Awmagan v. Bristol Bay Native Corporation
- Proceeding
- district
- Area
- civil
- Panel
- Andrew G. Schopler (author)
Analysis
Plaintiffs requested an extension of the deadline to file a motion to amend their pleadings. The court granted the request, setting a new deadline of April 8, 2021, for filing any motions to amend or join parties.
| What the court decided | The model |
|---|---|
Plaintiff's request to extend the motion-to-amend deadline is granted.“For the reasons stated above, plaintiff's request to extend the Motion to Amend deadline is granted.” | agree with court The court correctly identified that the 'good cause' standard applies to modifying a scheduling order under Rule 16(b)(4). The court found good cause based on the fact that the scheduling order had not yet set a firm deadline and that the majority of the time elapsed was due to a court-ordered stay, which negates any finding of lack of diligence. This follows the logic of Johnson v. Mammoth Recs., Inc. |
The order itself: sound — The order is procedurally sound. It correctly applies the Rule 16(b)(4) 'good cause' standard and the Ninth Circuit's diligence-focused test from Johnson. The court's factual findings regarding the stay and the lack of a firm deadline in the scheduling order provide a sufficient basis for finding good cause. The reasoning directly addresses the legal standard and the specific facts of the case.
Opinion
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 Abucar Nunow ABIKAR, et al., Case No.: 18-cv-1700-JLS-AGS 11 Plaintiffs, ORDER GRANTING EXTENSION OF TIME TO AMEND PLEADINGS 12 v. 13 BRISTOL BAY NATIVE CORPORATION, et al., 14 Defendants. 15 16 The Court grants plaintiff’s request to extend the motion-to-amend deadline. Once a 17 court “issues a pretrial scheduling order establishing the deadline for the amendment of 18 pleadings, motions to amend filed after the deadline are governed by Federal Rule of Civil 19 Procedure 16.” La Jolla Spa MD, Inc. v. Avidas Pharm., LLC, No. 17CV1124-MMA 20 (WVG), 2018 WL 6523048, at *2 (S.D. Cal. Dec. 12, 2018). Rule 16 provides that a 21 scheduling order “may be modified only for good cause and with the judge’s consent.” 22 Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b)(4). The “good cause” standard “primarily considers the diligence of 23 the party seeking the amendment.” Johnson v. Mammoth Recs., Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 609 24 (9th Cir. 1992); see also Romero v. Securus Techs., Inc., No. 16CV1283-JM-MDD, 25 2017 WL 5569811, at *1 (S.D. Cal. Nov. 20, 2017). 26 Here, the scheduling order was not issued until after plaintiff’s request for an 27 extension, on January 28, 2021. (ECF 47.) Moreover, the scheduling order deferred setting 28 a motion-to-amend deadline. (Id. at 1.) In effect, there was never a motion-to-amend date 1 || to modify; the deadline that plaintiff seeks to “extend” is a tentative date set by the Court’s 2 ||March 19, 2019 Notice and Order. (ECF 23, at 3.) 3 But even if there had been a deadline to modify, plaintiffs have demonstrated 4 || diligence in seeking the amendment. On April 23, 2019, about a month after the Court’s 5 || Notice and Order, defendants moved to stay these proceedings pending the resolution of a 6 || “nearly identical” case. (ECF 25, at 2.) The Court granted that motion, and later lifted the 7 || stay on December 22, 2020. (ECF 32; ECF 34; ECF 39.) Plaintiffs “stated their intention 8 ||to amend the complaint” one month later, at the January 28, 2021 Case Management 9 ||Conference. (ECF 50, at 2.) Therefore, of the 22 months between setting a tentative 10 deadline and plaintiffs requesting an “extension,” there were 18 months in which the 11 proceedings were actually stayed or the Court was considering the motion to stay. So, 12 || plaintiffs have been reasonably diligent, and there would be “good cause” to consider 13 || modifying the scheduling order. 14 For the reasons stated above, plaintiff's request to extend the Motion to Amend 15 || deadline is granted. Any motion to join other parties, to amend the pleadings, or to file 16 || additional pleadings shall be filed by April 8, 2021. 17 || Dated: February 11, 2021 18 A 19 Hon. Andrew G. Schopler 30 United States Magistrate Judge 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28