1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 12 PAUL GOIS, et al., on behalf of Case No.: 3:24-cv-00751-BJC-AHG themselves and all others similarly 13 ORDER: situated,

14 Plaintiffs, (1) GRANTING PLAINTIFFS’ 15 MOTION FOR CASE v.

MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE,

16 KISCO SENIOR LIVING, LLC, and 17 Defendant. (2) SETTING EARLY NEUTRAL 18

EVALUATION CONFERENCE AND

19 CASE MANAGEMENT

CONFERENCE

20

21 [ECF No. 41] 22 23 24 25 / / 26 27 / / 28 / / 1 Before the Court is Plaintiffs’ Motion for Case Management Conference (“CMC”). 2 ECF No. 41. Plaintiffs seek an order from the Court scheduling a CMC so that discovery 3 may commence in this action. Id. at 2. Plaintiffs explain that the current matter has been 4 pending for approximately eighteen months, and they wish to avoid further delay in 5 conducting discovery. Id. at 3–5. 6 “A party is generally not permitted to obtain discovery without a court order before 7 the parties have conferred pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(f).” Satmodo v. 8 Whenever Commc’ns, No. 17cv192-AJB-NLS, 2017 WL 4557214, at *3 (S.D. Cal. Oct. 9 12, 2017) (citing FED. R. CIV. P. 26(d)(1)); see CivLR 16.1(c) (ENEs occur within 45-days 10 of the defendant’s answer and the CMC, preceded by the Rule 26(f) conference, is held 11 within 30-days of the ENE). However, the Court has discretion to permit early or expedited 12 discovery upon a showing of good cause. See Fluke Elecs. Corp. v. CorDEX Instruments, 13 No. C12-2082-JLR, 2013 WL 566949, at *10 (W.D. Wash. Feb. 13, 2013) (“Courts within 14 the Ninth Circuit generally use a ‘good cause’ standard to determine whether to permit 15 discovery prior to a Rule 26(f) conference”); Semitool, Inc. v. Tokyo Electron Am., Inc., 16 208 F.R.D. 273, 275–76 (N.D. Cal. 2002) (applying “the conventional standard of good 17 cause in evaluating Plaintiff's request for expedited discovery”). Good cause exists “where 18 the need for expedited discovery, in consideration of the administration of justice, 19 outweighs the prejudice to the responding party.” Semitool, 208 F.R.D. at 276. “The court 20 must perform this evaluation in light of ‘the entirety of the record ... and the reasonableness 21 of the request in light of all the surrounding circumstances.’” Facebook v. Various, Inc., 22 No. C-11-01805-SBA DMR, 2011 WL 2437433, at *2 (N.D. Cal. June 17, 2011) (quoting 23 Semitool, 208 F.R.D. at 275). 24 25 26 1 As the instant motion will be decided by the undersigned, the hearing date of 27 December 18, 2025, obtained from the Honorable Benjamin J. Cheeks for purposes of issuing a briefing schedule on the instant motion is VACATED. Upon due consideration, 28 1 In its discretion, the Court finds good cause to GRANT Plaintiffs’ motion. ECF 2 No. 41. The instant matter commenced on April 26, 2024. ECF No. 1. In the time thereafter, 3 one motion to dismiss was filed, briefed, and decided; the complaint was thereafter 4 amended; and a second motion to dismiss is presently pending and fully briefed. ECF 5 Nos. 12, 17, 23, 34, 35, 38. The Court notes that “[a] pending motion to dismiss is not 6 dispositive to a finding of good cause for expedited discovery.” MedImpact Healthcare 7 Sys. v. IQVIA Holdings, Inc., No. 19-cv-1865-GPC-LL, 2019 WL 6310554, at *2 (S.D. 8 Cal. Nov. 25, 2019); see Hardie v. N.C.A.A., No. 13-cv-346-W-DHB, 2013 WL 1399333, 9 at *2 (S.D. Cal. Apr. 5, 2013) (recognizing that motion to dismiss may weigh against 10 expedited discovery in some cases, but granting expedited discovery request even with a 11 pending motion to dismiss); Quintero Family Tr. v. Onewest Bank, F.S.B., No. 09-cv-1561- 12 IEG-AJB, 2009 WL 3381804, at *1 (S.D. Cal. Oct. 16, 2009) (granting expedited discovery 13 request when a motion to dismiss was pending). Upon consideration of the entirety of the 14 record and the reasonableness of Plaintiffs’ request in light of all the surrounding 15 circumstances, the Court finds good cause, as the Court wishes to avoid further delay. The 16 Court also finds that discussions regarding settlement and discovery will be beneficial to 17 the parties at this time. As such, the Court orders as follows: 18 1. IT IS ORDERED that an Early Neutral Evaluation (“ENE”) of your case will 19 be held on December 4, 2025 at 3:00 p.m. via videoconference before Magistrate Judge 20 Allison H. Goddard. Based upon the Court’s familiarity with class actions, and in the 21 interest of promoting the just, efficient, and economical determination of this action, the 22 Court issues the following Mandatory Procedures to be followed in preparation for the 23 ENE: 24 2. Purpose of the Conference: The purpose of the ENE is to permit an informal 25 discussion between the attorneys and the settlement judge of every aspect of the lawsuit in 26 an effort to achieve an early resolution of the case. All conference discussions will be 27 informal, off the record, and confidential. Although the Court understands that it is rare 28 for class actions to settle at such an early stage, the ENE process can be effective in 1 identifying when settlement discussions will be most fruitful; whether the parties are 2 interested in private mediation or a more fulsome settlement conference before the Court; 3 and what information needs to be exchanged through informal discovery, or obtained 4 through formal discovery, to have an effective settlement discussion. 