Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 BRANDIE GOODSON, Case No.: 3:26-cv-02199-GPC-AHG 12 Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING JOINT MOTION 13 v. TO STAY DISCOVERY AND GRANTING EXTENSION OF 14 PRESBYTERIAN HEALTHCARE DISCOVERY DEADLINES SERVICES, 15 Defendant. [ECF No. 15] 16 17 18 19 20 Before the Court is the parties’ joint motion to stay discovery. ECF No. 15. The 21 parties seek to stay discovery, as well as extend all other remaining case management 22 deadlines, while they prepare for private mediation. Id. at 2–3. 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 Chmb.R. at 2 (stating that any request for continuance 26 requires “[a] showing of good cause for the request”). Courts have broad discretion in 27 determining whether there is good cause. See, e.g., Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, Inc., 28 975 F.2d 604, 607 (9th Cir. 1992); Liguori v. Hansen, No. 2:11-cv-492-GMN-CWH, 2012 1 WL 760747, at *12 (D. Nev. Mar. 6, 2012). “Good cause” is a non-rigorous standard that 2 has been construed broadly across procedural and statutory contexts. Ahanchian v. Xenon 3 Pictures, Inc., 624 F.3d 1253, 1259 (9th Cir. 2010). The good cause standard focuses on 4 the diligence of the party seeking to amend the scheduling order and the reasons for seeking 5 modification. Johnson, 975 F.2d at 609 (“[T]he focus of the inquiry is upon the moving 6 party’s reasons for seeking modification. … If that party was not diligent, the inquiry 7 should end.”). Therefore, “a party demonstrates good cause by acting diligently to meet the 8 original deadlines set forth by the court.” Doe v. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc., No. 9 3:24-cv-217-JLS-AHG, 2025 WL 2881574, at *1–*2 (S.D. Cal. Oct. 9, 2025) (quoting 10 Merck v. Swift Transp. Co., No. 16-cv-1103-PHX-ROS, 2018 WL 4492362, at *2 (D. Ariz. 11 Sept. 19, 2018)). 12 Here, the parties represent to the Court that they have confirmed a private mediation 13 with Joann Rezzo for November 19, 2026. ECF No. 15 at 2. As such, the parties seek to 14 stay discovery so they can “focus their efforts on resolution of this matter.” Id. The parties 15 request to keep the stay in place until November 30, 2026. Id. 16 The Court appreciates that the parties have been working together. However, the 17 Court does not find good cause to grant a stay. The Court, instead, will extend the discovery 18 deadlines slightly. Should the mediation prove unsuccessful, the parties will have time to 19 complete some discovery, and then they may file another joint motion for continuance that 20 includes the precise discovery still outstanding, so that the Court may make tailored 21 changes to the case schedule if needed. As such, the Court DENIES the parties’ joint 22 motion for a stay, but GRANTS the parties’ request for an extension of deadlines. The 23 Court orders as follows: 24 1. The Settlement Conference scheduled for December 16, 2026, is VACATED. 25 2. The Court SETS a Status Conference for October 30, 2026 at 1:30 p.m. 26 before the Honorable Allison H. Goddard via videoconference. 27 a. By October 23, 2026, the parties must submit a joint update to the Court 28 via email (not filed) (to efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov) regarding 1 whether they have shared the necessary information for the 2 November 19, 2026, private mediation. 3 b. If the parties have shared the necessary information and no disputes have 4 arisen, the Status Conference may be vacated. 5 c. Court staff will provide the Zoom invitation to counsel of record ahead of 6 the Status Conference. 7 d. All participants shall display the same level of professionalism during the 8 Status Conference and be prepared to devote their full attention to the 9 conference as if they were attending in person, i.e., cannot be driving or in 10 a car while speaking to the Court. Because Zoom may quickly deplete the 11 battery of a participant’s device, each participant should ensure that their 12 device is plugged in or that a charging cable is readily available during the 13 video conference. 14 e. Counsel are advised that although the Status Conference will take place on 15 Zoom, all participants shall appear and conduct themselves as if it is 16 proceeding in a courtroom, i.e., all participants must dress in appropriate 17 courtroom attire. 18 3. By November 30, 2026, the parties must lodge via email (not filed) (to 19 efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov) one of the following: 20 a. If the parties reached a settlement during the private mediation, the 21 parties must lodge a Joint Status Report confirming the settlement and 22 summarizing a settlement timeline (e.g., a proposed joint motion to dismiss 23 deadline). 24 b. If the parties did not reach a settlement during the private mediation, 25 each party must separately lodge a Confidential Status Report 26 summarizing why the case did not settle. 