Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 KATIE ANN BARCELO and Case No.: 3:25-cv-00329-BAS-AHG JUSTIN ROBERTS, 12 ORDER: Plaintiffs, 13 v. (1) GRANTING JOINT MOTION TO 14 EXTEND DISCOVERY DEADLINES, CITY OF SAN DIEGO, et al., 15 and Defendants. 16 (2) ISSUING FIRST AMENDED 17 SCHEDULING ORDER 18 [ECF No. 59] 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Before the Court is the parties’ joint motion to amend the scheduling order. ECF 26 No. 59. The parties seek an order from the Court continuing the deadlines to complete fact 27 and expert discovery, as well as other related case management deadlines, by 28 approximately four months. Id. 1 Parties seeking to continue deadlines in the scheduling order must demonstrate good 2 cause. FED. R. CIV. P. 16(b)(4) (“A schedule may be modified only for good cause and with 3 the judge’s consent”); Chmb.R. at 2 (stating that any request for continuance requires “[a] 4 showing of good cause for the request”). Courts have broad discretion in determining 5 whether there is good cause. See, e.g., Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 6 604, 607 (9th Cir. 1992); Liguori v. Hansen, No. 2:11cv492-GMN-CWH, 2012 WL 7 760747, at *12 (D. Nev. Mar. 6, 2012). “Good cause” is a non-rigorous standard that has 8 been construed broadly across procedural and statutory contexts. Ahanchian v. Xenon 9 Pictures, Inc., 624 F.3d 1253, 1259 (9th Cir. 2010). The good cause standard focuses on 10 the diligence of the party seeking to amend the scheduling order and the reasons for seeking 11 modification. Johnson, 975 F.2d at 609 (“[T]he focus of the inquiry is upon the moving 12 party’s reasons for seeking modification. … If that party was not diligent, the inquiry 13 should end.”). Therefore, “a party demonstrates good cause by acting diligently to meet the 14 original deadlines set forth by the court.” Doe v. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc., No. 15 3;24-cv-217-JLS-AHG, 2025 WL 2881574, at *1–*2 (S.D. Cal. Oct. 9, 2025) (quoting 16 Merck v. Swift Transp. Co., No. 16-cv-1103-PHX-ROS, 2018 WL 4492362, at *2 (D. Ariz. 17 Sept. 19, 2018)). 18 Here, the parties represent to the Court that they need more time to complete 19 discovery. ECF No. 59. The parties explain that, though they have been diligent in pursuing 20 discovery as to the original parties, Plaintiffs have had a difficult time serving other 21 Defendants. ECF No. 59-1 (explaining the timelines of investigation, service, and 22 responses). As such, the parties request an extension of all scheduling order deadlines, 23 since the requested three-month fact discovery extension and four-month expert discovery 24 extensions would impact all other deadlines. ECF No. 59 at 3. 25 The Court appreciates that the parties have been working together and finds good 26 cause to GRANT the joint motion. ECF No. 59. The Court issues the following First 27 Amended Scheduling Order: 28 / / 1 1. Counsel shall refer to the Standing Order for Civil Cases for the Honorable 2 Cynthia Bashant, which is accessible via the Court’s website at www.casd.uscourts.gov. 3 2. Plaintiff(s) (or the party(ies) having the burden of proof on any claim) shall 4 serve on all parties a list of experts whom that party expects to call at trial on or before 5 January 29, 2027. Defendant(s) (or the party(ies) defending any claim, counterclaim, 6 crossclaim, or third party claim) shall serve on all parties a list of experts whom that party 7 expects to call at trial on or before January 29, 2027. On or before February 19, 2027, 8 any party may supplement its designation in response to any other party’s designation, so 9 long as that party has not previously retained an expert to testify on that subject. Expert 10 designations shall include the name, address, and telephone number of each expert, and a 11 reasonable summary of the testimony the expert is expected to provide. The list shall also 12 include the normal rates the expert charges for deposition and trial testimony. 13 The parties must identify any person who may be used at trial to present evidence 14 pursuant to Rules 702, 703 or 705 of the Federal Rules of Evidence. This requirement is 15 not limited to retained experts. 16 Please be advised that failure to comply with this section or any other discovery 17 order of the Court may result in the sanctions provided for in Fed. R. Civ. P. 37, 18 including a prohibition on the introduction of experts or other designated matters in 19 evidence. 20 3. All expert disclosures required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2) shall be served on 21 all parties on or before January 29, 2027. Any contradictory or rebuttal information shall 22 be disclosed on or before February 19, 2027. In addition, Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(e)(1) imposes 23 a duty on the parties to supplement the expert disclosures made pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 24 26(a)(2)(B) by the time that pretrial disclosures are due under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(3) 25 (discussed below). This disclosure requirement applies to all persons retained or specially 26 employed to provide expert testimony, or whose duties as an employee of the party 27 regularly involve the giving of expert testimony. 