Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 VINCENT CIARDULLO, Case No.: 3:24-cv-02091-BJC-AHG 12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING IN PART 13 v. JOINT MOTION TO EXTEND DISCOVERY DEADLINES 14 COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO, et al., 15 Defendants. [ECF No. 79] 16 17 18 19 20 21 Before the Court is the parties’ joint motion to modify the scheduling order. ECF 22 No. 79. The parties seek a 45-day continuance of the October 8, 2026, settlement 23 conference and the fact discovery deadline, as well as all other remaining case management 24 deadlines. Id. at 3–4. 25 Parties seeking to continue deadlines in the scheduling order must demonstrate good 26 cause. FED. R. CIV. P. 16(b)(4) (“A schedule may be modified only for good cause and with 27 the judge’s consent”); see also Chmb.R. at 2 (stating that any request for continuance 28 requires “[a] showing of good cause for the request”). Courts have broad discretion in 1 determining whether there is good cause. See, e.g., Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, Inc., 2 975 F.2d 604, 607 (9th Cir. 1992); Liguori v. Hansen, No. 2:11-cv-492-GMN-CWH, 2012 3 WL 760747, at *12 (D. Nev. Mar. 6, 2012). “Good cause” is a non-rigorous standard that 4 has been construed broadly across procedural and statutory contexts. Ahanchian v. Xenon 5 Pictures, Inc., 624 F.3d 1253, 1259 (9th Cir. 2010). The good cause standard focuses on 6 the diligence of the party seeking to amend the scheduling order and the reasons for seeking 7 modification. Johnson, 975 F.2d at 609 (“[T]he focus of the inquiry is upon the moving 8 party’s reasons for seeking modification. … If that party was not diligent, the inquiry 9 should end.”). Therefore, “a party demonstrates good cause by acting diligently to meet the 10 original deadlines set forth by the court.” Doe v. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc., No. 11 3:24-cv-217-JLS-AHG, 2025 WL 2881574, at *1–*2 (S.D. Cal. Oct. 9, 2025) (quoting 12 Merck v. Swift Transp. Co., No. 16-cv-1103-PHX-ROS, 2018 WL 4492362, at *2 (D. Ariz. 13 Sept. 19, 2018)). 14 Here, the parties represent to the Court that, despite their diligent efforts, they are 15 still awaiting medical and billing records from various outside providers. ECF No. 79 at 2. 16 Specifically, Defendants submitted the requests months ago and have received billing 17 records from the University of San Diego, but are still waiting responses from Tri-City 18 Medical Center and Temecula Valley Hospital. Id. The parties explain that they are unable 19 to fully evaluate Plaintiff’s claims due to this delay. Id. The parties worked together to 20 reach a solution, whereas Plaintiff will share his medical records while waiting for the 21 outside providers’ responses, so the case can move forward. Id. As such, the parties seek a 22 45-day continuance of the upcoming settlement conference and fact discovery deadline, as 23 well as all other deadlines in the scheduling order. Id. at 3–4. 24 The Court appreciates that the parties have been working together, and finds good 25 cause to GRANT the motion as follows: 26 1. An in-person Settlement Conference is SET for December 10, 2026 at 27 1:30 p.m. before the Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard on the fifth floor of the 28 Edward J. Schwartz U.S. Courthouse, 221 West Broadway, San Diego, California 92101. 1 a. The Court requires the personal, in-person attendance of all named 2 parties,1 party representatives with full2 settlement authority, including 3 claims adjusters for insured defendants, and the primary attorney(s) 4 responsible for the litigation at the conference. 5 b. Plaintiff must serve on Defendants a written settlement proposal, 6 which must include a specific demand amount, no later than 7 November 18, 2026. The defendants must respond to the plaintiff in 8 writing with a specific offer amount prior to the Meet and Confer 9 discussion. The parties should not file or otherwise copy the Court on 10 these exchanges. Rather, the parties must include their written 11 settlement proposals in their respective Settlement Conference 12 Statements to the Court. 13 c. Counsel for the parties must meet and confer in person, via 14 videoconference, or by phone no later than November 25, 2026. 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 December 2, 2026. The Statement must be lodged in .pdf format via 18 19 1 Upon due consideration, Stacy Thompson, Kelly Martinez, William Gore, 20 Serina Rognlien-Hood, and Jon Montgomery are EXCUSED from the Settlement 21 Conference. 22 2 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 email to efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov (not filed). The substance of 2 the Settlement Conference Statement must comply fully with Judge 3 Goddard’s Mandatory Settlement Conference Rules (located on the 4 court website at 5 https://www.casd.uscourts.gov/Judges/goddard/docs/Goddard%20Ma 6 ndatory%20Settlement%20Conference%20Rules.pdf). 7 e. Each party may also prepare an optional Confidential Settlement Letter 8 for the Court’s review only, to be lodged with the Court no later than 9 December 2, 2026. The Letter must be lodged in .pdf format via email 10 to efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov (not filed). Should a party choose 11 to prepare a Letter, the substance of the Settlement Conference Letter 12 must comply fully with Judge Goddard’s Mandatory Settlement 13 Conference Rules. 