Opinion
2:07-cv-448-GEB-DAD.
January 11, 2008
ORDER
On January 10, 2008, the parties filed a "Stipulation and [Proposed] Order Requesting Early Settlement Conference and Staying Status (Pretrial Scheduling) Order Dates," in which the parties stipulate, subject to the approval of this Court, to "attend an early settlement conference before Magistrate Judge Drozd on January 31, 2008." Since the undersigned judge's deputy clerk has received assurance that Magistrate Judge Drozd is willing to conduct an early settlement conference in this action, a settlement conference is scheduled before Magistrate Judge Drozd on January 31, 2008, commencing at 10:00 a.m. Each party is directed to have a principal with authority to settle the case on any terms present at the settlement conference.
The parties further "waive any claim of disqualification [based on Judge Drozd's role as settlement judge] for [Judge] Drozd to act as Magistrate Judge in the action thereafter."
In addition, each party is directed to submit a settlement conference statement directly to the chambers of Judge Drozd, the settlement judge, five (5) court days prior to the settlement conference. Such statements shall not be filed with the clerk nor served on opposing counsel. However, each party shall notify the other party or parties that the statement has been submitted to the judge's chambers.
The parties also "request . . . a modification of the scheduling order." Since an early settlement conference has been scheduled, the Rule 16 Scheduling Order will be modified but not precisely as the parties propose because their proposal does not fashion workable procedures designed to create a "binding scheduling order." Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 610 (9th Cir. 1992). Accordingly, the Rule 16 Scheduling Order is modified as follows:
(1) All non-expert discovery shall be completed by May 23, 2008;
(2) Each party shall comply with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(2)'s initial expert witness disclosure and report requirements on or before July 23, 2008, and with the rebuttal expert disclosures authorized under the Rule on or before August 22, 2008;
(2) All expert discovery shall be completed by December 23, 2008;
(3) The last hearing date for motions shall be February 23, 2009, at 9:00 a.m.;
(4) The final pretrial conference is set for April 27, 2009, at 1:30 p.m.; and
(5) Trial is scheduled to commence at 9:00 a.m. on June 9, 2009.
Since the above schedule reduces the amount of time between the trial commencement date and the final pretrial conference, it is unlikely that a settlement conference supervised by a federal judge will be scheduled after the final pretrial conference, which a wider gap is designed to accommodate.
IT IS SO ORDERED.