27 c. If the outcome of the private mediation is unknown (e.g., due to a 28 mediator’s proposal under consideration), the parties must lodge a Joint 1 Status Report with the date by which the parties will know the outcome of 2 the private mediation 3 4. All fact discovery shall be completed by all parties by January 25, 2027. 4 “Completed” means that all discovery under Rules 30-36 of the Federal Rules of Civil 5 Procedure, and discovery subpoenas under Rule 45, must be initiated a sufficient period of 6 time in advance of the cut-off date, so that it may be completed by the cut-off date, taking 7 into account the times for service, notice and response as set forth in the Federal Rules of 8 Civil Procedure. If any discovery disputes arise, counsel must meet and confer promptly 9 and in good faith in compliance with Local Rule 26.1(a). A failure to comply in this 10 regard will result in a waiver of a party’s discovery issue. Absent an order of the 11 court, no stipulation continuing or altering this requirement will be recognized by the 12 Court. The Court expects counsel to make every effort to resolve all disputes without court 13 intervention through the meet-and-confer process. If the parties reach an impasse on any 14 discovery issue, the movant must email chambers at efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov no 15 later than 45 days after the date of service of the written discovery response that is in 16 dispute, seeking a telephonic conference with the Court to discuss the discovery dispute. 17 The email must include: (1) at least three proposed times mutually agreed upon by the 18 parties for the telephonic conference; (2) a neutral statement of the dispute; and (3) one 19 sentence describing (not arguing) each parties’ position. The movant must copy opposing 20 counsel on the email. No discovery motion may be filed until the Court has conducted its 21 pre-motion telephonic conference, unless the movant has obtained leave of Court. All 22 parties are ordered to read and to fully comply with the Chambers Rules of 23 Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard, which can be found on the district court website 24 and at: 25 https://www.casd.uscourts.gov/judges/goddard/docs/Goddard%20Civil%20Pretrial%20Pr 26 ocedures.pdf. 27 5. The parties shall designate their respective experts in writing by 28 February 25, 2027. Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2)(A), the parties must identify any 1 || person who may be used at trial to present evidence pursuant to Rules 702, 703 or 705 of 2 || the Fed. R. Evid. This requirement is not limited to retained experts. The date for exchange 3 || of rebuttal experts shall be by March 25, 2027. The written designations shall include the 4 ||name, address and telephone number of the expert and a reasonable summary of the 5 || testimony the expert is expected to provide. The list shall also include the normal rates the 6 || expert charges for deposition and trial testimony. 7 6. By February 25, 2027, each party shall comply with the disclosure provisions 8 |}in Rule 26(a)(2)(A) and (B) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. This disclosure 9 ||requirement applies to all persons retained or specially employed to provide expert 10 |/testimony, or whose duties as an employee of the party regularly involve the giving of 11 |/expert testimony. Except as provided in the paragraph below, any party that fails to 12 ||make these disclosures shall not, absent substantial justification, be permitted to use 13 || evidence or testimony not disclosed at any hearing or at the time of trial. In addition, 14 Court may impose sanctions as permitted by Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(c). 15 7. Any party shall supplement its disclosure regarding contradictory or rebuttal 16 || evidence under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2)(D) and 26(e) by March 25, 2027. 17 8. All expert discovery shall be completed by all parties by April 26, 2027. The 18 || parties shall comply with the same procedures set forth in the paragraph governing fact 19 discovery. Failure to comply with this section or any other discovery order of the court 20 result in the sanctions provided for in Fed. R. Civ. P. 37, including a prohibition on 21 || the introduction of experts or other designated matters in evidence. 22 9. All other deadlines set forth in the Court’s Scheduling Order (ECF No. 14), 23 ||remain unchanged, including the May 14, 2027, deadline for filing dispositive motions, 24 July 19, 2027, Mandatory Settlement Conference, and the October 1, 2027, pretrial 25 || conference. 26 IT IS SO ORDERED. 27 Dated: September 26, 2026 Mp Moe tt. J olan yh 22 Honorable Allison H. Goddard United States Magistrate Judge