Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_18-cv-00660/USCOURTS-caed-2_18-cv-00660-7/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Pan Norcal, LLC
Cross Claimant
TJM Plaza GRF2, LLC
Cross Claimant
Sheryl Wilson
Plaintiff

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 

SHERYL WILSON, 

Plaintiff, 

 v. 

PAN NORCAL, LLC; TJM PLAZA 

GRF2, LLC, 

Defendant. 

No. 2:18-cv-00660-KJM-KJN 

STATUS (PRETRIAL SCHEDULING) 

ORDER 

 An initial scheduling conference was held in this case on January 16, 2020. 

Scottlynn Hubbard, IV appeared for plaintiff; Tudor Jones appeared for defendant. Jacqueline 

Murphy waived her appearance. 

 Having reviewed the parties’ Joint Status Report filed on January 2, 2020, and 

discussed a schedule for the case with counsel at the hearing, the court makes the following 

orders: 

I. SERVICE OF PROCESS 

 All named defendants have been served and no further service is permitted without 

leave of court, good cause having been shown. 

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II. ADDITIONAL PARTIES/AMENDMENTS/PLEADINGS 

 The court understands the parties anticipate joinder by an insurer, which will be 

governed by the Federal Rules. Otherwise, joinder of parties or amendments to pleadings is not 

permitted without leave of court, good cause having been shown. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b); 

Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604 (9th Cir. 1992). 

III. JURISDICTION/VENUE 

 Jurisdiction is predicated upon 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1343, and 1367. Jurisdiction and 

venue are not disputed. 

IV. DISCOVERY 

 No stay is needed. The parties agree to proceed with discovery. Initial disclosures 

as required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a) shall be completed by January 30, 2020. 

All discovery shall be completed by June 11, 2021. 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 obeyed. All motions to compel discovery must be 

noticed on the magistrate judge’s calendar in accordance with the local rules of this court. While 

the assigned magistrate judge reviews proposed discovery phase protective orders, requests to 

seal or redact are decided by Judge Mueller as discussed in more detail below. In addition, while 

the assigned magistrate judge handles discovery motions, the magistrate judge cannot change the 

schedule set in this order, except that the magistrate judge may modify a discovery cutoff to the 

extent such modification does not have the effect of requiring a change to the balance of the 

schedule. 

V. DISCLOSURE OF EXPERT WITNESSES 

 All counsel are to designate in writing and serve upon all other parties the name, 

address, and area of expertise of each expert that they propose to tender at trial not later than 

January 10, 2021. The designation shall be accompanied by a written report prepared and signed 

by the witness. The report shall comply with Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2)(B). By February 9, 2021, 

any party who previously disclosed expert witnesses may submit a rebuttal list of expert 

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witnesses who will express an opinion on a subject covered by an expert designated by an adverse 

party, if the party rebutting an expert witness designation has not previously retained an expert to 

testify on that subject. The rebuttal designation shall be accompanied by a written report, which 

shall also comply with the conditions stated above. 

 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. An expert 

witness not appearing on the designation will not be permitted to testify unless the party offering 

the witness demonstrates: (a) that the necessity for the witness could not have been reasonably 

anticipated at the time the list was proffered; (b) that the court and opposing counsel were 

promptly notified upon discovery of the witness; and (c) that the witness was promptly made 

available for deposition. 

 For purposes of this scheduling order, an “expert” is any person who may be used 

at trial to present evidence under Rules 702, 703 and 705 of the Federal Rules of Evidence, which 

include both “percipient experts” (persons who, because of their expertise, have rendered expert 

opinions in the normal course of their work duties or observations pertinent to the issues in the 

case) and “retained experts” (persons specifically designated by a party to be a testifying expert 

for the purposes of litigation). A party shall identify whether a disclosed expert is percipient, 

retained, or both. It will be assumed that a party designating a retained expert has acquired the 

express permission of the witness to be so listed. Parties designating percipient experts must state 

in the designation who is responsible for arranging the deposition of such persons. 

 All experts designated are to be fully prepared at the time of designation to render 

an informed opinion, and give the bases for their opinion, so that they will be able to give full and 

complete testimony at any deposition taken by the opposing party. Experts will not be permitted 

to testify at trial as to any information gathered or evaluated, or opinion formed, after deposition 

taken subsequent to designation. All expert discovery shall be completed by May 9, 2021.

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VI. MOTION HEARING SCHEDULE 

 All dispositive motions, except motions for continuances, temporary restraining 

orders or other emergency applications, shall be heard no later than September 17, 2021.

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court understands that if the parallel workers compensation case is not resolved by this date, the 

parties may request an extension to the dispositive motions cut-off date. The parties may obtain 

available hearing dates by checking Judge Mueller’s page on the court’s website. 