14 f. No later than December 2, 2026, each party must submit to the Court 15 via email (not filed) (at efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov) the names, 16 titles, and email addresses of all attendees. Court staff will then email 17 all participants detailed instructions regarding the location of the 18 Court’s conference rooms. 19 g. All parties are ordered to read and to fully comply with the Chambers 20 Rules and Mandatory Settlement Conference Rules of Magistrate Judge 21 Allison H. Goddard. 22 2. All fact discovery shall be completed by all parties by January 7, 2027. 23 “Completed” means that all discovery under Rules 30-36 of the Federal Rules of Civil 24 Procedure, and discovery subpoenas under Rule 45, must be initiated a sufficient period of 25 time in advance of the cut-off date, so that it may be completed by the cut-off date, taking 26 into account the times for service, notice and response as set forth in the Federal Rules of 27 Civil Procedure. Counsel shall promptly and in good faith meet and confer with regard 28 to all discovery disputes in compliance with Local Rule 26.1(a). A failure to comply 1 in this regard will result in a waiver of a party’s discovery issue. Absent an order of 2 the court, no stipulation continuing or altering this requirement will be recognized by 3 the court. The Court expects counsel to make every effort to resolve all disputes without 4 court intervention through the meet and confer process. If the parties reach an impasse on 5 any discovery issue, the movant must e-mail chambers at 6 efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov no later than 45 days after the date of service of the 7 written discovery response that is in dispute, seeking a telephonic conference with the 8 Court to discuss the discovery dispute. The email must include: (1) at least three proposed 9 times mutually agreed upon by the parties for the telephonic conference; (2) a neutral 10 statement of the dispute; and (3) one sentence describing (not arguing) each party’s 11 position. The movant must copy opposing counsel on the email. No discovery motion may 12 be filed until the Court has conducted its pre-motion telephonic conference, unless the 13 movant has obtained leave of Court. All parties are ordered to read and to fully comply 14 with the Chambers Rules of Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard, which can be found 15 on the district court website and at: 16 https://www.casd.uscourts.gov/judges/goddard/docs/Goddard%20Civil%20Pretrial%20Pr 17 ocedures.pdf. 18 3. The parties shall designate their respective experts in writing by 19 February 5, 2027. The parties must identify any person who may be used at trial to present 20 evidence pursuant to Federal Rules of Evidence 702, 703 or 705. This requirement is not 21 limited to retained experts. The date for designation of rebuttal experts shall be 22 March 11, 2027. The written designations shall include the name, address and telephone 23 number of the expert and a reasonable summary of the testimony the expert is expected to 24 provide. The list shall also include the normal rates the expert charges for deposition and 25 trial testimony. 26 4. All expert disclosures required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2) shall be served on 27 all parties on or before February 5, 2027. Any contradictory or rebuttal information shall 28 be disclosed on or before March 11, 2027. In addition, Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(e)(1) imposes a 1 duty on the parties to supplement the expert disclosures made pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 2 26(a)(2)(B) by the time that pretrial disclosures are due under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(3) 3 (discussed below). This disclosure requirement applies to all persons retained or specially 4 employed to provide expert testimony, or whose duties as an employee of the party 5 regularly involve the giving of expert testimony. 6 5. All expert discovery shall be completed by April 15, 2027. The parties shall 7 comply with the same procedures set forth in Paragraph 2 concerning fact discovery. 8 6. All motions, other than motions in limine and Daubert motions shall be filed 9 on or before May 17, 2027. Counsel for the moving party shall set the motion date 35 days 10 from the date the motion is filed. Parties intending to file a motion shall not contact Judge 11 Cheeks’ chambers for a hearing date. The parties shall review Judge Cheeks’ chambers 12 rules for civil cases for the additional requirements for noticed motions before Judge 13 Cheeks. 14 Any Daubert motions shall be filed along with motions for summary judgment 15 unless no motions for summary judgment will be filed, in which case the parties may file 16 Daubert motions along with motions in limine. 17 7. A Mandatory Settlement Conference shall be conducted on July 16, 2027 at 18 1:30 p.m. before Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard via videoconference. 