1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

United States District Court

Northern District of California

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

CHARLES RIDGWAY, et al.,

Plaintiffs.

v.

WAL-MART STORES INC.,

Defendant.

Case No. 08-cv-05221-SI (JCS)

NOTICE OF REFERENCE; ORDER TO 

MEET AND CONFER AND FILE JOINT 

LETTER

Re: Dkt. Nos. 209, 210

TO ALL PARTIES AND COUNSEL OF RECORD:

The above matter has been referred to Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero for resolution of 

Dkt. Nos. 209, 210 and all future discovery matters.

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that lead trial counsel for both parties shall meet and confer in 

person in Courtroom G no later than July 10, 2015. Counsel shall contact the undersigned’s 

Courtroom Deputy, Karen Hom, at (415) 522-2035 to arrange a date and time for the meet-andconfer session.

In the event that counsel are unable to resolve the matters at issue in Dkt Nos. 209 and 210, 

lead trial counsel shall provide a detailed Joint Letter to the Court within five (5) calendar days of 

their meet-and-confer session. This Joint Letter, not to exceed ten (10) pages without leave of 

Court, shall include a description of every issue in dispute and, with respect to each such issue, a 

detailed summary of each party’s final substantive position and its final proposed compromise on 

each issue. 

LAW AND MOTION HEARING PROCEDURES

Civil law and motion is heard on Friday mornings, at 9:30 a.m., Courtroom G, 15th Floor, 

United States District Court, 450 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, California, 94102.

Case 3:08-cv-05221-SI Document 216 Filed 06/24/15 Page 1 of 3
2

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

United States District Court

Northern District of California

In the event a future discovery dispute arises, IT IS HEREBY FURTHER ORDERED 

that before filing any discovery motion before this Court, the parties must comply with the 

following:

1. Lead trial counsel for both parties must meet and confer in person regarding the 

matter(s) at issue. This meeting shall occur after other efforts to resolve the 

dispute, such as telephone, e-mail, teleconference, or correspondence, have been 

unsuccessful. Once those efforts have proved unsuccessful, any party may demand 

a meeting of lead trial counsel to resolve a discovery matter. Such a meeting shall 

occur within ten (10) calendar days of the demand. The locations of the meetings 

shall alternate. The first meeting shall be at a location selected by counsel for 

Plaintiff(s). If there are any future disputes, the next such meeting shall be held at a 

location to be determined by counsel for Defendant(s), etc.

2. Within five (5) calendar days of the in-person meeting between lead trial counsel 

referred to above, the parties shall jointly file a detailed letter with the Court, not to 

exceed five (5) pages without leave of Court, which will include the matters that 

remain in dispute, a detailed substantive description of each side’s position on each 

such issue, and a description of each side’s proposed compromise on each such 

issue. In the absence of permission from the Court, the letter may not exceed five 

(5) pages.

3. After the Court has received the joint letter, the Court will determine what future 

proceedings, if any, are necessary.

In the event that the parties continue to be unable to resolve the matters regarding the 

timing and scope of discovery, the Court will consider what future actions are necessary. These 

actions may include the following: (1) sanctions against a party failing to cooperate in the 

discovery process and meet and confer in good faith, as required by this Order, the Federal Rules 

of Civil Procedure, and the Local Rules of this Court; and/or (2) requiring the Chief Executive 

Officers of each party to attend the in-person, meet-and-confer sessions described above. The 

Court is not entering either of these matters as an Order of the Court at this time, and fully expects 

Case 3:08-cv-05221-SI Document 216 Filed 06/24/15 Page 2 of 3
3

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

United States District Court

Northern District of California

counsel to meet their obligations under this Order and under the Local Rules.

Regardless of whether the Court reschedules a hearing date, all opposition and reply papers 

shall be timely filed according to the originally noticed hearing date, pursuant to Civil L. R. 7-3.

A party or counsel has a continuing duty to supplement the initial disclosure when required 

under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(e)(1).

All filings of documents relating to motions referred to the undersigned shall list the civil 

case number and the district court judge’s initials followed by the designation “(JCS)”.

ELECTRONIC FILING AND COURTESY COPIES

Please refer to Civil L. R. 5-4 and General Order No. 45 for the Northern District of 

California for information relating to electronic filing procedures and requirements. 

BEFORE NOON ON THE NEXT BUSINESS DAY FOLLOWING THE ELECTRONIC 

FILING, THE PARTIES ARE REQUIRED TO LODGE DIRECTLY WITH CHAMBERS ONE 

PAPER COPY OF EACH DOCUMENT, WHICH IS TO BE DESIGNATED "JCS’S 

CHAMBERS' COPY." 

The failure of counsel or a party to abide by this Order may result in sanctions pursuant to 

Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(f).

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: June 24, 2015

___________________________

JOSEPH C. SPERO

United States Magistrate Judge

Case 3:08-cv-05221-SI Document 216 Filed 06/24/15 Page 3 of 3