1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 OLIVER GRAY, Case No. 1:20-cv-00902-JLT-HBK (PC) 12 Plaintiff, DISCOVERY AND SCHEDULING ORDER 13 v. Deadline to Respond to Complaint 01/22/24 Deadline for Exhaustion-Based Motion: 04/08/24 14 C. FLORES, Deadline to Amend Pleadings: 07/08/24 Deadline to Complete Discovery: 10/08/24 15 Defendant. Deadline for Dispositive Motion(s): 01/08/25 16 17 On January 7, 2024, the Court granted Defendant’s request to opt out of early ADR. 18 (Doc. No. 34). The Court directs Defendant to file a response to the claim deemed cognizable in 19 Plaintiff’s Complaint no later than January 22, 2024. (See Doc. Nos. 1, 21, 26, 27). Pursuant 20 to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 1, 16, and 26-37, the Court sets forth the following case 21 management deadlines and discovery procedures for this case as follows: 22 I. Written Discovery: 23 Discovery requests shall be served by the parties in compliance with Rule 5 of the Federal 24 Rules of Civil Procedure (Fed. R. Civ. P.) and Eastern District of California Local Rule 135. 25 Discovery requests and responses shall not be filed with the Court unless required by Eastern 26 District California Local Rules 250.2, 250.3 and 250.4. Absent leave of Court, discovery is 27 limited as follows: 28 The parties are limited to 15 interrogatories under Fed. R. Civ. P. 33; 1 The parties are limited to 15 requests for admission under Fed. R. Civ. P. 36; 2 The parties are limited to 15 requests to produce under Fed. R. Civ. P. 34. 3 Responses to documents shall include all documents within a party’s possession, custody, 4 or control. Fed. R. Civ. P. 34(a)(1). Documents are deemed within a party’s possession, custody, 5 or control if the party has actual possession, custody, or control thereof, or the legal right to 6 obtain the property on demand. Allen v. Woodford,

, at *2 (E.D. Cal. 2007). 7 Responses to written discovery including the production of documents shall be due within 8 forty-five (45) days after the request is served. Boilerplate objections are disfavored and may be 9 summarily overruled by the Court. All discovery must be completed by the above-referenced 10 discovery cut-off date. 11 The parties are required to act in good faith during discovery and are required to meet and 12 confer, via correspondence or telephonically, to resolve any discovery dispute prior to filing any 13 discovery motion. Any motions to compel should be file promptly after the objectionably 14 discovery and no later than fourteen (14) days after the discovery cut-off date, i.e., October 15 22, 2024. Failure to timely file a motion to compel will result in a waiver of any objections 16 to discovery. The moving party must include certification that they have complied with 17 their duty to meet and confer. The failure to include a certification or show good cause for 18 failure to meet and confer will result in the motion being stricken. The fact that Plaintiff is 19 incarcerated does not constitute good cause to excuse the meet and confer requirement. 20 II. Depositions 21 Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 30(a)(2)(B), Defendants may depose Plaintiff and any other 22 witness confined in a prison upon condition that, at least fourteen (14) days before such a 23 deposition, Defendants serve all parties with the notice required by Rule 30(b)(1). Pursuant to 24 Fed. R, Civ. P. 30(b)(4), the parties may take any deposition under this section by video 25 conference, relieving the court reporter of the requirement to be in the physical presence of the 26 witness under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 28(a)(1) during that deposition. Nothing herein 27 forecloses a party from bringing a motion for protective order pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c)(1) 28 if deemed necessary. een eee III IE I OSE II IEE EE

1 Disagreement with any directive of security staff at the institution or prison at which the 2 | deposition is scheduled is not a basis for the Plaintiff to refuse to answer questions, and the failure 3 | of Plaintiff to attend, be sworn, or answer appropriate questions may result in sanctions, including 4 | terminating the action as provided in Fed. R. Civ. P. 37. 5 III. Case Management Deadlines 6 The following deadlines shall govern this action: 7 A. Deadline to challenge exhaustion of administrative remedies: April 8, 2024. 8 B. Deadline to amend pleadings: July 8, 2024.! 9 C. Deadline to complete non-expert discovery: October 8, 2024. Any motions to compel 10 | must be filed no later than fourteen (14) days after the discovery cut-off date. 11 D. Deadline to file pre-trial dispositive motions: January 8, 2025. 12 E. In addition to complying with the applicable rules, a motion and incorporated 13 | memorandum and any responses in opposition shall not exceed twenty-five (25) pages in length, 14 | exclusive of exhibits. A reply shall not exceed seven (7) pages in length. A party must move and 15 | show good cause for exceeding these page limitations. Any motions filed in excess of these page 16 | limitations may be struck. 17 F. Defendants shall lodge a Word version of any dispositive motion to chambers at: 18 | [email protected]. 19 Any requests for an extension to any deadline set in this Order must be filed at least seven 20 || (7) days prior to its expiration. The deadlines set forth above are firm and will only be extended 21 | upon a showing of good cause. Eleventh hours motions, i.e., motions filed on the eve of the 22 || deadline expiration will be granted only upon a showing of extraordinary circumstances. Dated: _ January 7, 2024 Mile. fares Back 24 HELENA M. BARCH-KUCHTA 35 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

26 27 ' This date does not permit any party to unilaterally file an amended pleading. Any amendments to the pleadings must comply with all applicable Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (i.e., Rule 15) and Local Rules 28 || (i.e., Local Rule 220).