 All purely legal issues are to be resolved by timely pretrial motions. Local Rule 

230 governs the calendaring and procedures of civil motions; the following provisions also apply: 

(a) The opposition and reply must be filed by 4:00 p.m. on the day due; and 

 (b) When the last day for filing an opposition brief falls on a legal holiday, the 

opposition brief shall be filed on the last court day immediately preceding the legal holiday. 

Failure to comply with Local Rule 230(c), as modified by this order, may be deemed consent to 

the motion and the court may dispose of the motion summarily. Brydges v. Lewis, 18 F.3d 651, 

652-53 (9th Cir. 1994). 

 The court values the importance of training young attorneys. The parties are 

encouraged to consider assigning oral argument to a young attorney. If a written request for oral 

argument is filed before a hearing, stating an attorney of four or fewer years out of law school 

will argue the oral argument, then the court will ordinarily hold the hearing, although the court’s 

schedule and calendar may require the hearing to be reset. Otherwise, the court may find it 

appropriate in some actions to submit a motion without oral argument. 

 The court places a page limit of twenty (20) pages on all moving papers, twenty 

(20) pages on oppositions, and ten (10) pages for replies. All requests for page limit increases 

must be made in writing at least fourteen (14) days prior to the filing of the motion. 

 Prior to filing a motion in a case in which the parties are represented by counsel, 

counsel shall engage in a pre-filing meet and confer to discuss thoroughly the substance of the 

contemplated motion and any potential resolution. Plaintiff’s counsel should carefully evaluate 

 

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 Note that this date may not correspond to a law and motion calendar date. 

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the defendant’s contentions as to deficiencies in the complaint and in many instances the party 

considering a motion should agree to any amendment that would cure a curable defect. Counsel 

should discuss the issues sufficiently so that if a motion of any kind is filed, including for 

summary judgment, the briefing is directed only to those substantive issues requiring resolution 

by the court. Counsel should resolve minor procedural or other non-substantive matters during 

the meet and confer. A notice of motion shall contain a certification by counsel filing the 

motion that meet and confer efforts have been exhausted, with a brief summary of meet and 

confer efforts. 

 The parties are cautioned that failure to raise a dispositive legal issue that could 

have been tendered to the court by proper pretrial motion prior to the dispositive motion cut-off 

date may constitute waiver of such issue. 

VII. SEALING 

 No document will be sealed, nor shall a redacted document be filed, without the 

prior approval of the court. If a document for which sealing or redaction is sought relates to the 

record on a motion to be decided by Judge Mueller, the request to seal or redact should be 

directed to her and not the assigned Magistrate Judge. All requests to seal or redact shall be 

governed by Local Rules 141 (sealing) and 140 (redaction); protective orders covering the 

discovery phase of litigation shall not govern the filing of sealed or redacted documents on the 

public docket. The court will only consider requests to seal or redact filed by the proponent of 

sealing or redaction. If a party plans to make a filing that includes material an opposing party has 

identified as confidential and potentially subject to sealing, the filing party shall provide the 

opposing party with sufficient notice in advance of filing to allow for the seeking of an order of 

sealing or redaction from the court. 

VIII. FURTHER SCHEDULING 

 The court will set a Final Pretrial Conference date after the resolution of any 

dispositive motions, or passage of the dispositive motion cutoff, with a trial date being 

determined at the pretrial conference. The parties should be prepared to confirm a trial date 

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within 60 to 120 days from the date of the final pretrial conference, and should be available for 

trial accordingly. 

IX. SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE 

 No settlement conference is currently scheduled. A settlement conference may be 

set at the time of the Final Pretrial Conference or at an earlier time at the parties’ request. In the 

event that an earlier court settlement conference date or referral to the Voluntary Dispute 

Resolution Program (VDRP) is requested, the parties shall file said request jointly, in writing. 

 Counsel are instructed to have a principal with full settlement authority present at 

any Settlement Conference or to be fully authorized to settle the matter on any terms. Each judge 

has different requirements for the submission of settlement conference statements; the appropriate 

instructions will be sent to you after the settlement judge is assigned. 

X. MODIFICATION OF STATUS (PRETRIAL SCHEDULING) ORDER 

 The parties are reminded that pursuant to Rule 16(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil 

Procedure, the Status (Pretrial Scheduling) Order shall not be modified except by leave of court 

upon a showing of good cause. Agreement of the parties by stipulation alone does not constitute 

good cause. Except in extraordinary circumstances, unavailability of witnesses or counsel does 

not constitute good cause. 

 As noted, the assigned magistrate judge is authorized to modify only the discovery 

dates shown above to the extent any such modification does not impact the balance of the 

schedule of the case. 

XI. OBJECTIONS TO STATUS (PRETRIAL SCHEDULING) ORDER 

 This Status Order will become final without further order of the court unless 

objections are filed within fourteen (14) calendar days of service of this Order. 

 IT IS SO ORDERED. 

DATED: January 21, 2020. 

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