28 / / 1 Please be advised that failure to comply with this section or any other discovery 2 order of the Court may result in the sanctions provided for in Fed. R. Civ. P. 37, 3 including a prohibition on the introduction of experts or other designated matters in 4 evidence. 5 4. All fact discovery shall be completed by all parties by January 15, 2027. All 6 expert discovery shall be completed by all parties by March 19, 2027. “Completed” means 7 that all discovery requests governed by Rules 30-36 of the Federal Rules of Civil 8 Procedure, and discovery subpoenas under Rule 45, must be propounded sufficiently in 9 advance of the discovery cut-off date so that they may be completed by that date, taking 10 into account the time permitted in the Rules for service, notice, and responses. If any 11 discovery disputes arise, counsel must meet and confer promptly and in good faith in 12 compliance with Local Rule 26.1(a). A failure to comply in this regard will result in a 13 waiver of a party’s discovery issue. Absent an order of the court, no stipulation 14 continuing or altering this requirement will be recognized by the Court. The Court 15 expects counsel to make every effort to resolve all disputes without court intervention 16 through the meet-and-confer process. If the parties reach an impasse on any discovery 17 issue, the movant must email chambers at efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov no later than 18 45 days after the date of service of the written discovery response that is in dispute, seeking 19 a telephonic conference with the Court to discuss the discovery dispute. The email must 20 include: (1) at least three proposed times mutually agreed upon by the parties for the 21 telephonic conference; (2) a neutral statement of the dispute; and (3) one sentence 22 describing (not arguing) each parties’ position. The movant must copy opposing counsel 23 on the email. No discovery motion may be filed until the Court has conducted its pre- 24 motion telephonic conference, unless the movant has obtained leave of Court. All parties 25 are ordered to read and to fully comply with the Chambers Rules of Magistrate Judge 26 Allison H. Goddard, which can be found on the district court website and at: 27 https://www.casd.uscourts.gov/judges/goddard/docs/Goddard%20Civil%20Pretrial%20Pr 28 ocedures.pdf. 1 5. All motions, other than motions to amend or join parties, or motions in limine, 2 shall be filed on or before April 2, 2027. For any motion that will be heard by the 3 Magistrate Judge, the motion will not be heard or calendared unless counsel for the moving 4 party has obtained a motion hearing date from the judge’s law clerk. For any motion heard 5 by Judge Bashant, the motion must have an appropriate hearing date pursuant to Judge 6 Bashant’s Standing Order for Civil Cases. Further, please be advised that Judge Bashant 7 requires the parties to meet and confer at least seven days before most types of motions are 8 filed. Please plan accordingly. Failure of counsel to timely request a motion date or comply 9 with Judge Bashant’s Standing Order may result in the motion not being heard. 10 Any Daubert motions shall be filed along with motions for summary judgment 11 unless no motions for summary judgment will be filed, in which case the parties may file 12 Daubert motions along with motions in limine. 13 Briefs or memoranda in support of or in opposition to any pending motion shall not 14 exceed twenty-five (25) pages in length without leave of the judge who will hear the 15 motion. No reply memorandum shall exceed ten (10) pages without such leave of court. 16 6. Pursuant to Local Rule 7.1.f.3.c, if an opposing party fails to file opposition 17 papers in the time and manner required by Local Rule 7.1.e.2, that failure may 18 constitute a consent to the granting of a motion or other request for ruling by the 19 Court. Accordingly, all parties are ordered to abide by the terms of Local Rule 7.1.e.2 or 20 otherwise face the prospect of any pretrial motion being granted as an unopposed motion 21 pursuant to Local Rule 7.1.f.3.c. 22 7. A Mandatory Settlement Conference shall be conducted on June 23, 2027 at 23 9:30 a.m. before Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard via videoconference. 24 / / 25 / / 26 / / 27 / / 28 / / 1 a. The Court requires the personal attendance of all named parties, party 2 representatives with full1 settlement authority, including claims 3 adjusters for insured defendants, and the primary attorney(s) 4 responsible for the litigation at the conference. 5 b. Plaintiffs must serve on Defendants a written settlement proposal, 6 which must include a specific demand amount, no later than 7 June 2, 2027. The defendants must respond to the plaintiffs in writing 8 with a specific offer amount prior to the Meet and Confer discussion. 9 The parties should not file or otherwise copy the Court on these 10 exchanges. Rather, the parties must include their written settlement 11 proposals in their respective Settlement Conference Statements to the 12 Court. 13 c. Counsel for the parties must meet and confer in person, via 14 videoconference, or by phone no later than June 9, 2027. 