1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 KEVIN HOFFMAN, Case No.: 3:25-cv-01519-H-AHG 12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION TO CONTINUE EARLY 13 v. NEUTRAL EVALUATION 14 FAIRFIELD RESIDENTIAL CC CONFERENCE AND CASE HOLDINGS, LLC; KIMBALL, TIREY & MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE 15 ST. JOHN, LLP; et al., 16 [ECF No. 29] Defendants. 17 18 19 20 Before the Court is the parties’ Joint Motion to Continue the Early Neutral 21 Evaluation (“ENE”) and Case Management Conference (“CMC”) currently set for 22 October 2, 2025. ECF No. 29. 23 Parties seeking to continue an ENE must demonstrate good cause. Chmb.R. at 2 24 (stating that any request for continuance requires “[a] showing of good cause for the 25 request”); ECF No. 11 at 6–7 (same); see FED. R. CIV. P. 6(b) (“When an act may or must 26 be done within a specified time, the court may, for good cause, extend the time”). Courts 27 have broad discretion in determining whether there is good cause. See, e.g., Johnson v. 28 Mammoth Recreations, Inc.,

(9th Cir. 1992); Liguori v. Hansen, No. 1 2:11cv492-GMN-CWH,

, at *12 (D. Nev. Mar. 6, 2012). “Good cause” 2 is a non-rigorous standard that has been construed broadly across procedural and statutory 3 contexts. Ahanchian v. Xenon Pictures, Inc.,

, 1259 (9th Cir. 2010). The 4 good cause standard focuses on the diligence of the party seeking to amend the scheduling 5 order and the reasons for seeking modification. Johnson,

(“[T]he focus of 6 the inquiry is upon the moving party’s reasons for seeking modification.... If that party was 7 not diligent, the inquiry should end.”) (internal citation omitted). Therefore, “a party 8 demonstrates good cause by acting diligently to meet the original deadlines set forth by the 9 court.” Merck v. Swift Transp. Co., No. CV-16-01103-PHX-ROS,

, at 10 *2 (D. Ariz. Sept. 19, 2018). 11 Here, the parties represent to the Court that Defendant Kimball, Tirey & St. John, 12 LLP (“KTS”) will be substituting a new attorney into the case. ECF No. 29 at 2. KTS 13 represents that “[t]he substitution process requires additional time to ensure the new 14 attorney is fully prepared to participate meaningfully in the ENE conference. Despite 15 diligent efforts, the current schedule cannot be met due to this transition.”

As such, the 16 parties request a continuance of the ENE and CMC. 17 The Court appreciates that the parties have been working together, and finds that 18 they have displayed diligence by meeting the original deadlines set forth by the Court, such 19 as the deadline for filing the Joint Case Management Statement. See ECF No. 28. As such, 20 the Court finds good cause to GRANT1 the joint motion as follows: 21 1. The ENE and CMC scheduled for October 2, 2025, are RESET for 22 October 29, 2025 at 2:15 p.m. before the Honorable Allison H. Goddard via 23 videoconference. 24 25 26 1 Though the parties request that the Court reschedule the ENE after November 3, 2025, 27 the parties do not explain the reasoning for that particular date. The Court does not have availability during the timeframe requested, and seeks to avoid delay. See CivLR 16.1(c) 28 1 2. Confidential ENE Statements Required: No later than October 22, 2025, 2 the parties shall submit confidential statements of five (5) pages or less directly to the 3 chambers of Magistrate Judge Goddard outlining the nature of the case, the claims, and the 4 defenses. These statements shall not be filed or served on opposing counsel. They shall 5 be lodged via email at [email protected]. The ENE statement is limited to 6 five (5) pages or less. There is not a page limit on exhibits. Each party’s ENE statement 7 must outline: 8 A. the nature of the case and the claims, 9 B. position on liability or defense, 10 C. position regarding settlement of the case with a specific2 11 demand/offer for settlement,3 and 12 D. any previous settlement negotiations or mediation efforts. 13 The Court may use GenAI tools to review the information that the parties submit. Either 14 party may object to the Court’s use of such tools by advising the Court’s law clerk of that 15 objection when they submit the information. The Court will respect that objection without 16 any further explanation, and the Court’s law clerk will only communicate to Judge Goddard 17 that there was an objection, not which party made the objection. 18 3. No later than October 22, 2025, counsel for each party shall send an e-mail 19 to the Court at [email protected] containing the following: 20 i. The name and title of each participant, including all named 21 parties and party representatives with full settlement authority, 22 23 24 2 A general statement, such as that a party “will negotiate in good faith,” is a not a specific 25 demand or offer. 26 3 If a specific demand or offer cannot be made at the time the ENE statement is submitted, 27 then the reasons as to why a demand or offer cannot be made must be stated. Further, the 28 party must explain when they will be in a position to state a demand or offer. 1 claims adjusters for insured defendants, and the primary 2 attorney(s) responsible for the litigation; 3 li. An e-mail address for each participant to receive the Zoom 4 videoconference invitation; 5 iii. A telephone number where each participant may be reached; 6 and 7 iv. Acell phone number for that party’s preferred point of 8 contact (and the name of the individual whose cell phone it is) 9 for the Court to use during the ENE to alert counsel via text 10 message that the Court will soon return to that party’s Breakout 11 Room, to avoid any unexpected interruptions of confidential 12 discussions. 13 4. All participants shall display the same level of professionalism during the 14 || ENE and CMC and be prepared to devote their full attention to the conferences as if they 15 || were attending in person, 1.e., cannot be driving or in a car while speaking to the Court. 16 || Because Zoom may quickly deplete the battery of a participant’s device, each participant 17 ||should ensure that their device is plugged in or that a charging cable is readily available 18 || during the video conference. 19 5. Counsel are advised that although the ENE and CMC will take place on Zoom, 20 || all participants shall appear and conduct themselves as if it is proceeding in a courtroom, 21 all participants must dress in appropriate courtroom attire. 22 6. All other requirements and procedures set forth in the Court’s original Order 23 || setting the ENE and CMC—such as the required participants, definition of full settlement 24 || authority, videoconference procedures, among others—remain in place. See ECF No. 11; 25 || see also ECF No. 21 (excusing Equifax from ENE); ECF No. 27 (excusing Trans Union 26 ENE). 27 IT IS SO ORDERED. ! | | 28 || Dated: September 25, 2025 Fable Allison H. Goddard United States Magistrate Judge