Fireman's Fund Insurance Co. v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc. et al

Filing 13

ORDER Granting In Part 12 Joint Motion to Continue Early Neutral Evaluation Conference. Case Management Conference remains on calendar. Joint email due by 2/9/2024 at 10:00 AM. Signed by Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard on 2/6/2024. (hmw)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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FIREMAN’S FUND INSURANCE CO.,
Plaintiff,

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v.

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ELECTROLUX HOME PRODUCTS,
INC.,

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Case No.: 3:23-cv-01847-CAB-AHG
ORDER GRANTING IN PART
JOINT MOTION TO CONTINUE
EARLY NEUTRAL EVALUATION
CONFERENCE
[ECF No. 12]

Defendant.

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Before the Court is the parties’ joint motion to continue the Early Neutral Evaluation
Conference (“ENE”), currently scheduled for February 9, 2024. ECF No. 12.

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Parties seeking to continue an ENE must demonstrate good cause. ECF No. 4 at 6

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(“An ENE may be rescheduled only upon a showing of good cause”); Chmb.R. at 2 (stating

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that any request for continuance requires “[a] showing of good cause for the request”); see

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FED. R. CIV. P. 6(b) (“When an act may or must be done within a specified time, the court

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may, for good cause, extend the time”).
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3:23-cv-01847-CAB-AHG

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“Good cause” is a non-rigorous standard that has been construed broadly across

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procedural and statutory contexts. Ahanchian v. Xenon Pictures, Inc., 624 F.3d 1253, 1259

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(9th Cir. 2010). The good cause standard focuses on the diligence of the party seeking to

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extend deadlines and the reasons for seeking the modification. Johnson v. Mammoth

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Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 609 (9th Cir. 1992) (“[T]he focus of the inquiry is upon

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the moving party’s reasons for seeking modification. . . . If that party was not diligent, the

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inquiry should end.”) (internal citation omitted). Therefore, “a party demonstrates good

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cause by acting diligently to meet the original deadlines set forth by the court.” Merck v.

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Swift Transp. Co., No. CV-16-01103-PHX-ROS, 2018 WL 4492362, at *2 (D. Ariz. Sept.

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19, 2018).

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Here, the parties have represented to the Court that Defendant has tendered its

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defense in this matter to the manufacturer, who acknowledged that it manufactured the

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appliance at issue and tendered the claim to its insurance carrier. ECF No. 12 at 2; ECF

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No. 12-1 at 2. The insurance carrier has retained counsel to represent the manufacturer, but

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has not yet been able to assess the merits of Plaintiff’s claims. Id. Plaintiff, Defendant, and

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the manufacturer have agreed to conduct a joint forensic examination of the appliance at

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issue. Id. Thus, because the parties believe that settlement discussions will be more

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meaningful after the forensic examination has been completed, the parties request to

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continue the ENE. ECF No. 12 at 3. The parties expect the forensic examination will be

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completed within 60 days and, therefore, request to continue the ENE by approximately 90

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days. Id.
Despite the joint motion’s shortcomings,1 the Court finds good cause to continue the

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ENE. As such, the parties’ joint motion is GRANTED IN PART as follows:

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//

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Compare Chmb.R. at 2 (requiring that “[a]ll requests for continuances must be made by
a joint motion no less than seven calendar days before the affected date”) (emphasis added)
with ECF No. 12 (filed three days before the ENE).
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3:23-cv-01847-CAB-AHG

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1.

The ENE scheduled for February 9, 2024, is CONTINUED.

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2.

The counsel-only2 Case Management Conference (“CMC”) remains on

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calendar for February 9, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. before the Honorable Allison H. Goddard

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via videoconference.

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3.

The Court agrees that the ENE would likely be more productive after the

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forensic examination is completed. However, beyond conjecture that they “reasonably

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believe” the forensic examination and initial findings would be completed within 60 days,

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the parties have not provided enough specific information for the Court to select an ENE

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date. As such, the Court ORDERS the parties to meet and confer regarding a firm date for

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the forensic examination. The parties must jointly email the Court (not filed) (at

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[e-mail]) with the firm date for the forensic examination no later

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than February 9, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. The parties must also include in their email the length

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of time it will take for the initial findings to be completed, as well as an explanation of

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what it entails to prepare those findings.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: February 6, 2024

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Clients are always welcome to attend, but are not required.
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3:23-cv-01847-CAB-AHG