19 a. The Court requires the personal attendance of all named parties,3 party 20 representatives with full4 settlement authority, including claims 21 22 3 Upon due consideration, Stacy Thompson, Kelly Martinez, William Gore, 23 Serina Rognlien-Hood, and Jon Montgomery are EXCUSED from the Mandatory Settlement Conference. 24 25 4 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 26 settle means that a person must be authorized to fully explore settlement options and to 27 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 28 1 adjusters for insured defendants, and the primary attorney(s) 2 responsible for the litigation at the conference. 3 b. Plaintiff must serve on Defendants a written settlement proposal, 4 which must include a specific demand amount, no later than 5 June 25, 2027. The defendants must respond to the plaintiff in writing 6 with a specific offer amount prior to the Meet and Confer discussion. 7 The parties should not file or otherwise copy the Court on these 8 exchanges. Rather, the parties must include their written settlement 9 proposals in their respective Settlement Conference Statements to the 10 Court. 11 c. Counsel for the parties must meet and confer in person, via 12 videoconference, or by phone no later than July 2, 2027. 13 d. Each party must prepare a Settlement Conference Statement, which will 14 be served on opposing counsel and lodged with the Court no later than 15 July 9, 2027. The Statement must be lodged in .pdf format via email to 16 efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov (not filed). The substance of the 17 Settlement Conference Statement must comply fully with Judge 18 Goddard’s Mandatory Settlement Conference Rules (located on the 19 court website at 20 https://www.casd.uscourts.gov/Judges/goddard/docs/Goddard%20Ma 21 ndatory%20Settlement%20Conference%20Rules.pdf). 22 e. Each party may also prepare an optional Confidential Settlement Letter 23 for the Court’s review only, to be lodged with the Court no later than 24 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 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 July 9, 2027. The Letter must be lodged in .pdf format via email to 2 efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov (not filed). Should a party choose to 3 prepare a Letter, the substance of the Settlement Conference Letter 4 must comply fully with Judge Goddard’s Mandatory Settlement 5 Conference Rules. 6 f. No later than July 9, 2027, each party must submit to the Court via 7 email (not filed) (at efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov) the names, 8 titles, and email addresses of all attendees, as well as a cell phone 9 number for each party’s preferred point of contact. Court staff will then 10 send out the Zoom invitation to all attendees. 11 g. All participants shall display the same level of professionalism during 12 the Settlement Conference and be prepared to devote their full attention 13 to the Settlement Conference as if they were attending in person, i.e., 14 cannot be driving or in a car while speaking to the Court. Because Zoom 15 may quickly deplete the battery of a participant’s device, each 16 participant should ensure that their device is plugged in or that a 17 charging cable is readily available during the video conference. 18 Counsel are advised that although the Settlement Conference will take 19 place on Zoom, all participants shall appear and conduct themselves as 20 if it is proceeding in a courtroom, i.e., all participants must dress in 21 appropriate courtroom attire. 22 h. All parties are ordered to read and to fully comply with the 23 Chambers Rules and Mandatory Settlement Conference Rules of 24 Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard. 25 8. All other dates and deadlines set forth in the Court’s Scheduling Order (ECF 26 No. 76) remain unchanged, except as explicitly modified in this Order. The Court repeats 27 them below for the parties’ convenience: 28 a. Counsel shall file their Memoranda of Contentions of Fact and Law and 1 take any other action required by Civil Local Rule 16.1f(2) by 2 August 19, 2027. 3 b. The parties must comply with the pretrial disclosure requirements of 4 Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(3) no later than August 19, 2027. Failure to 5 comply with this section or any other discovery order of the Court may 6 result in the sanctions provided for in Fed. R. Civ. P. 37, including a 7 prohibition on the introduction of experts or other designated matters 8 in evidence. 9 c. Counsel shall confer and take the action required by Local Rule 10 16.1.f.4.a on or before August 26, 2027. 1] d. Counsel for the Plaintiff(s) must provide opposing counsel with the 12 proposed pretrial order for review and approval and take any other 13 action required by Local Rule 16.1.f6.a on or _ before 14 September 2, 2027. 15 e. The proposed pretrial order shall be lodged with the district judge’s 16 chambers on or before September 9, 2027, and shall be in the form 17 prescribed in Local Rule 16.1.f.6. 18 f. The final Pretrial Conference is scheduled on the calendar of the 19 Honorable Benjamin J. Cheeks for Thursday, September 16, 2027 at 20 10:30.a.m. The Court will set a date for trial at the Pretrial Conference. 21 IT IS SO ORDERED. 22 ||Dated: September 26, 2026 3 _ Siow. Xion Honorable Allison H. Goddard 24 United States Magistrate Judge 25 26 27 28