Botts v. Sheppard
- Proceeding
- district
- Area
- civil
- Panel
- Dana M. Sabraw (author)
Analysis
The court considered a joint motion by the parties to extend expert discovery and pretrial motion deadlines due to delays caused by COVID-19 and the plaintiff's hospitalization. The court granted the motion, extending the expert discovery deadline to May 14, 2021, the pretrial motion deadline to June 11, 2021, and sua sponte continuing the pretrial conference and trial dates.
| What the court decided | The model |
|---|---|
Joint Motion to Extend Expert Discovery and Pretrial Motion Deadlines granted“Accordingly, the Joint Motion is GRANTED:” | agree with court The court applied the 'good cause' standard required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16(b)(4) and cited the Ninth Circuit's interpretation in Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations. The court found good cause based on the parties' allegations that COVID-19 and the plaintiff's hospitalization delayed the original deadlines. This is a defensible application of the law given the recited facts. |
Sua sponte continuance of pretrial conference and trial dates“Additionally, the Court sua sponte continues the pretrial conference and trial dates.” | agree with court The court extended the trial and pretrial conference dates to accommodate the extension of the discovery and motion deadlines. This is a standard procedural adjustment to maintain the logical sequence of pretrial proceedings. |
The order itself: sound — The order correctly identifies the applicable standard (good cause) and the controlling authority (Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations). It applies the standard to the specific facts recited (COVID-19 and hospitalization) to reach a defensible result. The reasoning is concise but sufficient for a procedural scheduling order.
Opinion
3 . 4 . □ 5 . 6 7 8 - UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 . 11 || D?RON BOTTS, Case No.: 3:19-cv-01387-DMS-RBM 12 Plaintitt, ORDER GRANTING JOINT 13 || v. MOTION TO EXTEND EXPERT 14 || CORRECTIONAL OFFICER MOTION DEADLINES 15 SHEPPARD, et al., . 16 Defendants. .
7 [Doc. 41] 18 . 19 _ Before the Court is Plaintiff D’Ron Botts (“Plaintiff”) and Defendants J. Newman, 20 ||C. Legge, R. Rodriguez, F. Camacho, A. Shepherd, and D. Paramo’s (collectively 21 “Defendants”) Joint Motion to Extend Expert Discovery and Pretrial Motion Deadlines 22 ||(“Joint Motion”). (Doc. 41.) The parties seek a three-week continuance of the expert 23 ||discovery deadlines and the pretrial motions cutoff. (Ud. at 2.) The parties allege an 24 |lextension is necessary as COVID-19 and hospitalizations have delayed the original 25 || discovery deadlines. (/d.) Moreover, Plaintiff ‘needs more time to complete expert 26 || discovery and alleges an extension will cause no prejudice. (/d. at 2-3.) 27 28 . 1 This is the parties’ sixth request to continue scheduling order dates. (Docs. 28, 31, 2 ||35, 37, 39, 41.) However, the undersigned notes that the primary. reasons for the multiple 3 || continuances resulted from COVID-19 and Plaintiff's hospitalization. (Doc. 41 at 2.) The 4 || Court’s August 25, 2020 order granting a continuance of time set a pretrial conference on 5 August 20, 2021, with trial to begin on September 20, 2021. (Doc. 36 at 5.) The Court’s 6 || December 28, 2020 order granting a continuance of time set the expert discovery cutoff on 7 || April 23, 2021, and the pretrial motions deadline on May 21, 2021. (Doc. 40 at 3.) 8 A scheduling order may be modified only upon a showing of good cause and with _ 9 || the judge’s consent. FED. R. CIV. P. 16(b)(4); see, e.g., Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, 10 975 F.2d 604, 609 (9th Cir. 1992) (stating, “the focus of [the good cause] inquiry is 11 || upon the moving party’s reasons for seeking modification.”). 12 Here, the Court finds good cause to grant a continuance of the expert discovery and 13 pretrial motion deadlines. Additionally, the Court sua sponte continues the pretrial 14 || conference and trial dates. 15 Accordingly, the Joint Motion is GRANTED: 16 l. All expert-discovery shall be completed by all parties by May 14, 2021. The 17 || parties shall comply with the same procedures set forth in the paragraph governing fact 18 ||discovery. 19 || 2. 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 introduction of experts or other designated matters in evidence. 22 3. All other pretrial motions must be filed by June 11, 2021. Counsel for the 23 || moving party must obtain a motion hearing date from the law clerk of the judge who will 24 ||hear the motion. The period of time between the date you request a motion date and the 25 || hearing date may vary from one district judge to another. Please plan accordingly. Failure 26 ||to make a timely request for a motion date may result in the motion not being heard. || Motions in Limine are to be filed as directed in the Local Rules or as otherwise set by the 28 || district judge. , 1 4. The final Pretrial Conference is scheduled on the calendar of the Honorable 2 ||Dana M. Sabraw on October 15, 2021, at 10:30 a.m. The trial is scheduled to start on 3 || November 15, 2021, at 9:00 a.m. 4 5. The dates and times set forth herein will not be modified except for good cause 5 || shown. 6 . 6. All other dates in the Court’s August 25,2020, and December 28, 2020 orders 7 ||(Docs. 36 and 40) remain unchanged. 8 7. Plaintiffs counsel shall serve a copy of this order on all parties that enter this 9 || case hereafter. . 10 IT IS SO ORDERED. 11 || DATE: April 15, 2021 12 . Bf Bermuda Hyilags D_ 14 ON. RUTH BE EZ MONTENEGRO 15 oe 16 17 || . 18. 19 . 20 2) 09 23 24 25 26 27 28