Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_06-cv-00795/USCOURTS-caed-2_06-cv-00795-9/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 791
Nature of Suit: Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)
Cause of Action: 29:1132 E.R.I.S.A.-Employee Benefits

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JOINT STIPULATION RE GOOD CAUSE TO MODIFY CERTAIN DATES IN SCHEDULING ORDER; 

[PROPOSED] ORDER THEREON; DECLARATION IN SUPPORT (Case No. 2:06-00795 GEB-KJM) 

1 

DOWNEY BRAND LLP 

TORY E. GRIFFIN (Bar No. 186181) 

CASSANDRA M. FERRANNINI (Bar No. 204277) 

ELIZABETH B. STALLARD (Bar No. 221445) 

555 Capitol Mall, Tenth Floor 

Sacramento, CA 95814-4686 

Telephone: (916) 444-1000 

Facsimile: (916) 444-2100 

Attorneys for Defendant 

THOMAS WATSON 

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 

JEFF EVANSON, LES OESTERREICH, 

and KAREN O’BRINE, trustees of the 

Transhumance Employee Stock Ownership 

Plan, 

Plaintiffs, 

v. 

WILLIAM J. PRICE; MARY ELLEN 

BREEN, in her capacity as the personal 

representative of the estate and as the 

beneficiary of DENNIS J. BREEN, 

deceased; THOMAS WATSON, and 

DOES 1-20, 

Defendants. 

Case No. 2:06-cv-00795-GEB-KJM 

JOINT STIPULATION RE GOOD CAUSE TO 

MODIFY CERTAIN DATES IN SCHEDULING 

ORDER; [PROPOSED] ORDER THEREON; 

DECLARATION OF CASSANDRA 

FERRANNINI IN SUPPORT 

The parties jointly stipulate and seek leave pursuant to Rule 16(b) of the Federal Rules of 

Civil Procedure to modify the expert disclosure and discovery cut off dates detailed in the Order 

modifying the Status (Pretrial Scheduling) Order, dated December 20, 2006, without altering the 

trial, final pre-trial conference, and final motion hearing dates. Good cause for this request exists 

as follows: 

At the time the parties filed their initial request to modify the Pretrial Scheduling Order on 

December 15, 2006, they believed that the proposed modified dates would accommodate the prior 

resolution of two arbitrations related to the present lawsuit and presently pending before the 

Case 2:06-cv-00795-GEB -KJM Document 53 Filed 02/26/07 Page 1 of 6
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JOINT STIPULATION RE GOOD CAUSE TO MODIFY CERTAIN DATES IN SCHEDULING ORDER; 

[PROPOSED] ORDER THEREON; DECLARATION IN SUPPORT (Case No. 2:06-00795 GEB-KJM) 

Honorable Read Ambler (Ret.) at JAMS. However, due to unavoidable delays in the postarbitration briefing schedule, a decision in the arbitrations, which have been consolidated under 

the name Price et al. v. Transhumance, Inc., et. al., JAMS Case No. 1110003110, is now not 

expected until mid to late March 2007. 

These arbitrations, which were initiated in late 2005, address certain state-law issues 

relating to the obligation of one or more Transhumance companies to pay William Price and 

Dennis Breen (through his surviving wife, Mary Ellen Breen) certain items of compensation 

pursuant to the terms of the executive compensation plan that also is at issue in the present 

lawsuit. 

When the parties submitted proposed amendments to the Status (Pretrial Scheduling) 

Order to this Court on December 15, 2006, Judge Ambler’s ruling was scheduled to be rendered 

by late February 2007. After this Court modified the original Status (Pretrial Scheduling) Order, 

Judge Ambler approved changes to the post-arbitration briefing schedule, which served to 

postpone the expected time for the rendering of his ruling to mid to late March 2007. The need 

for the current proposed modifications simply could not have been foreseen at the time of the 

parties’ prior request for modification. 

The parties still believe that Judge Ambler’s decision in the Price v. Transhumance

arbitration will materially affect their judgment about the present lawsuit. The parties also still 

believe that the present lawsuit can be settled in a mediation after Judge Ambler issues his 

decision. In that regard, the parties have identified a mediator, the Honorable Eugene F. Lynch 

(Ret.), and have rescheduled the mediation before him for April 17, 2007. Because of the 

substantial expenditures already incurred by the parties in the arbitration, and because incurring 

additional expenditures prior to the mediation in order to comply with the existing deadlines 

under the scheduling order in the present lawsuit is likely to be wasteful, the parties and their 

insurer believe the responsible action at this time is to seek a relatively small modification to the 

existing scheduling order to accommodate a fair resolution of this matter through an efficient 

mediation. 

