418) ZELLE, HOFMANN, VOELBEL & MASON, LLP 44 Montgomery Street, Suite 3400 San Francisco, CA 94104 Telephone: [phone]; Facsimile: [phone] Email: [e-mail]; [e-mail] Attorneys for Plaintiff/Counter-defendant Pet Food Express Ltd. UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA PET FOOD EXPRESS LTD., Plaintiff, v. ROYAL CANIN USA INC., Defendants. AND RELATED COUNTERCLAIM. 1
WDC 372,261,928v1 10-28-10

Case No. C09-01483 MHP (Consolidated with Case No. C09-0704 MHP) JOINT MOTION TO AMEND CASE DEADLINES AND [PROPOSED] ORDER

JOINT MOTION TO AMEND CASE DEADLINES AND [PROPOSED] ORDER
CASE NO. C09-01483

Dockets.Justia.com

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Plaintiff and Counter-defendant Pet Food Express Ltd. and Defendant and Counter-claimant Royal Canin USA Inc., through their respective counsel, hereby submit the parties' Joint Motion to Amend Case Deadlines. BACKGROUND On October 12, 2010, the parties submitted a Joint Motion to Amend the Court's Discovery Schedule to permit Royal Canin USA Inc. ("RC USA") to take the depositions of Michael Levy, Mark Witriol, Terri Witriol, Glen Novotny, and the corporate representative of Pet Food Express Ltd. ("PFE") during the week of November 7, 2010. The Joint Motion was based on RC USA's expressed desire for additional time to consider documents originally requested on August 17, 2010, which had not yet been produced. The Joint Motion stated that neither party anticipated the need for further amendment to the Court's case schedule. The Court granted the Joint Motion on October 19, 2010. However, RC USA now believes that the relief sought was too limited because RC USA's expert wants to consider information RC USA intends to solicit in the depositions now scheduled for the week of November 7, 2010, before issuing his expert report. Under the Court's current case schedule, that expert report is due on November 1, 2010, prior to the depositions of PFE's principals, officers, director, and corporate representative. The parties therefore agree that: (1) fairness requires that the expert-report deadline be extended one additional month; and (2) an extension of the expert-report deadline requires that all other case deadlines be amended as well. After conferring through counsel, the parties agreed to the following suggested changes: Event: Expert Designations & Reports Close of Expert Discovery Dispositive Motions Deadline Oppositions Deadline Replies Deadline Hearing on Dispositive Motions Pretrial Documents Deadline Current Date: November 1, 2010 December 1, 2010 December 13, 2010 January 3, 2011 January 10, 2011 January 24, 2011 February 14, 2011
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Proposed Date: December 1, 2010 January 21, 2011 February 9, 2011 February 28, 2011 March 7, 2011 March 21, 2011 April 11, 2011

JOINT MOTION TO CASE DEADLINES AND [PROPOSED ORDER
CASE NO. C09-01483

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Pretrial Conference Trial

February 24, 2011 March 8, 2011

April 21, 2011 April 26, 2011 at 8:30 a.m. Week of April 25, or as soon thereafter as possible

ARGUMENT The Court should exercise its broad authority to manage this case and extend all of the case deadlines for the same reasons it previously granted the parties' Joint Motion to Amend the Discovery Deadlines: the relief requested results from the parties' attempt to resolve a potential discovery dispute, as mandated by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. That potential dispute was indeed resolved through the meet-and-confer process, but the limited relief sought from the Court left RC USA's expert without access to the discovery materials that RC USA intends to obtain through the deposition process. A minimal delay in the ultimate resolution of the case is justified under these circumstances. Moreover, allowing RC USA's expert an opportunity to consider all relevant evidence before issuing his report would be the only way, in these circumstances, to effectuate the design of the Court's August 23, 2010 scheduling order. The original schedule mandated the completion of all non-expert discovery before the expert reports and designations were due. That can only occur if the expert report and other deadlines are extended as requested. CONCLUSION Accordingly, for the reasons stated above, the parties' joint motion should be granted, and the case schedule amended in a manner as consistent with the proposed dates as the Court's calendar allows.

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10/29/2010

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JOINT MOTION TO CASE DEADLINES AND [PROPOSED ER C ORDER N

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Dated: October 28, 2010.

GREENBERG TRAURIG, LLP

By:

/s/ Karen Rosenthal Ian C. Ballon Karen Rosenthal

Attorneys for Defendant/Counter-claimant Royal Canin USA Inc.

Dated: October 28, 2010.

ZELLE, HOFMANN, VOELBEL & MASON, LLP. By: /s/ Judith A. Zahid Francis O. Scarpulla Judith A. Zahid Attorneys for Plaintiff/Counter-defendant Pet Food Express Ltd.

JOINT MOTION TO CASE DEADLINES AND [PROPOSED ORDER
CASE NO. C09-01483

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 28 By: /s/ Karen Rosenthal Karen Rosenthal Date: October 28, 2010. GREENBERG TRAURIG LLP ATTESTATION CLAUSE I, Karen Rosenthal, am the ECF User whose ID and password are being used to file this JOINT MOTION TO AMEND CASE DEADLINES AND [PROPOSED] ORDER. In compliance with General Order 45, X.B., I hereby attest that Judith A. Zahid, counsel for Plaintiff, has concurred in this filing.

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WDC 372,261,928v1 10-28-10

JOINT MOTION TO AMEND CASE DEADLINES AND [PROPOSED] ORDER
CASE NO. C09-01483

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 28 IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: Honorable Marilyn H. Patel United States District Court Judge [PROPOSED] ORDER

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JOINT MOTION TO CASE DEADLINES AND [PROPOSED ORDER
CASE NO. C09-01483