Opinion
3:24-cv-00682-BAS-VET
08-09-2024
ZACK KIMBALL, an individual, Plaintiff, v. COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO; and EMILIO CASTILLERO SH0617, Defendants.
ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION TO CONTINUE EARLY NEUTRAL EVALUATION AND CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE
[DOC. NO. 11]
Honorable Valene E. Torres United States Magistrate Judge
Before the Court is the parties' Joint Motion to Continue the ENE Conference and Case Management Conference (“Joint Motion”). Doc. No. 11. Therein, the parties request that the Court continue the Early Neutral Evaluation and Case Management Conference (“ENE/CMC”) set for August 14, 2024 by one week. Id. at 1. The continuance is necessary because Plaintiff's counsel will begin trial in another matter on August 13, 2024. Id. at 2.
The Court's Notice and Order setting the ENE/CMC requires that a party seeking to continue the ENE based on pre-existing conflicts make the request within ten days of the order being issued. See Doc. No. 9 at 6. Moreover, requests for a continuance “must be made as soon as counsel is aware of the circumstances that warrant rescheduling[.]” Id. The parties here fail to identify when Plaintiff's counsel became aware that a conflicting trial would commence on August 13, 2024. The docket in Moller v. County of San Bernandino, et al., however, confirms that the court in that case set the August 13, 2024 trial date as early as May 20, 2024. See Moller, No. 5:22-cv-01306-DSF-MSR (C.D. Cal. May 20, 2024), Doc. No. 211. Thus, it appears the parties failed to follow the Court's mandatory instructions regarding continuances for an ENE/CMC.
Given the parties' belated request, the Court's calendar cannot accommodate an ENE/CMC on August 21, 2024 or even shortly thereafter. The Court GRANTS the Joint Motion to ensure all counsel are present at the ENE/CMC but advises the parties that no further continuances will be granted absent extraordinary circumstances . The Court ORDERS the following:
1. The ENE/CMC is hereby CONTINUED to October 3, 2024 at 9:30 a.m. before Magistrate Judge Valerie E. Torres.
2. The parties are not required to resubmit their confidential settlement briefs, participant lists, and the joint discovery plan, but may supplement as necessary and appropriate by September 26, 2024 .
3. All other requirements set forth in the Notice and Order Setting the ENE/CMC (Doc. No. 9) remain in effect.
IT IS SO ORDERED.