/// 

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JOINT STIPULATION RE GOOD CAUSE TO MODIFY CERTAIN DATES IN SCHEDULING ORDER; 

[PROPOSED] ORDER THEREON; DECLARATION IN SUPPORT (Case No. 2:06-00795 GEB-KJM) 

Accordingly, the parties respectfully request that the Court modify the existing scheduling 

order by briefly extending the following three dates therein, as follows: 

 Existing Date Proposed Date

Initial Expert April 6, 2007 May 16, 2007 

Disclosures 

Rebuttal Expert May 7, 2007 June 15, 2007 

Disclosures 

Discovery August 6, 2007 September 7, 2007 

Cutoff 

Last Hearing October 9, 2007 Unchanged 

Date for Motions 

Final Pretrial December 3, 2007 Unchanged 

Conference 

Trial Date January 15, 2008 Unchanged 

DATED: February ___, 2007 DOWNEY BRAND LLP 

By /s/ Cassandra M. Ferrannini 

CASSANDRA M. FERRANNINI 

Attorneys for Defendant 

THOMAS WATSON 

DATED: February ___, 2007 TRUCKER HUSS 

By: /s/ Robert F. Schwartz 

ROBERT F. SCHWARTZ 

Attorneys for Defendant 

WILLIAM J. PRICE 

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JOINT STIPULATION RE GOOD CAUSE TO MODIFY CERTAIN DATES IN SCHEDULING ORDER; 

[PROPOSED] ORDER THEREON; DECLARATION IN SUPPORT (Case No. 2:06-00795 GEB-KJM) 

DATED: February ___, 2007 VELIKANJE MOORE & SHORE, PS 

By /s/ James C. Carmody 

JAMES C. CARMODY 

Attorneys for Defendant 

WILLIAM J. PRICE 

DATED February ___, 2007 PILLSBURY, WINTHROP, SHAW, PITTMAN LLP 

By: /s/ Greg L. Johnson 

GREG L. JOHNSON 

Attorneys for Defendant 

MARY ELLEN BREEN, in her capacity as the 

personal representative of the estate and as the 

beneficiary of DENNIS J. BREEN 

DATED: February ___, 2007 THELEN REID BROWN RAYSMAN & STEINER 

LLP 

By: /s/ Charles M. Dyke 

CHARLES M. DYKE 

 Attorneys for Plaintiffs 

JEFF EVANSON, LES OESTERREICH, and 

KAREN O’BRINE 

IT IS SO ORDERED. 

Dated: February 23, 2007 

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JOINT STIPULATION RE GOOD CAUSE TO MODIFY CERTAIN DATES IN SCHEDULING ORDER; 

[PROPOSED] ORDER THEREON; DECLARATION IN SUPPORT (Case No. 2:06-00795 GEB-KJM) 

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DECLARATION OF CASSANDRA FERRANNINI

I, Cassandra Ferrannini, declare as follows: 

I am an attorney admitted to practice before this Court and in the Courts of the State of 

California. I am a partner with Downey Brand, LLP, counsel of record for Defendant Thomas 

Watson in this action. I have personal knowledge of the matters set forth herein and could and 

would competently testify to the truth thereof, if necessary. 

Presently pending before the Honorable Read Ambler (Ret.) at JAMS are two arbitrations 

that have been consolidated under the name Price et al. v. Transhumance, Inc., et. al., JAMS 

Case No. 1110003110 (“Price v. Transhumance arbitration”). 

These arbitrations are related to the present lawsuit in that they address certain state-law 

issues pertaining to the obligation of one or more Transhumance companies to pay William Price 

and Dennis Breen (through his surviving wife, Mary Ellen Breen) certain items of compensation 

pursuant to the terms of an executive compensation plan that also is at issue in the present 

lawsuit. 

The parties submitted proposed amendments to the Status (Pretrial Scheduling) Order to 

this Court on December 15, 2006. At that time, the Price v. Transhumance arbitration was 

scheduled to be concluded by late February 2007. 

Due to factors beyond the control of the parties herein, including unavoidable delays in 

the post-trial briefing schedule, a written decision is now expected by mid to late March 2007. 

These changes to the arbitration schedule could not have been foreseen at the time of the 

parties’ request for modification of the Status (Pretrial Scheduling) Order in December 2006. 

All counsel in the present action have indicated to one another that their clients still 

believe that Judge Ambler’s decision in the Price v. Transhumance arbitration will materially 

affect their judgment about the present lawsuit. Their clients also still believe that the present 

lawsuit can be settled in a mediation after Judge Ambler issues his decision. 

The parties have identified a mediator, the Honorable Eugene F. Lynch (Ret.), and have 

rescheduled the mediation before him for April 17, 2007. 

The parties and the insurance policy issuer in this case have agreed that incurring 

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JOINT STIPULATION RE GOOD CAUSE TO MODIFY CERTAIN DATES IN SCHEDULING ORDER; 

[PROPOSED] ORDER THEREON; DECLARATION IN SUPPORT (Case No. 2:06-00795 GEB-KJM) 

additional expenditures in the present lawsuit prior to the mediation in order to comply with the 

existing deadlines under the scheduling order is likely to be wasteful. They have further agreed 

that the responsible action at this time is to seek a relatively small modification to the existing 

scheduling order to accommodate the parties’ interests in reaching a fair resolution of this case 

through an efficient mediation. 

 I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. 

February 22, 2007 _/s/ Cassandra M. Ferrannini_______________ Cassandra M. Ferrannini 

 

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