1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 USAA GENERAL INDEMNITY CO. No. 2:23–cv–00276–CKD 12 Plaintiff, ORDER 13 v. 14 ELECTROLUX NORTH AMERICA, INC., 15 Defendant. 16 17 READ THIS ORDER CAREFULLY. IT CONTAINS IMPORTANT DATES THAT 18 THE COURT WILL STRICTLY ENFORCE AND WITH WHICH ALL COUNSEL AND 19 PARTIES MUST COMPLY. FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THE TERMS OF THIS ORDER 20 MAY RESULT IN THE IMPOSITION OF MONETARY AND ALL OTHER APPROPRIATE 21 SANCTIONS, INCLUDING DISMISSAL OR AN ORDER OF JUDGMENT. 22 The parties’ joint status report is before the court.1 (ECF No. 11.) 23 Having reviewed the joint status report, the Court now issues the following pretrial 24 scheduling order. 25 //// 26

27 1 After all parties consented to the jurisdiction of a United States Magistrate Judge for all purposes pursuant to

(c), this action was reassigned to the undersigned for all 28 further proceedings and entry of final judgment. (ECF No. 6.) 1 NATURE OF THE CASE 2 Plaintiff brings negligence, strict liability, and breach of express and implied warranty 3 claims against defendant. (ECF No. 1-1 at 8.) These claims arose after fire at the property of 4 plaintiff’s insured, Jeffrey Galvan. (Id. at 8, para. 3.) Plaintiff alleges that the refrigerator, which 5 was manufactured, sold, and distributed by defendant, started the fire and caused damages in the 6 amount of $579,237.78, which plaintiff paid to its insured under a homeowner’s policy. (Id. at 7 para. 9). This action was removed from state court on February 10, 2023. (ECF No. 1) 8 SERVICE OF PROCESS 9 All parties have been served with the operative complaint. No further service is permitted 10 except with leave of Court, good cause having been shown. 11 JOINDER OF PARTIES/AMENDMENT OF PLEADINGS 12 No further joinder of parties or amendments to pleadings are permitted except with leave 13 of Court, good cause having been shown. 14 JURISDICTION/VENUE 15 Jurisdiction and venue are undisputed and found to be proper. 16 INITIAL DISCLOSURES 17 The parties have exchanged initial disclosures. (ECF No. 11 at 2.) 18 CHANGES TO LIMITATIONS ON DISCOVERY 19 The parties do not seek any changes to the Rule 26(a) disclosure rules. (Id.) They do not 20 intend to seek discovery in phases or limited to or focused on any particular issue. The parties do 21 not anticipate requiring any changes to the number of interrogatories or depositions allowed. 22 DISCOVERY DEADLINES, PROCEDURES FOR DISCOVERY DISPUTES 23 Non-expert discovery shall be completed2 by January 18, 2025. Any discovery-related 24 motions must conform to the requirements of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and this 25 Court’s Local Rules, including Local Rule 251. Judge Delaney generally hears civil motions on 26

