Jones v. Becerra

8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA MATTHEW JONES, et al., Case No.: 3:19-cv-1226-L-AHG 12 Plaintiffs, v. ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION TO MODIFY DEADLINE XAVIER BECERRA, in his official FOR CLOSE OF FACT DISCOVERY capacity as Attorney General of the State of California, et al., [ECF No. 64] Defendants.

19 This matter comes before the Court on the parties’ Joint Motion to Modify Deadline for Close of Fact Discovery. ECF No. 64.

21 Under Fed. R. Civ. P 16(b)(4), “[a] schedule may be modified only for good cause and with the judge’s consent.” “Good cause” is a non-rigorous standard that has been construed broadly across procedural and statutory contexts. Ahanchian v. Xenon Pictures, Inc., 624 F.3d 1253, 1259 (9th Cir. 2010). The good cause standard focuses on the diligence of the party seeking to amend the scheduling order and the reasons for seeking modification. Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 609 (9th Cir. 1992).

27 “[T]he court may modify the schedule on a showing of good cause if it cannot reasonably be met despite the diligence of the party seeking the extension.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 16, advisory ||committee’s notes to 1983 amendment. Therefore, “a party demonstrates good cause by acting diligently to meet the original deadlines set forth by the court.” Merck v. Swift || Transportation Co., No. CV-16-01103-PHX-ROS, 2018 WL 4492362, at *2 (D. Ariz. 4 19, 2018).

5 Here, the parties explain that, though they have pursued discovery diligently, they require an additional thirty to forty days to complete fact discovery. ECF No. 64 at 3. The || parties represent that they have exchanged responses to discovery requests, have scheduled || several depositions to occur in October and November, and are working together to resolve |/any issues related to discovery responses. Jd. However, counsel for both parties have |}unexpectedly heavy caseloads and also are experiencing challenges in scheduling || depositions due to scheduling conflicts. Jd. Accordingly, they submit that good cause exists || to extend the fact discovery cutoff from November 6, 2020 to December 15, 2020. Id. at 13 4.

14 Upon due consideration, the Court finds the parties have shown good cause to ||}GRANT the joint motion. The deadline for completing fact discovery is extended to || December 15, 2020. All other dates and deadlines remain as previously set.

17 IT IS SO ORDERED.

18 Dated: October 28, 2020 19 _ Siow. Xion Honorable Allison H. Goddard 20 United States Magistrate Judge