Wyatt v. Unifi Aviation, LLC
- Proceeding
- district
- Area
- civil
- Panel
- Allison H. Goddard (author)
Analysis
The parties filed a joint motion to continue the Early Neutral Evaluation Conference and Case Management Conference pending the resolution of an arbitration dispute. The Court granted the motion in part, continuing the conferences and setting a deadline of September 15, 2023, for the parties to file a joint motion to dismiss, a motion to compel arbitration, or a joint status report.
| What the court decided | The model |
|---|---|
Joint motion to continue Early Neutral Evaluation Conference and Case Management Conference granted in part“Upon due consideration, good cause appearing, the Court GRANTS IN PART the parties’ joint motion as follows: 1. The ENE and CMC set for August 31, 2023 are CONTINUED.” | agree with court The court applied the 'good cause' standard, which is the correct standard for modifying scheduling orders under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16(b) and local rules. The parties demonstrated good cause by showing they were actively conferring on a threshold arbitration issue that would significantly impact the case's trajectory. The court's decision to continue the conferences while setting a firm deadline for resolution of the arbitration issue is a reasonable exercise of case management authority. |
The order itself: sound — The order correctly identifies the applicable legal standard for continuing scheduling conferences (good cause) and cites appropriate Ninth Circuit authority to define that standard. The court's factual findings regarding the parties' efforts to resolve the arbitration issue provide a sufficient basis for finding good cause. The order is procedurally sound and appropriately manages the case by setting a clear deadline for the parties to resolve the threshold arbitration issue.
Opinion
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 12 ROBIN WYATT, on behalf of herself and Case No.: 3:23-cv-01241-LL-AHG others similarly situated, 13 ORDER GRANTING JOINT Plaintiff, MOTION TO CONTINUE EARLY 14 NEUTRAL EVALUATION v. 15 CONFERENCE AND CASE UNIFI AVIATION, LLC, MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE 16 Defendant. 17 [ECF No. 8] 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Before the Court is the parties’ joint motion to continue the Early Neutral Evaluation 27 Conference (“ENE”) and Case Management Conference (“CMC”), currently scheduled for 28 August 31, 2023. ECF No. 8. 1 Parties seeking to continue an ENE must demonstrate good cause. ECF No. 6 at 6 2 (“An ENE may be rescheduled only upon a showing of good cause”); Chmb.R. at 2 (stating 3 that any request for continuance requires “[a] showing of good cause for the request”); see, 4 e.g., FED. R. CIV. P. 6(b) (“When an act may or must be done within a specified time, the 5 court may, for good cause, extend the time”). 6 “Good cause” is a non-rigorous standard that has been construed broadly across 7 procedural and statutory contexts. Ahanchian v. Xenon Pictures, Inc., 624 F.3d 1253, 1259 8 (9th Cir. 2010). The good cause standard focuses on the diligence of the party seeking to 9 amend the scheduling order and the reasons for seeking modification. Johnson v. Mammoth 10 Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 609 (9th Cir. 1992) (“[T]he focus of the inquiry is upon 11 the moving party’s reasons for seeking modification. . . . If that party was not diligent, the 12 inquiry should end.”) (internal citation omitted). Therefore, “a party demonstrates good 13 cause by acting diligently to meet the original deadlines set forth by the court.” Merck v. 14 Swift Transp. Co., No. CV-16-01103-PHX-ROS, 2018 WL 4492362, at *2 (D. Ariz. 15 Sept. 19, 2018). 16 The ENE and CMC in this case are set for August 31, 2023. ECF No. 6. The parties 17 represent to the Court that they have been meeting and conferring regarding whether 18 Plaintiff will submit her claims to arbitration on an individual basis. ECF No. 8 at 3; ECF 19 No. 8-1 at 2. If the parties cannot reach a resolution regarding arbitration, Defendant 20 intends to file a motion to compel arbitration. Id. Thus, the parties seek to continue the 21 ENE and CMC until after the Court rules on the forthcoming arbitration motion. ECF No. 8 22 at 3. 23 Upon due consideration, good cause appearing, the Court GRANTS IN PART the 24 parties’ joint motion as follows: 25 1. The ENE and CMC set for August 31, 2023 are CONTINUED. 26 2. Depending on the outcome of the parties’ meet and confer efforts, one of three 27 things must occur. Thereafter, if it deems appropriate, the Court will reschedule the ENE 28 and CMC. 1 A. — The parties’ joint motion to dismiss, or similar joint notice of attending 2 || arbitration, must be filed by September 15, 2023; or 3 B. Defendant’s motion to compel arbitration must be filed by 4 ||September 15, 2023; or 5 C. The parties’ joint status report, explaining that neither side will be 6 || pursuing arbitration, must be filed by September 15, 2023. 7 8 IT IS SO ORDERED. 9 Dated: August 16, 2023 10 _Abiomt. Xl Honorable Allison H. Goddard 11 United States Magistrate Judge 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28