Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_21-cv-01651/USCOURTS-caed-2_21-cv-01651-4/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 440
Nature of Suit: Other Civil Rights
Cause of Action: 28:1331 Federal Question: Other Civil Rights

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

PEACE RANCH, LLC, PRETRIAL SCHEDULING ORDER

Plaintiff,

v. Case No.: 2:21-cv-01651-JAM-AC

ROB BONTA,

Defendant.

After review of the Joint Status Report, the court makes the 

following order:

SERVICE OF PROCESS

All parties defendant to this lawsuit have been served and 

no further service will be permitted except with leave of court, 

good cause having been shown.

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JOINDER OF ADDITIONAL PARTIES/AMENDMENTS

No further joinder of parties or amendments to pleadings is 

permitted except with leave of court, good cause having been 

shown.

JURISDICTION AND VENUE

Jurisdiction and venue are not contested.

FICTITIOUSLY-NAMED DEFENDANTS

This action, including any counterclaims, cross-claims, and 

third party complaints is hereby DISMISSED as to all DOE or other 

fictitiously-named defendants.

MOTION HEARINGS SCHEDULES

All dispositive motions shall be filed by 04/25/2025. 

Hearing on such motions shall be on 07/01/2025 at 1:00 PM.1

The parties are reminded of the notice requirements as outlined 

in Local Rule 230(b).

The time deadline for dispositive motions does not apply to 

motions for continuances, temporary restraining orders or other 

emergency applications. 

All purely legal issues are to be resolved by timely 

pretrial motions. The parties are reminded that motions in

limine are procedural devices designed to address the 

admissibility of evidence and are cautioned that the court will 

1 Calendars are subject to last minute changes. Contact the Courtroom Deputy 

for available dates.

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look with disfavor upon substantive motions presented at the 

final pretrial conference or at trial in the guise of motions in

limine. The parties are further cautioned that if any legal 

issue which should have been tendered to the court by proper 

pretrial motion requires resolution by the court after the 

established law and motion cut-off date, substantial sanctions 

may be assessed for the failure to file the appropriate pretrial 

motion. 

MEET AND CONFER REQUIREMENT

In any case where the parties are represented by counsel, 

counsel contemplating the filing of any motion, except (1) those 

in connection with discovery motions (which are governed by Local 

Rule 251(b)); (2) applications for temporary restraining orders 

or preliminary injunctions; or (3) motions made in prisoner 

actions (which are governed by Local Rule 230(l)), shall first 

contact opposing counsel to discuss thoroughly, preferably in 

person, the substance of the contemplated motion and any 

potential resolution. 

If the proposed motion must be filed within a specified 

period of time under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (e.g., 

a motion to dismiss pursuant to F.R.Cv.P. 12(b), or a new trial 

motion pursuant to F.R.Cv.P. 59(a)), then this conference shall 

take place at least five (5) days prior to the last day for 

filing the motion; otherwise, the conference shall take place at 

least ten (10) days prior to the filing of the motion.

If the parties are unable to reach a resolution which 

eliminates the necessity for a hearing, counsel for the moving 

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party shall include in the notice of motion the following 

statement:

"This motion is made following the conference of counsel 

pursuant to the Court's standing order which took place on 

[date of conference]."

The purpose of the meet and confer process is to: (1) 

determine whether the respondent agrees that the motion has merit 

in whole or in part; (2) discuss whether issues can be resolved 

without the necessity of briefing; (3) narrow the issues for 

review by the Court; and (4) explore the possibility of 

settlement before the parties incur the expense of briefing a 

motion.

Failure to comply with the meet and confer requirement will 

result in the dismissal, without prejudice, of the offending 

party's motion.

Unless prior permission has been granted, memoranda of law 

in support of and in opposition to motions under F.R.Cv.P. 56 and 

65 and any post−judgment or post−trial motions are limited to 

twenty-five (25) pages, and reply memoranda are limited to ten 

(10) pages. Memoranda of law in support of and in opposition to 

all other motions are limited to fifteen (15) pages, and reply 

memoranda are limited to five (5) pages. The parties are also 

cautioned against filing multiple briefs to circumvent this rule.

A violation of this Order will result in monetary sanctions 

being imposed against counsel in the amount of $50.00 per page 

and the Court will not consider any arguments made past the page 

limit.

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Documentary evidence submitted in support of or in 

opposition to a motion must be separately bound or placed in a 

binder, and exhibits must be separated with labeled tabs that 

extend beyond the edge of the page. An Index of exhibits must 

also be included.

At least 28 days before the dispositive motions filing 

deadline, the parties must meet and confer to determine whether 

they intend to file cross motions for summary judgment. If the 

parties do intend to file cross motions, the plaintiff must file 

the opening brief for summary judgment at least 14 days before 

the dispositive motions filing deadline. The plaintiff’s 

concurrently-filed notice of motion shall indicate the parties’ 

intention to file cross motions and shall notice a hearing date 

at least 42 days from the date of filing. The briefing schedule 

will be as follows. Only four briefs shall be filed:

(1) Plaintiff’s opening brief (25 pages maximum), along with 

any other documents required or permitted under Local Rule 

260, shall be filed at least 14 days before the dispositive 

motions filing deadline;

(2) Defendant’s opposition and cross motion for summary 

judgment (35 pages maximum) shall be filed at least 28 days 

before the hearing;

(3) Plaintiff’s reply and opposition (20 pages maximum) 

shall be filed at least 14 days before the hearing;

(4) Defendant’s reply (10 pages maximum) shall be filed at 

least 7 days before the hearing.

