Sears v. City of Oroville

8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 Michael Sears, No. 2:22-cv-01624-KJM-KJN 12 Plaintiff, ORDER 13 v. City of Oroville, 1S Defendant.

17 Plaintiff Michael Sears brings this employment action against the City of Oroville.

18 | Compl., ECF No. 1. Oroville moves to dismiss two claims for failure to state a claim. Mot., ECF | No. 7. In Oroville’s notice of motion, its counsel notes calling plaintiff's counsel requesting to | meet and confer five days before filing, leaving a voicemail, and then following up by email with | “a detailed description of each argument Defendant intended to raise.” /d. at 2. Plaintiff's | counsel never responded. /d.

23 This court’s standing order requires attorneys to meet and confer with one another before | they file motions. See Standing Order at 3, ECF No. 3-1; Mollica v. County of Sacramento, | No. 19-2017, 2022 WL 15053335, at *1 (E.D. Cal. Oct. 26, 2022). Attorneys who intend to file | motions must “discuss thoroughly the substance of the contemplated motion and any potential | resolution.” /d. “Counsel should discuss the issues sufficiently so that if a motion of any kind is | filed... the briefing is directed only to those substantive issues requiring resolution by the court.”

2 | dd.

3 With respect to the motion pending in this case, the court acknowledges the defense’s | exhaustion of meet and confer, notwithstanding plaintiff's non-responsiveness. The court is not | willing to excuse plaintiff's non-compliance with its standing order. “Meeting and conferring | saves time and money for all involved—if done correctly. Productive discussions spare both the | moving and opposing party the time they would otherwise have devoted to writing unnecessary or | ineffective arguments.” Mollica, 2022 WL 15053335, at *1. For these reasons, plaintiffs | counsel is ordered to show cause why monetary sanctions of $250 should not be imposed for | failure to meet and confer with defense counsel in compliance with this court’s standing | order. Plaintiff's counsel must show cause within seven (7) days of the filing date of this order.

12 IT IS SO ORDERED.

13 DATED: February 9, 2023.

CHIEF ED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE