Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 TRAVIS ELLIS, Case No.: 3:24-cv-00713-TWR-AHG 12 Plaintiff, ORDER: 13 v. (1) GRANTING JOINT MOTION TO 14 ROBERTO ARIAS, et al., EXTEND EXPERT DISCOVERY 15 Defendants. DEADLINES, and 16 (2) ISSUING FIRST AMENDED 17 SCHEDULING ORDER 18 [ECF No. 24] 19 20 Before the Court is the parties’ joint motion to modify the scheduling order. ECF 21 No. 24. The parties seek an approximate 28-day continuance of expert discovery deadlines, 22 as well as the remaining case management deadlines. Id. 23 Parties seeking to continue deadlines in the scheduling order must demonstrate good 24 cause. FED. R. CIV. P. 16(b)(4) (“A schedule may be modified only for good cause and with 25 the judge’s consent”); see also ECF No. 20 at 7 (Scheduling Order, stating that “[t]he dates 26 [] set forth herein will not be modified except for good cause shown”); Chmb.R. at 2 27 (stating that any request for continuance requires “[a] showing of good cause for the 28 request”). 1 Courts have broad discretion in determining whether there is good cause. See, e.g., 2 Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 607 (9th Cir. 1992); Liguori v. 3 Hansen, No. 2:11cv492-GMN-CWH, 2012 WL 760747, at *12 (D. Nev. Mar. 6, 2012). 4 “Good cause” is a non-rigorous standard that has been construed broadly across procedural 5 and statutory contexts. Ahanchian v. Xenon Pictures, Inc., 624 F.3d 1253, 1259 (9th Cir. 6 2010). The good cause standard focuses on the diligence of the party seeking to amend the 7 scheduling order and the reasons for seeking modification. Johnson, 975 F.2d at 609 8 (“[T]he focus of the inquiry is upon the moving party’s reasons for seeking modification. 9 … If that party was not diligent, the inquiry should end.”). Therefore, “a party demonstrates 10 good cause by acting diligently to meet the original deadlines set forth by the court.” Doe 11 v. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc., No. 3:24-cv-217-JLS-AHG, 2025 WL 2881574, at 12 *1–*2 (S.D. Cal. Oct. 9, 2025) (quoting Merck v. Swift Transp. Co., No. 16-cv-1103-PHX- 13 ROS, 2018 WL 4492362, at *2 (D. Ariz. Sept. 19, 2018)). 14 Rebuttal expert designation and disclosures are due on March 6, 2026. ECF No. 22 15 at 4. The parties represent to the Court that Defendants’ rebuttal expert witness, Tony Diaz, 16 has requested additional time to complete his report. ECF No. 21 at 2. Mr. Diaz represented 17 to counsel that he has several conflicting deadlines and reiterated the need for additional 18 time. Id. at 2, 7. As such, the parties seek a 28-day extension of the rebuttal expert 19 deadlines, which would necessitate the need to extend the remaining deadlines set forth in 20 the Court’s scheduling order. Id. at 3–4. 21 The Court appreciates that the parties have been working together, and that they 22 made diligent efforts to comply with the undersigned’s Chambers Rules. Upon due 23 consideration, the Court finds good cause to GRANT the joint motion. ECF No. 24. The 24 Court issues the following First Amended Scheduling Order: 25 1. The date for exchange of rebuttal experts shall be by April 3, 2026. The 26 written designations shall include the name, address, and telephone number of the expert 27 and a reasonable summary of the testimony the expert is expected to provide. The list shall 28 also include the normal rates the expert charges for deposition and trial testimony. 1 2. Any Party shall supplement its disclosure regarding contradictory or rebuttal 2 evidence under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(2)(D) by April 3, 2026. 3 3. All expert discovery shall be completed by all Parties by May 1, 2026. The 4 Parties shall comply with the same procedures set forth in the paragraph governing fact 5 discovery. See ECF No. 20 at ¶ 2. 6 4. Failure to comply with this section or any other discovery Order of the Court 7 may result in the sanctions provided for in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37, including a 8 prohibition on the introduction of experts or other designated matters in evidence. 9 5. All other pretrial motions must be filed by May 29, 2026. Counsel for the 10 moving Party must obtain a motion hearing date from the law clerk of the Judge who will 11 hear the motion. The period of time between the date you request a motion date and the 12 hearing date may vary from one District Judge to another. Please plan accordingly. Failure 13 to make a timely request for a motion date may result in the motion not being heard. 14 Motions in limine are to be filed as directed in the Civil Local Rules or as otherwise set by 15 the District Judge. 16 6. A Mandatory Settlement Conference shall be conducted on August 7, 2026 17 at 9:30 a.m. before Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard via videoconference. 18 a. The Court requires the personal attendance of all named parties, party 19 representatives with full1 settlement authority, including claims adjusters 20 21 22 1 The Court reminds the parties that parties and party representatives with full and complete authority to enter into a binding settlement must be present at the MSC. Full authority to 23 settle means that a person must be authorized to fully explore settlement options and to 24 agree at that time to any settlement terms acceptable to the parties. Heileman Brewing Co., Inc. v. Joseph Oat Corp., 871 F.2d 648, 653 (7th Cir. 1989). The person needs to have 25 “unfettered discretion and authority” to change the settlement position of a party. Pitman 26 v. Brinker Int’l, Inc., 216 F.R.D. 481, 485–86 (D. Ariz. 2003). Limited or sum certain authority is not adequate. Nick v. Morgan’s Foods, Inc., 270 F.3d 590, 595–97 (8th Cir. 27 2001). A person who needs to call another person who is not present at the MSC before 28 agreeing to any settlement does not have full authority. 1 for insured defendants, and the primary attorney(s) responsible for the 2 litigation at the conference. 