27 2 “Completed” means (1) all discovery shall have been conducted so that all depositions have been taken and (2) any disputes related to discovery shall have been resolved by appropriate order 28 if necessary and, where discovery has been ordered, the order has been complied with. 1 Wednesdays at 10:00 a.m. 2 Prior to filing any discovery-related motions, the parties are required to meet and confer in 3 good faith in an attempt to resolve their discovery disputes informally and without court 4 intervention. Such meet and confer shall take place in person, or at a minimum, via a telephonic 5 conference. The mere exchange of letters or e-mails alone is not sufficient. As part of their joint 6 statement related to a discovery motion submitted pursuant to Local Rule 251, the parties shall 7 also specifically outline: (a) what meet-and-confer efforts were undertaken; (b) when and where 8 such discussions took place; (c) who was present; and (d) how the parties’ disputes were 9 narrowed as a result of such discussions. Failure to comply with these requirements may result in 10 summary denial of any discovery motion. 11 The Court strongly encourages the use of informal telephonic discovery conferences with 12 the Court in lieu of formal discovery motion practice. The procedures and conditions for 13 requesting and conducting such an informal telephonic discovery conference are outlined in 14 Judge Delaney’s “Order re Informal Telephonic Conferences re Discovery Disputes,” posted on 15 the Court’s website at http://www.caed.uscourts.gov/caednew/index.cfm/judges/all-judges/5055/. 16 Additionally, subject to the Court’s availability, the Court will also rule on disputes encountered 17 at oral depositions, so as to avoid such depositions from breaking down. In the course of the 18 deposition, the parties may contact Judge Delaney’s courtroom deputy clerk at (916) 930-4004 to 19 inquire regarding Judge Delaney’s availability. However, the parties are cautioned that these 20 informal procedures are not to be abused, and the Court may impose appropriate sanctions on an 21 offending party or parties, even in the course of informal discovery conferences. 22 EXPERT DISCLOSURES AND DISCOVERY 23 The parties shall disclose any expert witnesses in accordance with the specifications of 24 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(2) no later than February 15, 2025. Any rebuttal expert 25 disclosures shall be made in accordance with the specifications of Federal Rule of Civil 26 Procedure 26(a)(2) no later than March 15, 2025. Expert disclosures shall be filed with the Court 27 and served upon all other parties. All expert discovery shall be completed (see fn. 3) by April 5, 28 2025. The same procedures for fact–discovery disputes apply to expert–discovery disputes. 1 An expert witness not timely disclosed will not be permitted to testify unless the party 2 offering the witness demonstrates that: (a) the necessity of the witness could not have been 3 reasonably anticipated at the time that the expert disclosures were due; (b) the Court and opposing 4 counsel were promptly notified upon discovery of the witness; and (c) the witness was promptly 5 proffered for deposition. Failure to provide the information required by Federal Rule of Civil 6 Procedure 26(a)(2) along with the expert disclosures may lead to preclusion of the expert’s 7 testimony or other appropriate sanctions. 8 LAW AND MOTION 9 All law and motion, except as to discovery-related matters, shall be completed (i.e. heard) 10 by April 30, 2025. Counsel and/or parties proceeding without counsel are cautioned to refer to 11 the Local Rules regarding the requirements for noticing such motions on the Court’s regularly 12 scheduled law and motion calendar, including, but not limited to, Local Rule 230. Judge Delaney 13 generally hears civil motions on Wednesdays at 10:00 a.m. This paragraph does not preclude 14 motions for continuances, motions in limine related to trial, temporary restraining orders, or other 15 emergency applications, for which the Court may set a special briefing schedule, if necessary or 16 appropriate. 17 ALL PURELY LEGAL ISSUES ARE TO BE RESOLVED BY TIMELY PRETRIAL 18 MOTION. The purpose of law and motion is to narrow and refine the legal issues raised by the 19 case, as well as to dispose of those issues that are susceptible to resolution without trial by pretrial 20 motion. To accomplish that purpose, the parties need to identify and fully research the issues 21 presented by the case, then examine those issues in light of the evidence obtained through 22 discovery. If it appears to counsel after examining the legal issues and facts that an issue can be 23 resolved by pretrial motion, counsel are to file the appropriate motion consistent with the law and 24 motion cutoff set forth above. Conversely, motions in limine are procedural devices designed to 25 address the admissibility of evidence. THE COURT WILL LOOK WITH DISFAVOR UPON 26 SUBSTANTIVE MOTIONS PRESENTED UNDER THE GUISE OF MOTIONS IN LIMINE 27 AT THE TIME OF TRIAL. 28 //// 1 FINAL PRETRIAL CONFERENCE/TRIAL SETTING 2 The Court declines to set final pretrial conference and trial dates at this time. Instead, the 3 Court orders the parties to submit a Notice of Trial Readiness on one of the following timelines: 4 A. After resolution of any pending dispositive motions, the parties are to submit the 5 Notice not later than thirty (30) days after receiving the court’s ruling(s) on the last 6 filed dispositive motion(s); or 7 B. If the parties do not intend to file dispositive motions, the parties are ordered to file the 8 Notice not later than one hundred twenty (120) days after the close of discovery and 9 the notice must include statements of intent to forgo the filing of dispositive motions. 10 In the Notice of Trial Readiness, the parties are to set forth the appropriateness of special 11 procedures, their estimated trial length, any request for a jury, their availability for trial, and if the 12 parties are willing to attend a settlement conference. The Notice shall also estimate how many 13 court days each party will require to present its case, including opening statements and closing 14 arguments. The parties' estimate shall include time necessary for jury selection, time necessary to 15 finalize jury instructions and instruct the jury. After review of the parties’ Joint Notice of Trial 16 Readiness, the court will issue an order that sets forth dates for a final pretrial conference and 17 trial. 18 OBJECTIONS 19 Any objections to this pretrial scheduling order shall be filed within seven (7) days. 20 SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE 21 The parties request that a settlement conference be scheduled. (ECF No. 11 at 4.) Within 22 fourteen (14) days of this order, the parties SHALL contact the undersigned’s courtroom deputy 23 clerk to inquire as to the availability of another magistrate judge for a settlement conference. 24 VDRP 25 The parties completed the VDRP process, but the case did not settle. 26 MODIFICATION OF THIS SCHEDULING ORDER 27 The parties are reminded that pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16(b)(4), this 28 order shall not be modified except by leave of court upon a showing of “good cause.” See 1 || Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, Inc.,

(9th Cir. 1992). Mere agreement by the 2 || parties pursuant to a stipulation does not constitute good cause. Nor does the unavailability of 3 || witnesses or counsel, except in extraordinary circumstances, constitute good cause. 4 | Dated: April 7, 2024 Card ke Lg a 5 CAROLYN K DELANEY? 6 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 7 || 21.usaa.0276 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28