15 d. Each party must prepare a Settlement Conference Statement, which will 16 be served on opposing counsel and lodged with the Court no later than 17 June 16, 2027. The Statement must be lodged in .pdf format via email 18 to efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov (not filed). The substance of the 19 Settlement Conference Statement must comply fully with Judge 20 Goddard’s Mandatory Settlement Conference Rules (located on the 21 22 1 The Court reminds the parties that parties and party representatives with full and complete 23 authority to enter into a binding settlement must be present at the MSC. Full authority to 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., 25 Inc. v. Joseph Oat Corp., 871 F.2d 648, 653 (7th Cir. 1989). The person needs to have “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 27 authority is not adequate. Nick v. Morgan’s Foods, Inc., 270 F.3d 590, 595–97 (8th Cir. 2001). A person who needs to call another person who is not present at the MSC before 28 1 court website at 2 https://www.casd.uscourts.gov/Judges/goddard/docs/Goddard%20Ma 3 ndatory%20Settlement%20Conference%20Rules.pdf). 4 e. Each party may also prepare an optional Confidential Settlement Letter 5 for the Court’s review only, to be lodged with the Court no later than 6 June 16, 2027. The Letter must be lodged in .pdf format via email to 7 efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov (not filed). Should a party choose to 8 prepare a Letter, the substance of the Settlement Conference Letter 9 must comply fully with Judge Goddard’s Mandatory Settlement 10 Conference Rules. 11 f. No later than June 16, 2027, each party must submit to the Court via 12 email (not filed) (at efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov) the names, 13 titles, and email addresses of all attendees, as well as a cell phone 14 number for each party’s preferred point of contact. Court staff will then 15 send out the Zoom invitation to all attendees. 16 g. All participants shall display the same level of professionalism during 17 the MSC and be prepared to devote their full attention to the conference 18 as if they were attending in person, i.e., cannot be driving or in a car 19 while speaking to the Court. Because Zoom may quickly deplete the 20 battery of a participant’s device, each participant should ensure that 21 their device is plugged in or that a charging cable is readily available 22 during the video conference. Counsel are advised that although the 23 MSC will take place on Zoom, all participants shall appear and conduct 24 themselves as if it is proceeding in a courtroom, i.e., all participants 25 must dress in appropriate courtroom attire. 26 h. All parties are ordered to read and to fully comply with the 27 Chambers Rules and Mandatory Settlement Conference Rules of 28 Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard. 1 8. The parties must comply with the pretrial disclosure requirements of Fed. R. 2 Civ. P. 26(a)(3) no later than July 23, 2027. Please be advised that failure to comply 3 with this section or any other discovery order of the Court may result in the sanctions 4 provided for in Fed. R. Civ. P. 37, including a prohibition on the introduction of 5 experts or other designated matters in evidence. 6 9. In jury trial cases before the Honorable Cynthia Bashant, neither party is 7 required to file Memoranda of Contentions of Fact and Law pursuant to Civil Local Rule 8 16.1.f.2. 9 10. Counsel shall confer and take the action required by Local Rule 16.1.f.4.a on 10 or before July 30, 2027. 11 11. Counsel for the Plaintiff(s) must provide opposing counsel with the proposed 12 pretrial order for review and approval and take any other action required by Local Rule 13 16.1.f.6.a on or before August 6, 2027. 14 12. The proposed pretrial order shall be lodged with the district judge’s chambers 15 on or before August 13, 2027, and shall be in the form prescribed in Local Rule 16.1.f.6. 16 13. The final Pretrial Conference is scheduled on the calendar of the Honorable 17 Cynthia Bashant for Friday, August 27, 2027 at 11:00 a.m. 18 14. All motions in limine are due no later than September 10, 2027. 19 15. All responses to the motions in limine are due no later than 20 September 24, 2027. 21 16. The parties shall submit the following no later than September 24, 2027: (1) 22 joint proposed jury instructions; (2) proposed verdict form; (3) voir dire questions; (4) 23 statement of the case; and (5) exhibits (in digital format in lieu of physical binders). 24 17. The parties shall exchange final exhibit and witness lists no later than 25 October 18, 2027. 26 18. A hearing for motions in limine is scheduled for Friday, October 15, 2027 at 27 10:30 a.m. before the Honorable Cynthia Bashant. 28 / / 1 19, The trial in this matter shall commence on Monday, October 25, 2027 at 2 a.m. before the Honorable Cynthia Bashant. 3 20. The dates and times set forth herein will not be modified except for good cause 4 shown. 5 21. Plaintiff’s counsel shall serve a copy of this order on all parties that enter this 6 || case hereafter. 7 IT IS SO ORDERED. 8 ||Dated: August 17, 2026 Meer. Xyvolar Honorable Allison H. Goddard 10 United States Magistrate Judge 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28