3 b. Plaintiff must serve on Defendant a written settlement proposal, which 4 must include a specific demand amount, no later than July 16, 2026. The 5 defendant must respond to the plaintiff in writing with a specific offer 6 amount prior to the Meet and Confer discussion. The parties should not 7 file or otherwise copy the Court on these exchanges. Rather, the parties 8 must include their written settlement proposals in their respective 9 Settlement Conference Statements to the Court. 10 c. Counsel for the parties must meet and confer in person, via 11 videoconference, or by phone no later than July 23, 2026. 12 d. Each party must prepare a Settlement Conference Statement, which will 13 be served on opposing counsel and lodged with the Court no later than 14 July 30, 2026. The Statement must be lodged in .pdf format via email to 15 efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov (not filed). The substance of the 16 Settlement Conference Statement must comply fully with Judge Goddard’s 17 Mandatory Settlement Conference Rules (located on the court website at 18 https://www.casd.uscourts.gov/Judges/goddard/docs/Goddard%20Manda 19 tory%20Settlement%20Conference%20Rules.pdf). 20 e. Each party may also prepare an optional Confidential Settlement Letter 21 for the Court’s review only, to be lodged with the Court no later than 22 July 30, 2026. The Letter must be lodged in .pdf format via email to 23 efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov (not filed). Should a party choose to 24 prepare a Letter, the substance of the Settlement Conference Letter must 25 comply fully with Judge Goddard’s Mandatory Settlement Conference 26 Rules. 27 f. No later than July 30, 2026, each party must submit to the Court via email 28 (not filed) (at efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov) the names, titles, and 1 email addresses of all attendees, as well as a cell phone number for each 2 party’s preferred point of contact. Court staff will then send out the Zoom 3 invitation to all attendees. 4 g. All participants shall display the same level of professionalism during the 5 Settlement Conference and be prepared to devote their full attention to the 6 Settlement Conference as if they were attending in person, i.e., cannot be 7 driving or in a car while speaking to the Court. Because Zoom may quickly 8 deplete the battery of a participant’s device, each participant should ensure 9 that their device is plugged in or that a charging cable is readily available 10 during the video conference. Counsel are advised that although the 11 Settlement Conference will take place on Zoom, all participants shall 12 appear and conduct themselves as if it is proceeding in a courtroom, i.e., 13 all participants must dress in appropriate courtroom attire. 14 h. All parties are ordered to read and to fully comply with the Chambers 15 Rules and Mandatory Settlement Conference Rules of Magistrate 16 Judge Allison H. Goddard. 17 7. Counsel shall file their Memoranda of Contentions of Fact and Law and take 18 any other action required by Civil Local Rule 16.1(f)(2) by September 24, 2026. 19 8. Counsel shall comply with the pretrial disclosure requirements of Federal 20 Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(3) by September 24, 2026. Failure to comply with these 21 disclosure requirements could result in evidence preclusion or other sanctions under 22 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37. 23 9. Counsel shall meet and take the action required by Local Rule 16.1(f)(4) by 24 October 1, 2026. At this meeting, counsel shall discuss and attempt to enter into 25 stipulations and agreements resulting in the simplification of triable issues. Counsel shall 26 exchange copies and/or display all exhibits other than those to be used for impeachment. 27 The exhibits shall be prepared in accordance with Civil Local Rule 16.1(f)(4)(c). Counsel 28 shall note any objections they have to any other Party’s Pretrial Disclosures under Federal 1 Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(3). Counsel shall cooperate in the preparation of the 2 Proposed Pretrial Conference Order. 3 10. Counsel for Plaintiff will be responsible for preparing the Proposed Pretrial 4 Order and arranging the meetings of counsel pursuant to Civil Local Rule 16.1(f). By 5 October 8, 2026, Plaintiff’s counsel must provide opposing counsel with the Proposed 6 Pretrial Order for review and approval. Opposing counsel must communicate promptly 7 with Plaintiff’s attorney concerning any objections to form or content of the Proposed 8 Pretrial Order, and both Parties shall attempt promptly to resolve their differences, if any, 9 concerning the Proposed Pretrial Order. 10 11. The Proposed Final Pretrial Conference Order, including objections to any 11 other Party’s Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(3) Pretrial Disclosures shall be 12 prepared, served, and lodged with the assigned District Judge by October 15, 2026, and 13 shall be in the form prescribed by and comply with Civil Local Rule 16.1(f)(6). 14 12. The final Pretrial Conference is scheduled on the calendar of the Honorable 15 Todd W. Robinson on October 22, 2026 at 1:30 p.m. 16 13. The Parties must review the Chambers’ Rules for the assigned District Judge 17 and Magistrate Judge. 18 14. A post-trial settlement conference before a Magistrate Judge may be held 19 within thirty (30) days of verdict in the case. 20 15. The dates and times set forth herein will not be modified except for good cause 21 shown. 22 16. Briefs or memoranda in support of or in opposition to any pending motion 23 shall not exceed twenty-five (25) pages in length without leave of a District Judge. No 24 reply memorandum shall exceed ten (10) pages without leave of a District Judge. Briefs 25 and memoranda exceeding ten (10) pages in length shall have a table of contents and a 26 table of authorities cited. 27 / / 28 / / 1 17. Plaintiff's counsel shall serve a copy of this Order on all Parties that enter this 2 || case hereafter. 3 IT IS SO ORDERED. 4 || Dated: March 3, 2026 Honorable Allison H. Goddard 6 United States Magistrate Judge 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28