Nada Pacific Corporation v. Power Engineering and Manufacturing, Ltd., et al

Filing 91

ORDER SETTING CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE. The court ORDERS the parties to meet-and-confer about them and to file a joint case management conference statement no later than 12:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 8, 2014. The court also SETS a Case Management Conference for 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, October 10, 2014 in Courtroom C, 15th Floor, United States District Court, 450 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, California, 94131. The parties are welcome to appear at it through CourtCall, and they may make their own arrangements to do so. Signed by Judge Laurel Beeler on 10/6/2014. (lblc1, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 10/6/2014)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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Northern District of California

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San Francisco Division
NADA PACIFIC CORP,

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For the Northern District of California

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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Plaintiff,
v.

No. C 13-04325 LB
ORDER SETTING CASE
MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE

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POWER ENGINEERING AND
MANUFACTURING, LTD., et al.,

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[Re: ECF Nos. 71, 90]]

Defendant
AND RELATED COUNTER- AND CROSSCLAIMS
_____________________________________/
This action arises from the failure of a microtunnel boring machine (the “boring machine”)

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during a construction project that plaintiff Nada Pacific Corporation (“Nada”) performed for the San

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Francisco Public Utility Commisison (“SFPUC”). In relation to a construction project, Nada

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received a subcontract from SFPUC to construct a subsurface tunnel using a microtunnel boring

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machine. Nada Complaint, ECF No. 6 ¶¶ 7, 14.1 Nada leased the boring machine used on the

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project from Akkerman Inc. (“Akkerman”). Id. ¶ 20. The boring machine contained a gear box that

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was designed and manufactured by Power Engineering & Manufacturing, Ltd. (“PEM”). Id. ¶ 27.

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Besser Company (“Besser”) manufactured an iron casting that PEM used to manufacture the gear

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box. Id. The gear box in the boring machine failed, which, according to Nada, caused the boring

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Citations are to the Electronic Case File (“ECF”) with pin cites to the electronicallygenerated page numbers at the top of the document.
C 13-04325 LB
ORDER

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machine to become immobilized underground. Id. ¶¶ 32-33. A rescue shaft had to be constructed to

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get the boring machine out. Id. ¶¶ 38-39.

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The parties all sued each other. In their case management statement dated August 21, 2014, both

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PEM and Besser stated that they planned on filing summary judgment motions, see 8/21/2014 CMC

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Statement, ECF No. 69 at 2, but only Besser did. See Besser Motion, ECF No. 71. Instead, PEM

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filed a motion asking the court to determine that its settlement with Nada and Akkerman, which

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came as a surprise to the court, was made in good faith. See PEM Motion, ECF No. 73. Besser

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opposed PEM’s motion, and thereafter PEM filed a notice withdrawing its motion because its

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settlement with Nada and Akkerman was rescinded. See Reply, ECF No. 90.

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This raises a few issues. Given that PEM planned on filing a summary judgment motion prior to
the now-rescinded settlement, the court wonders whether PEM still wishes to do so. If it does, it

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For the Northern District of California

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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may be best to hear PEM’s motion at the same time as Besser’s motion. It also may affect the

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current case deadlines. To discuss these issues, the court ORDERS the parties to meet-and-confer

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about them and to file a joint case management conference statement no later than 12:00 p.m. on

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Wednesday, October 8, 2014. The court also SETS a Case Management Conference for 11:00

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a.m. on Thursday, October 10, 2014 in Courtroom C, 15th Floor, United States District Court, 450

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Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, California, 94131. The parties are welcome to appear at it

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through CourtCall, and they may make their own arrangements to do so.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: October 6, 2014
_______________________________
LAUREL BEELER
United States Magistrate Judge

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C 13-04325 LB
ORDER

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