Certified Nutraceuticals Inc. v. The Clorox Company et al

Filing 138

ORDER Granting Joint Motion to Amend Scheduling Order to Continue Pretrial Dates (Doc. No. 137 ). The Court vacates the deadline to lodge the proposed pretrial order and the Final Pretrial Conference. Signed by Magistrate Judge Karen S. Crawford on 10/15/2020. (jdt)

Case 3:18-cv-00744-W-KSC Document 138 Filed 10/15/20 PageID.3874 Page 1 of 3

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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CERTIFIED NUTRACEUTICALS, INC.,
a California Corporation,

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ORDER GRANTING JOINT
MOTION TO AMEND
SCHEDULING ORDER TO
CONTINUE PRETRIAL DATES
[Doc. No. 137]

Plaintiff,

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Case No.: 3:18-cv-00744-W-KSC

v.
THE CLOROX COMPANY, a Delaware
Corporation, et al.,
Defendants.

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Before the Court is the parties’ Joint Motion to Amend Scheduling Order to

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Continue Pretrial Dates (the “Joint Motion” or “Jt. Mot.”). Doc. No. 137. The parties

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jointly request that the remaining pretrial dates set forth in the Court’s November 26,

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2019 Scheduling Order Regulating Discovery and Other Pretrial Proceedings (Doc. No.

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61) be continued until after the District Court has ruled upon defendants’ currently-

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pending Motions for Summary Judgment. Jt. Mot. at 3. For the reasons that follow, and

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good cause appearing, the Court GRANTS the parties’ Joint Motion.

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It is an appropriate exercise of this Court’s discretion to grant a stay or continuance

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“when it serves the interests of judicial economy and efficiency.” Rivers v. Walt Disney

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Co., 980 F. Supp. 1358, 1360 (C.D. Cal. 1997); see also Single Chip Sys. Corp. v.

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Intermec IP Corp., 495 F. Supp. 2d 1052, 1057 (S.D. Cal. 2007) (noting Court’s authority
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3:18-cv-00744-W-KSC

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to control its docket for the “economy of time and effort for itself, for counsel, and for

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litigants”) (citation omitted).

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Here, all defendants have moved for summary judgment, and those motions are set

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for hearing on October 19, 2020. Jt. Mot. at 3. Pursuant to the Scheduling Order

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currently in place, the parties will be required to make their initial pretrial disclosures by

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November 2, 2020 – just two weeks after the hearing. Id.; see also Doc. No. 61 at 4. The

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pretrial conference is scheduled approximately a month later, on December 9, 2020.

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Doc. No. 61 at 5. As the parties explain, this schedule “creates the clear potential for

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unnecessary work by the parties and the Court if [d]efendants’ motions are granted in

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whole or in part.” Jt. Mot. at 3. The parties have met and conferred, and all are amenable

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to continuing the remaining deadlines – all of which relate to trial preparation – until after

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a ruling on the summary-judgment motions is issued. Jt. Mot. at 2, 3. Thus, no party will

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be unfairly prejudiced by this continuance. See Single Chip Systems, 495 F. Supp. 2d at

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1057 (noting that the Court should consider prejudice to any party when determining

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whether to stay proceedings).

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Accordingly, the Court finds there is good cause to grant the requested
continuance. The following pretrial dates are hereby VACATED:
November 2, 2020: Deadline to comply with pretrial disclosure
requirements under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(3);
November 9, 2020: Deadline to meet and take the action required under
Local Rule 16.1(f)(4);
November 16, 2020: Deadline for plaintiff to provide a proposed pretrial
order to defendants;
November 23, 2020: Deadline to lodge the proposed pretrial order,
including any objections thereto;
December 9, 2020: Deadline to submit informal letter briefs to the
Honorable Thomas J. Whelan; and
December 14, 2020: Final Pretrial Conference.
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Case 3:18-cv-00744-W-KSC Document 138 Filed 10/15/20 PageID.3876 Page 3 of 3

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Counsel for all parties shall jointly contact the chambers of the Honorable Thomas

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J. Whelan within three (3) business days of a ruling on the pending Motions for

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Summary Judgment (Doc. Nos. 117, 120), at which time the foregoing pretrial deadlines

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will be reset if necessary.

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ORDER
For the reasons set forth above, the parties’ Joint Motion to Amend Scheduling

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Order to Continue Pretrial Dates (Doc. No. 137) is GRANTED.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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Dated: October 15, 2020

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