Opinion
1:20-cv-00959-ADA-SAB
10-11-2023
JOSE MIGUEL QUEZADA, Plaintiff, v. STATE OF CALIFORNIA, et al., Defendants.
ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO EXTEND DISPOSITIVE MOTION FILING DEADLINE
(ECF NO. 59)
On June 30, 2023, Defendants filed a motion to extend the non-expert discovery deadline in order to take Plaintiff Quezada's deposition, and asked the Court to also modify the expert discovery and dispositive motion deadlines to accommodate such a deposition. (ECF No. 46.) On August 16, 2023, the Court issued an order that denied Defendants' motion, but set the expert discovery cutoff for August 31, 2023, and the dispositive motion deadline for September 29, 2023. (ECF No. 51.) On September 5, 2023, the Court granted Defendant's motion to extend the expert discovery deadline until September 30, 2023, based on difficulty in setting depositions. (ECF No. 53.) On September 29, 2023, the Court granted the parties' stipulated motion to extend the expert discovery deadline until October 30, 2023. (ECF Nos. 54, 56.) In that order, the Court stated “given the history underlying the discovery in this action, no further extensions will be granted, and the parties are expected to prioritize the completion of discovery in this action.” (ECF No. 56 at 2 (emphasis in original).)
On the same date, September 29, 2023, Defendants filed a motion for summary judgment. (ECF No. 55.) On October 2, 2023, the District Judge, noting the motion lacked the required meet and confer statement, denied the motion without prejudice, and ordered Defendants to file any renewed motion for summary judgment within five (5) court days. (ECF No. 57.) Given the court holiday, the deadline to file the motion was October 10, 2023.
On October 10, 2023, Defendants filed a motion for a seven (7) day extension of the dispositive motion filing deadline. (ECF No. 59.) Defendants proffer they met and conferred with Plaintiff's counsel over the phone and by email on October 3, 4, and 9, 2023, to determine whether the parties could stipulate to an extension of the dispositive motion deadline. Plaintiff's counsel initially indicated on October 9, 2023, that she would be agreeable to stipulate to a sevenday extension of the dispositive motion deadline, however, the parties were unable to reach an agreement on the stipulation prior to the filing deadline on October 10, 2023, which necessitated Defendants' filing of the motion. Defendants further proffer that the parties are in the process of meeting and conferring regarding Defendants' motion for summary judgment, and are simultaneously negotiating the potential resolution of several of Plaintiff's claims or of the entire action. Defendants proffer that additional time is needed for the parties to complete their negotiations, which may obviate the need for Defendants to re-file their motion for summary judgment. Defendants specifically proffer that the parties have discussed the potential dismissal of certain claims addressed in the motion for summary judgment, and have also discussed a potential resolution of the case entirely.
In light of the fact the Defendants did file their motion for summary judgment by the initial deadline and have been meeting and conferring in good faith pursuant to the District Judge's order, in the interests of allowing the parties to continue negotiations prior to the re-filing of a motion for summary judgment, and considering the short extension of time requested, the Court does not find it necessary to order an opposition or non-opposition from Plaintiff, and finds good cause to grant the motion and extend the deadline for Defendants to file the motion for summary judgment.
Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:
1. Defendants' motion for an extension of time (ECF No. 59), is GRANTED; and
2. The dispositive motion filing deadline is extended until October 17, 2023.
IT IS SO ORDERED.