Opinion
20-CV-1453-JLS-WVG
09-21-2021
ALBERTO LOPEZ, Plaintiff, v. SMITHS DETECTION, INC., et al., Defendants.
ORDER SETTING BRIEFING SCHEDULE AND TELEPHONIC DISCOVERY CONFERENCE
HON. WILLIAM V. GALLO UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
On September 20, 2021, counsel for the Parties jointly contacted this Court's Chambers regarding three discovery disputes concerning (1) Defendant's failure to produce certain documents identifying total gross margins of profit during the relevant time period; (2) Defendant's objections to Plaintiff's counsel deposing Maria Cabal on the entry and removal of certain orders in Defendant's order entry system; and (3) Defendant's objection to Plaintiff's counsel deposing a person most knowledgeable (“PMK”) regarding Defendant's process of gathering and producing documents to Plaintiff throughout discovery. Justin Walker appeared for Plaintiff. Carmen Cole and Lilah Sutphen appeared for Defendant.
As to the first issue, defense counsel represented to Chambers they would produce, no later than this Friday, September 24, 2021, additional documents that may be responsive to Plaintiff's request for total gross margins of profit data. Accordingly, the Court ORDERS Defendant to make this document production no later than 9:00 a.m. on Friday, September 24, 2021 . Plaintiff's counsel shall review the entirety of Defendant's forthcoming document production prior to 1:00 p.m. on Friday, September 24, 2021 .
Further, counsel for the Parties shall telephonically appear for a discovery conference on Friday, September 24, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. No. later than Thursday, September 23, 2021 at 5:00 p.m. , counsel shall lodge their appearances and the telephone numbers at which they can be reached directly for the September 24, 2021 telephonic discovery conference. To this end, no later than 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 23, 2021 , counsel shall lodge a joint statement as to each of the three disputes, explaining (1) when each of the above-referenced discovery requests were due; (2) when discovery responses and any objections were due; and (3) when discovery responses and any objections were in fact served. The Parties' joint statement shall consist of no more than three pages and include supporting exhibits, where appropriate. Should the Court find the three disputes time-barred after reviewing the Parties' joint statement, the Court will issue an order vacating the September 24, 2021 discovery conference and no further discussion will be held on any of the three matters.
Separately, on September 21, 2021, counsel for the Parties jointly contacted this Court's Chambers requesting that the Court continue the September 30, 2021 fact discovery cut-off to accommodate the Parties' stipulation to convene Plaintiff's deposition of Shan Hood on October 7, 2021, after Mr. Hood became unavailable for deposition prior to the fact discovery cut-off. Pursuant to Civil Chambers Rule III(C), the Court ORDERS counsel to file a joint motion to amend the operative scheduling order no later than Friday, September 24, 2021 setting forth the specific reasons underlying the Parties' request and what efforts the Parties have undertaken thus far to attempt to comply with the Court's September 30, 2021 fact discovery cut-off.
IT IS SO ORDERED.