1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 12 FARZAD YAGHOUTI, Case No.: 3:21-cv-01621-AJB-AHG 13 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING IN PART

JOINT MOTION TO CONTINUE

14 v.

EARLY NEUTRAL EVALUATION

15 STANDARD INSURANCE COMPANY, CONFERENCE AND CASE

MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE

16 Defendant.

17 [ECF No. 15] 18

19 Before the Court is the parties’ joint motion to continue the Early Neutral Evaluation 20 Conference (“ENE”) and Case Management Conference (“CMC”), which are scheduled 21 for May 12, 2022. ECF No. 15. The parties seek an order from the Court continuing these 22 conferences by approximately 120 days. Id. 23 Parties seeking to continue an ENE must demonstrate good cause. ECF No. 14 at 7 24 (“An ENE may be rescheduled only upon a showing of good cause”); Chmb.R. at 2 (stating 25 that any request for continuance requires “[a] showing of good cause for the request”); see 26 also FED. R. CIV. P. 6(b) (“When an act may or must be done within a specified time, the 27 court may, for good cause, extend the time”). 28 1 “Good cause” is a non-rigorous standard that has been construed broadly across 2 procedural and statutory contexts. Ahanchian v. Xenon Pictures, Inc., 624 F.3d 1253, 1259 3 (9th Cir. 2010). The good cause standard focuses on the diligence of the party seeking to 4 amend the scheduling order and the reasons for seeking modification. Johnson v. Mammoth 5 Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d 604, 609 (9th Cir. 1992) (“[T]he focus of the inquiry is upon 6 the moving party’s reasons for seeking modification. . . . If that party was not diligent, the 7 inquiry should end.”) (internal citation omitted). 8 Here, the parties have represented to the Court that they have resolved Plaintiff’s 9 claim for breach of contract, and are currently engaged in informal resolution of Plaintiff’s 10 claim for breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, including damages 11 related to attorney fees. ECF No. 15 at 3; ECF No. 15-1 at 2. The parties are in contact with 12 Arnold Levinson from ADR Services and anticipate they will be able to complete the 13 mediation process within the next 30 to 45 days. Id. Thus, because “they are cautiously 14 optimistic they will fully resolve the dispute through the mediation process and without 15 burdening the Court,” the parties request a 120-day continuance of the ENE. Id. 16 The Court appreciates that the parties have been working together, and the Court 17 finds good cause to GRANT the motion. ECF No. 15. However, given that the parties 18 anticipate that the private mediation will occur within the next 30 to 45 days, the Court 19 finds the parties’ 120-day continuance request to be excessive at this time. Thus, the Court 20 ORDERS the following: 21 1. By May 12, 2022, the parties shall lodge (not file) a Joint Mediation Plan 22 via email at efile_goddard@casd.uscourts.gov. The joint plan must state: 23 A. The firm date of private mediation; 24 B. The identity of the mediator; and 25 C. If applicable, a complete list of informal discovery the parties agree to 26 exchange before mediation and a firm deadline by which the parties 27 will exchange the informal discovery. 28 1 2. The ENE and CMC originally rescheduled for May 12, 2022, as well as the 2 || accompanying pre-conference deadlines, are CONTINUED. The Court will reset the ENE 3 |}and CMC upon receipt of the parties’ Joint Mediation Plan. 4 5 IT IS SO ORDERED. 6 Dated: April 22, 2022 JpwornH. Xho Honorable Allison H. Goddard 8 United States Magistrate Judge 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28