1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 IN RE ALEJANDRO CERVANTES, No. 1:20-cv-00837-DAD 12 Debtor,

13 THOMAS O. GILLIS, ORDER CONSOLIDATING CASES

14 Appellant No. 1:20-cv-00822-DAD 15 v. No. 1:20-cv-00834-DAD 16 TRACY HOPE DAVIS, United States Trustee, MICHAEL H. MEYER, Chapter 17 13 Trustee, 18 Appellees. 19 IN RE JULIE BARRERA MARTINEZ 20 AND BLANCA ESMERALDA CHINCHILLA, 21 Debtors, 22

THOMAS O. GILLIS, 23

Appellant 24 v. 25 TRACY HOPE DAVIS, United States 26 Trustee, MICHAEL H. MEYER, Chapter 13 Trustee, 27

Appellees. 28 1 IN RE THOMAS O. GILLIS, 2 Debtor, 3 THOMAS O. GILLIS, 4 Appellant 5 v. 6 TRACY HOPE DAVIS, United States 7 Trustee, MICHAEL H. MEYER, Chapter 13 Trustee, 8 Appellees. 9

10 11 On May 4, 2021, appellee Tracy Hope Davis, United States Trustee for Region 17, 12 appellee Michael H. Meyer, Chapter 13 trustee, and appellant Mr. Thomas O. Gillis filed a joint 13 stipulation seeking to consolidate the above-captioned bankruptcy appeal, In re Alejandro 14 Cervantes, No 1:20-cv-00837-DAD, with the two related bankruptcy appeals also assigned to this 15 court, In re Julie Barrera Martinez and Blanca Esmeralda Chinchilla, No. 1:20-cv-00822-DAD, 16 and In re Thomas O. Gillis, No. 1:20-cv-00834-DAD. (Doc. No. 15 at 1–2.) The parties also 17 stipulate that a single brief be filed by each party to the appeals and one optional reply brief by 18 the appellant. (Id. at 2) 19 Pursuant to Rule 42(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, “[i]f actions before the 20 court involve a common question of law or fact, the court may: (1) join for hearing or trial any or 21 all matters at issue in the actions; (2) consolidate the actions; or (3) issue any other orders to 22 avoid unnecessary cost or delay.” In exercising its discretion, the court “weighs the saving of 23 time and effort consolidation would produce against any inconvenience, delay, or expense that it 24 would cause.” Huene v. United States,

(9th Cir. 1984). 25 Here, the court finds that the above-captioned actions involve the same or similar parties, 26 claims, and questions of fact or law, and that consolidation will avoid unnecessary costs and 27 duplication of proceedings. Thus, good cause exists to consolidate these cases. 28 1 Accordingly, 2 1. The above-referenced cases shall be consolidated for all purposes pursuant to Rule 3 42(a); 4 2. The Clerk of the Court is directed to file this order in each of the above-referenced 5 cases; and 6 3. Going forward, the parties and the Clerk of the Court are directed to file 7 documents under only the lead case number. Future captions should indicate the 8 lead case number followed by the member case numbers as follows: 9 Lead Case: 1:20-cv-00837-DAD 10 Member Cases: 1:20-cv-00822-DAD 11 1:20-cv-00834-DAD 12 | IT IS SO ORDERED. 8 Dated: _ May 5, 2021 al, A “7 14 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28