1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 MARTIN J. BIBBS, Case No. 1:24-cv-01323-KES-BAM (PC) 12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR A 45-DAY EXTENSION OF 13 v. THE DEADLINE TO FILE AN EXHAUSTION DISPOSITIVE MOTION 14 DEVINE, (ECF No. 28) 15 Defendant. Exhaustion Motion Deadline: December 11, 16 2025 17 18 I. Background 19 Plaintiff Martin J. Bibbs (“Plaintiff”) is a state prisoner proceeding pro se in this civil 20 rights action pursuant to

. This action proceeds on Plaintiff’s first amended 21 complaint against Defendant Dr. Devine for violation of the Eighth Amendment for the 22 cancellation of treatment. 23 Pursuant to the Court’s June 27, 2025 Discovery and Scheduling Order, the deadline for 24 filing motions for summary judgment for failure to exhaust administrative remedies is October 25 27, 2025, the deadline for completion of all discovery is February 27, 2026, and the deadline for 26 filing all dispositive motions (other than a motion for summary judgment for failure to exhaust is 27 May 7, 2026. (ECF No. 26.) 28 1 II. Defendant’s Motion 2 Currently before the Court is Defendant’s motion to extend the deadline to file an 3 exhaustion-based motion for summary judgment, filed October 17, 2025. (ECF No. 28.) 4 Defendant requests that the Court extend the current October 27, 2025 deadline to file a motion 5 for summary judgment regarding exhaustion by forty-five days, up to and including December 6 11, 2025. (Id.) Plaintiff has not had an opportunity to file a response, but the Court finds a 7 response unnecessary. The motion is deemed submitted. Local Rule 230(l). 8 Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16(b), a scheduling order “may be modified 9 only for good cause and with the judge’s consent.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b)(4). The “good cause” 10 standard “primarily considers the diligence of the party seeking the amendment.” Johnson v. 11 Mammoth Recreations, Inc.,

(9th Cir. 1992). The court may modify the 12 scheduling order “if it cannot reasonably be met despite the diligence of the party seeking the 13 extension.”

If the party was not diligent, the inquiry should end.

14 Defense counsel states that good cause supports the requested extension because defense 15 counsel is awaiting Plaintiff’s responses to Defendant’s interrogatories. (ECF No. 28 at 3-4.) 16 Defense counsel reportedly obtained and investigated Plaintiff’s administrative grievances for the 17 relevant time frame, met with the grievance coordinator at Plaintiff’s institution, and propounded 18 written discovery to Plaintiff to clarify his administrative grievances related to the claims in his 19 amended complaint. Plaintiff’s responses to Defendant’s interrogatories are due on October 27, 20 2025. (Id. at 3, 6-7.) Defense counsel therefore contends that additional time is needed to 21 complete an exhaustion-based motion for summary judgment because counsel is awaiting receipt 22 of Plaintiff’s responses to Defendant’s interrogatories, which are currently due on October 27, 23 2025. (Id. at 3.) Defense counsel also asserts that additional time is needed to complete the 24 motion due to other demands in defense counsel’s workload. (Id. at 3, 7.) 25 Having considered Defendant’s motion, the Court finds good cause to grant the requested 26 modification of the scheduling order. Defendant has been diligent in investigating Plaintiff’s 27 administrative grievances and pursuing relevant discovery in anticipation of an exhaustion-based 28 motion. The Court further finds that Plaintiff will not be prejudiced by the brief extension of time 1 granted here as no trial has been set and no other deadlines will be changed by the requested 2 extension. 3 III. Order 4 Based on the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED as follows: 5 1. Defendant’s motion for a forty-five-day extension of the deadline to file an exhaustion 6 motion, ECF No. 28, is GRANTED. 7 2. The deadline for filing motions for summary judgment under Federal Rule of Civil 8 Procedure 56 for failure to exhaust administrative remedies is extended from October 9 27, 2025, to December 11, 2025. 10 3. All other deadlines and requirements set forth in the Court’s June 27, 2025 discovery 11 and scheduling order, ECF No. 26, remain in place; and 12 4. Any request for an extension of these deadlines must be filed on or before the 13 expiration of the deadline. The parties are advised that an extension of time will only 14 be granted upon a clear showing of good cause. 15 IT IS SO ORDERED. 16

17 Dated: October 20, 2025 /s/ Barbara A. McAuliffe _ UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 18

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