5 3. Attendance: The Court requires the attendance of the primary attorney(s) 6 responsible for the litigation via videoconference. Named parties, party representatives, 7 and claims adjusters for insured defendants are welcome, but not required, to attend. The 8 Court notes that the ENE will last approximately one hour. 9 4. Confidential ENE Statements Required: No later than December 2, 2025, 10 the parties shall submit confidential statements of five (5) pages or less directly to the 11 chambers of Magistrate Judge Goddard outlining the nature of the case, the claims, and the 12 defenses. These statements shall not be filed or served on opposing counsel. They shall 13 be lodged via email at efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov. The ENE statement is limited to 14 five (5) pages or less. There is not a page limit on exhibits. Each party’s ENE statement 15 must outline: 16 A. the nature of the case and the claims, including any other pending 17 actions that could impact the scope of the proposed class; 18 B. position on liability or defense; 19 C. any previous settlement negotiations or mediation efforts; 20 D. whether the party is willing to participate in an early settlement 21 conference or private mediation, including an informal exchange of 22 information; and 23 E. if the party is not interested in early settlement discussions, an 24 explanation of what discovery is necessary before engaging in 25 settlement discussions and the party’s position as to when settlement 26 negotiations would be most effective. 27 The Court may use GenAI tools to review the information that the parties submit. Either 28 party may object to the Court’s use of such tools by advising the Court’s law clerk of that 1 objection when they submit the information. The Court will respect that objection without 2 any further explanation, and the Court’s law clerk will only communicate to Judge Goddard 3 that there was an objection, not which party made the objection. 4 5. Case Management Conference: In the event the case does not settle at the 5 ENE, the Court will immediately thereafter hold a Case Management Conference (“CMC”) 6 pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b). The Court orders the following to occur before the CMC: 7 A. The parties must meet and confer pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(f) no 8 later than November 26, 2025. 9 B. The parties must file a Joint Case Management Statement by 10 December 2, 2025. The Joint Case Management Statement must 11 address all points in the “Joint Case Management Statement 12 Requirements for Magistrate Judge Allison H. Goddard,” which can 13 be found on the court website at: 14 https://www.casd.uscourts.gov/Judges/goddard/docs/Goddard%20Join 15 t%20Case%20Management%20Statement%20Rules.pdf. 16 C. Initial disclosures pursuant to Rule 26(a)(1)(A-D) must occur by 17 December 10, 2025. 18 6. Appearances via Videoconference Required: Principal attorney(s) 19 responsible for the litigation must attend the ENE via videoconference. All who attend the 20 ENE must be legally and factually prepared to discuss the case. To facilitate the 21 videoconference ENE, the Court hereby orders as follows: 22 A. The Court will use its official Zoom video conferencing account to hold 23 the ENE. If you are unfamiliar with Zoom: Zoom is available on 24 computers through a download on the Zoom website 25 (https://zoom.us/meetings) or on mobile devices through the 26 27 28 1 installation of a free app. Joining a Zoom conference does not require 2 creating a Zoom account, but it does require downloading the .exe file 3 (if using a computer) or the app (if using a mobile device). Participants 4 are encouraged to create an account, install Zoom and familiarize 5 themselves with Zoom in advance of the ENE.3 There is a cost-free 6 option for creating a Zoom account. 7 B. Prior to the start of the ENE, the Court will email each participant an 8 invitation to join a Zoom video conference. Again, if possible, 9 participants are encouraged to use laptops or desktop computers for the 10 video conference, as mobile devices often offer inferior performance. 11 Participants shall join the video conference by following the ZoomGov 12 Meeting hyperlink in the invitation. Participants who do not have 13 Zoom already installed on their device when they click on the 14 ZoomGov Meeting hyperlink will be prompted to download and 15 install Zoom before proceeding. Zoom may then prompt participants 16 to enter the password included in the invitation. 17 C. Each participant should plan to join the Zoom video conference at least 18 five minutes before the start of the ENE to ensure that the conference 19 begins promptly at 3:00 p.m. 20 D. Zoom’s functionalities will allow the Court to conduct the ENE as it 21 ordinarily would conduct an in-person one. The Court will divide 22 participants into separate, confidential sessions, which Zoom calls 23 24 25 2 If possible, participants are encouraged to use laptops or desktop computers for the video 26 conference, rather than mobile devices. 27 3 For help getting started with Zoom, visit: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en- us/categories/200101697-Getting-Started 28 1 Breakout Rooms. In a Breakout Room, the Court will be able to 2 communicate with participants from a single party in confidence. 3 Breakout Rooms will also allow parties and counsel to communicate 4 confidentially without the Court. 5 E. No later than December 2, 2025, counsel for each party shall send an 6 e-mail to the Court at efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov containing the 7 following: 8 i. The name and title of each participant, including the primary 9 attorney(s) responsible for the litigation and, if applicable, 10 parties, party representatives, or claims adjusters for insured 11 defendants; 12 ii. An e-mail address for each participant to receive the Zoom 13 videoconference invitation; 14 iii. A telephone number where each participant may be reached; 15 and 16 iv. A cell phone number for that party’s preferred point of 17 contact (and the name of the individual whose cell phone it is) 18 for the Court to use during the ENE to alert counsel via text 19 message that the Court will soon return to that party’s Breakout 20 Room, to avoid any unexpected interruptions of confidential 21 discussions. 22 F. All participants shall display the same level of professionalism during 23 the ENE and be prepared to devote their full attention to the ENE as if 24 they were attending in person, i.e., cannot be driving or in a car while 25