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These are the only four briefs that may be filed, even if 

the parties move for summary judgment on more than one complaint 

(e.g., motions on a complaint and a counterclaim). The parties 

must obtain permission from the Court to exceed the stated page 

limitations. The parties are reminded that they may not file a 

reply to a Response of the Statement of Undisputed Facts. 

Parties are advised to carefully read Local Rule 260, which 

permits an opposing party to file only (1) a Statement of 

Disputed Facts and (2) a Response to the Statement of Undisputed 

Facts (with the moving party’s Statement of Undisputed Facts 

reproduced and then admitted or denied, with citations). If the 

parties do not comply with this procedure and schedule for filing 

cross motions for summary judgment, but nonetheless file cross 

motions, the Court will deny both motions without prejudice and 

may impose sanctions. 

DISCOVERY

All discovery shall be completed by 02/21/2025. In this 

context, "completed" means that all discovery shall have been 

conducted so that all depositions have been taken and any 

disputes relative to discovery shall have been resolved by 

appropriate order if necessary and, where discovery has been 

ordered, the order has been complied with.

DISCLOSURE OF EXPERT WITNESSES

The parties shall make expert witness disclosures under 

F.R.Cv.P. 26(a)(2) by 12/27/2024. Supplemental disclosure and 

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disclosure of any rebuttal experts under F.R.Cv.P. 26(a)(2)(c) 

shall be made by 01/10/2025. 

Failure of a party to comply with the disclosure schedule as 

set forth above in all likelihood will preclude that party from 

calling the expert witness at the time of trial absent a showing 

that the necessity for the witness could not have been reasonably 

anticipated at the time the disclosures were ordered and that the 

failure to make timely disclosure did not prejudice any other 

party. See F.R.Cv.P. 37(c).

All experts designated are to be fully prepared at the time 

of designation to render an informed opinion, and give their 

reasons therefore, so that they will be able to give full and 

complete testimony at any deposition taken by the opposing 

parties. Experts will not be permitted to testify at the trial 

as to any information gathered or evaluated, or opinion formed, 

after deposition taken subsequent to designation.

JOINT MID-LITIGATION STATEMENTS

Not later than fourteen (14) days prior to the close of 

discovery, the parties shall file with the court a brief joint 

statement summarizing all law and motion practice heard by the 

court as of the date of the filing of the statement, whether the 

court has disposed of the motion at the time the statement is 

filed and served, and the likelihood that any further motions 

will be noticed prior to the close of law and motion. The filing 

of this statement shall not relieve the parties or counsel of 

their obligation to timely notice all appropriate motions as set 

forth above.

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FINAL PRETRIAL CONFERENCE

The final pretrial conference is set for 08/29/2025, at 

10:00 AM. In each instance an attorney who will try the case for 

a given party shall attend the final pretrial conference on 

behalf of that party; provided, however, that if by reason of 

illness or other unavoidable circumstance the trial attorney is 

unable to attend, the attorney who attends in place of the trial 

attorney shall have equal familiarity with the case and equal 

authorization to make commitments on behalf of the client. 

 The parties shall file with the court, no later than seven 

days prior to the final pretrial conference, a joint pretrial 

statement. 

Also, at the time of filing the Joint Pretrial Statement, 

counsel are requested to e-mail the Joint Pretrial Statement and 

any attachments in Word format to Judge Mendez' assistant, Jane 

Hayes at: jhayes@caed.uscourts.gov. 

Where the parties are unable to agree as to what legal or 

factual issues are properly before the court for trial, they 

should nevertheless list all issues asserted by any of the 

parties and specifically identifying the disputes concerning such 

issues. The provisions of Local Rule 281 shall, however, apply 

with respect to the matters to be included in the joint pretrial 

statement. Failure to comply with Local Rule 281, as modified 

herein, may be grounds for sanctions. 

The parties are reminded that pursuant to Local Rule 

281(b)(10) and (11) they are required to list in the final 

pretrial statement all witnesses and exhibits they propose to 

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offer at trial, no matter for what purpose. These lists shall 

not be contained in the body of the final pretrial statement 

itself but shall be attached as separate documents so that the 

court may attach them as an addendum to the final pretrial order. 

The final pretrial order will contain a stringent standard for 

the offering at trial of witnesses and exhibits not listed in the 

final pretrial order, and the parties are cautioned that the 

standard will be strictly applied. On the other hand, the 

listing of exhibits or witnesses that a party does not intend to 

offer will be viewed as an abuse of the court's processes. 

The parties are also reminded that pursuant to F.R.Cv.P. 16, 

it will be their duty at the final pretrial conference to aid the 

court in: (a) formulation and simplification of issues and the 

elimination of frivolous claims or defenses; (b) settling of 

facts which should properly be admitted; and (c) the avoidance of 

unnecessary proof and cumulative evidence. Counsel must 

cooperatively prepare the joint pretrial statement and 

participate in good faith at the final pretrial conference with 

these aims in mind. A failure to do so may result in the 

imposition of sanctions which may include monetary sanctions, 

orders precluding proof, elimination of claims or defenses, or 

such other sanctions as the court deems appropriate.

TRIAL SETTING

Jury trial in this matter is set for 10/06/2025, at 9:00 AM. 

The parties did not provide an estimate of the amount of time 

that will be needed to complete the trial. 

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SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE

No Settlement Conference is currently scheduled. If the 

parties wish to have a settlement conference, one will be 

scheduled at the final pretrial conference or at an earlier time 

upon request of the parties. 

OBJECTIONS TO PRETRIAL SCHEDULING ORDER

This Status Order will become final without further Order of 

Court unless objection is lodged within seven (7) days of the 

date of the filing of this Order. 

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: April 16, 2024 /s/ John A. Mendez

THE HONORABLE JOHN A. MENDEZ

SENIOR UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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