Amanda M. Templeton and Joseph P. Templeton v. FCA US, LLC
- Proceeding
- district
- Area
- civil
- Panel
- Allison H. Goddard (author)
Analysis
The court considered a joint motion by the parties to continue the Early Neutral Evaluation (ENE) conference from April 14, 2026, to April 28, 2026, due to the plaintiffs' travel schedule. The court granted the motion, finding good cause, and reset the ENE date while maintaining other procedural deadlines.
| What the court decided | The model |
|---|---|
Joint Motion to Continue Early Neutral Evaluation Conference granted“The Court appreciates that the parties have been working together, and finds good cause to GRANT the joint motion as follows:” | agree with court The court applied the 'good cause' standard required by the local rules and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 6(b). The parties provided a specific reason (plaintiffs traveling by air on the original date) and demonstrated diligence by meeting and conferring to find a mutually agreeable new date. This satisfies the requirements for a continuance under the cited authorities. |
The order itself: sound — The order correctly identifies the applicable standard (good cause) and cites appropriate authority (Local Rules, FRCP 6(b), and Ninth Circuit precedent). The factual basis for the decision (plaintiffs' travel conflict and the parties' joint agreement on a new date) is sufficient to support the finding of good cause. The reasoning is concise but legally sufficient for a procedural scheduling order.
Opinion
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 AMANDA M. TEMPLETON AND Case No.: 3:26-cv-00507-CAB-AHG JOSEPH P. TEMPLETON, 12 ORDER GRANTING JOINT Plaintiffs, MOTION TO CONTINUE EARLY 13 NEUTRAL EVALUATION v. 14 CONFERENCE FCA US, LLC, 15 [ECF No. 7] Defendant. 16 17 18 19 Before the Court is the parties’ joint motion to continue the Early Neutral Evaluation 20 Conference (“ENE”) in this matter, which is currently scheduled for April 14, 2026. ECF 21 No. 7. 22 Parties seeking to continue an ENE must demonstrate good cause. Chmb.R. at 2 23 (stating that any request for continuance requires “[a] showing of good cause for the 24 request”); see FED. R. CIV. P. 6(b) (“When an act may or must be done within a specified 25 time, the court may, for good cause, extend the time”). Courts have broad discretion in 26 determining whether there is good cause. See, e.g., Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, Inc., 27 975 F.2d 604, 607 (9th Cir. 1992); Olvera v. Citibank, N.A., No. 25-cv-789-H-AHG, 2025 28 1 || rigorous standard that has been construed broadly across procedural and statutory contexts. 2 || Ahanchian v. Xenon Pictures, Inc., 624 F.3d 1253, 1259 (9th Cir. 2010). The good cause 3 standard focuses on the diligence of the party seeking to amend the scheduling order and 4 || the reasons for seeking modification. Johnson, 975 F.2d at 609 (“[T]he focus of the inquiry 5 |}is upon the moving party’s reasons for seeking modification.... If that party was not 6 || diligent, the inquiry should end.’’). 7 Here, the parties represent to the Court that Plaintiffs “notified their counsel that they 8 || would be enroute via airplane to the United States on April 14, 2026,” and, thus, would be 9 || unable to attend the ENE scheduled on that date. ECF No. 7-1 at 3; ECF No. 7 at 2. The 10 || parties met and conferred, and confirmed that all participants are available for an ENE two 11 || weeks later, on April 28, 2026. /d. As such, the parties filed the instant motion. 12 The Court appreciates that the parties have been working together, and finds good 13 || cause to GRANT the joint motion as follows: 14 1. The ENE scheduled for April 14, 2026, is RESET for April 28, 2026 at 15 p.m. before the Honorable Allison H. Goddard via videoconference. 16 2. All dates, deadlines, procedures, and requirements set forth in the Court’s 17 original Order setting the ENE remain in place (see ECF No. 5 at 1-7), except that the 18 parties’ optional Confidential ENE Statements and mandatory Participant Lists must 19 emailed to efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov by April 20, 2026 (see ECF No. 5 20 4, 6-7). 21 IT IS SO ORDERED. 22 ||Dated: April 1, 2026 _ Siow. Xion Honorable Allison H. Goddard 24 United States Magistrate Judge 25 26 27 28