26 27 4 For more information on what to expect when participating in a Zoom Breakout Room, visit: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115005769646 28 1 speaking to the Court. Because Zoom may quickly deplete the battery 2 of a participant’s device, each participant should ensure that their 3 device is plugged in or that a charging cable is readily available during 4 the videoconference. 5 G. Counsel are advised that although the ENE will take place on Zoom, all 6 participants shall appear and conduct themselves as if it 1s proceeding 7 in acourtroom, 1.e., all participants must dress in appropriate courtroom 8 attire. 9 H. If the case does not settle during the ENE, the Court will hold the CMC 10 immediately following the ENE in the main session. 11 7. New Parties Must be Notified by Plaintiff or Plaintiff's Counsel: 12 || Plaintiff’s counsel must give notice of the ENE to any Defendants who have been served 13 ||but who have not yet filed responsive pleadings as of the date of this Order. If any 14 || Defendants have not yet been served, Plaintiff's counsel must serve them with a copy of 15 Order along with the summons and complaint. 16 8. The failure of any party to follow these mandatory procedures shall result 17 ||in the imposition of sanctions. 18 9. Questions regarding this case or these mandatory guidelines may be directed 19 || to Judge Goddard’s law clerks at (619) 557-6162. Lodged statements should be emailed to 20 || efile_goddard @casd.uscourts.gov. 21 IT IS SO ORDERED. 22 ||Dated: November 13, 2025 _ Siow. Xion Honorable Allison H. Goddard 24 United States Magistrate Judge 25 26 27 28