Sidibe v. Sutter Health

Filing 402

ORDER by Judge Laurel Beeler denying without prejudice 392 Motion to Quash; terminating 401 Stipulation. As set forth in the attached order, the court denies the motion without prejudice and orders the parties to comply with the disp ute procedures in the undersigned's standing order. The parties should first meet and confer and, if they are unable to resolve their dispute, may submit a joint letter brief, in accordance with the court's standing order. (For clarificatio n, for the purposes of third-party subpoenas and discovery disputes, the court's standing order's instructions to "parties" is meant to refer to the participants in a third-party discovery dispute, even if they are not formal parties to the underlying litigation.) The parties' stipulation regarding a briefing schedule for the motion to quash is terminated as moot. (lblc1S, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 8/31/2018)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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San Francisco Division

United States District Court
Northern District of California

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DJENEBA SIDIBE, et al.,

Case No. 12-cv-04854-LB

Plaintiffs,

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v.

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SUTTER HEALTH,
Defendant.

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ORDER DENYING WITHOUT
PREJUDICE NON-PARTY
COMMUNITY HOSPITAL OF THE
MONTEREY PENINSULA’S MOTION
TO QUASH
Re: ECF No. 392, 401

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The court has received non-party Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula’s motion to

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quash defendant Sutter Health’s subpoena1 and the parties’ stipulation and proposed order

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regarding a briefing schedule for the motion.2 The court denies the motion to quash without

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prejudice and orders Sutter Health and Community Hospital to comply with the dispute

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procedures in the undersigned’s standing order.3 The procedures in it require, among other things,

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that if a meet-and-confer by other means does not resolve the parties’ dispute, lead counsel for the

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parties must meet and confer in person (if counsel are local) and then submit a joint letter brief

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Mot. to Quash – ECF No. 392. Citations refer to material in the Electronic Case File (“ECF”);
pinpoint citations are to the ECF-generated page numbers at the top of documents.
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Stipulation – ECF No. 401.

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Standing Order – ECF No. 113-1.

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ORDER – No. 12-cv-04854-LB

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with information about any unresolved disputes. The letter brief must be filed under the Civil

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Events category of “Motions and Related Filings > Motions – General > Discovery Letter Brief.”

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After reviewing the joint letter brief, the court will evaluate whether further proceedings are

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necessary, including any further briefing or argument. The court terminates the stipulation and

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proposed order as moot.

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For clarification, for the purposes of third-party subpoenas and discovery disputes, the court’s
standing order’s instructions to “parties” is meant to refer to the participants in a third-party

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discovery dispute (even if they are not formal parties to the underlying litigation). The court views

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the joint letter brief process as a more efficient process than motion-to-quash briefing for parties to

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(1) talk with each other, see each other’s positions, try to find areas of compromise, and work out

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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disputes amongst themselves, and (2) narrow, sharpen, and focus the issues they cannot resolve

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before they present those issues to the court. See Synopsys, Inc. v. Ubiquiti Networks, Inc., No. 17-

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cv-00561-WHO (LB), 2018 WL 2294281, at *1 (N.D. Cal. May 21, 2018). The court hopes that

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parties (and third parties) approach the process in good faith from that perspective.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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Dated: August 31, 2018
______________________________________
LAUREL BEELER
United States Magistrate Judge

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ORDER – No. 12-cv-04854-LB

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