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Joint MOTION for Extension of Time to File Motion for Class Certification and to… — Bofa Ca Unemployment (Dkt. 197)

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Court	U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
Filed	2023-12-21

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California · No. 3:21-md-02992-GPC-MSB · Doc. 197 · 2023-12-21 · Docket on CourtListener

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Joint Motion to Extend Case Schedule

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BRIAN DANITZ (SBN 247403)
bdanitz@cpmlegal.com
KARIN B. SWOPE (pro hac vice)
kswope@cpmlegal.com
ANDREW F. KIRTLEY (SBN 328023)
akirtley@cpmlegal.com
COTCHETT PITRE & McCARTHY, LLP
840 Malcolm Road, Suite 200
Burlingame, CA 94010
Telephone: (650) 697-6000
Fax: (650) 697-0577
MICHAEL RUBIN (SBN 80618)
mrubin@altber.com
CONNIE K. CHAN (SBN 284230)
cchan@altber.com
ALTSHULER BERZON LLP
177 Post Street, Suite 300
San Francisco, CA 94108
Telephone: (415) 421-7151
Fax: (415) 362-8064
Co-Lead Counsel for Plaintiffs and
the Proposed Class
(Additional Counsel Listed Below)
JAMES W. MCGARRY (pro hac vice)
JMcGarry@goodwinlaw.com
GOODWIN PROCTER LLP
100 Northern Avenue
Boston, MA 02210
Tel.: +1 617 570 1000
Fax: +1 617 523 1231

Attorneys for Defendant
Bank of America, N.A.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

IN RE BANK OF AMERICA
CALIFORNIA UNEMPLOYMENT
BENEFITS LITIGATION
Case No. 3:21-md-02992-LAB-MSB

JOINT MOTION TO EXTEND
CASE SCHEDULE
This Document Relates to All Actions

Judge:
Hon. Larry Alan Burns

Case 3:21-md-02992-GPC-MSB Document 197 Filed 12/21/23 PageID.1996 Page 1
of 5

Joint Motion to Extend Case Schedule

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Pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 6(b) and 16(b)(4), Civil Local
Rule 7.2, and this Court’s Civil Procedures ¶6, Plaintiffs and Defendant Bank of
America, N.A. (the “parties”) jointly request that the pretrial schedule be extended as
set forth in the parties’ proposed modified case schedule below. The requested
extension is sought for two principal reasons, as set forth below and in greater detail
in the accompanying declaration of Plaintiffs’ counsel Connie Chan (“Chan Decl.”).
1. Despite the parties’ diligence in pursuing and responding to discovery, and
Magistrate Judge Berg’s considerable assistance in conducting regular status and
discovery conferences to facilitate the expeditious resolution of the parties’ discovery
disputes, it has recently become clear that, due to the substantial volume of
documents and data requested by Plaintiffs and the Bank’s ongoing responses
thereto, the parties will be unable to complete certain discovery within current
deadlines and certainly not by the current date for filing the Motion for Class
Certification by January 15, 2024 (ECF 139). Chan Decl. ¶¶2-9. Given the breadth of
discovery sought and the hundreds of thousands of pages of documents produced
pursuant to those requests, much of the Bank’s production was made in the last two
months, including more than 327,000 pages of documents in December. Id. ¶¶10-11.
The outstanding discovery also includes responses to interrogatories and requests for
admission that Plaintiffs contend are related to class certification, and the taking of
Rule 30(b)(6) depositions encompassing topics that will require five to seven
corporate witnesses to address. Id. ¶¶12-15. In response to Plaintiffs’ 30(b)(6)
deposition notice (which contained at least 32 categories of testimony sought), served
on Friday, December 8, the Bank has represented that it is not realistically possible to
schedule these depositions of Bank personnel before mid-January 2024, in part
because of the Christmas and New Year holidays. Id. ¶12. Accordingly, and as set
forth in more detail in the accompanying declaration, good cause exists to modify the
case schedule to allow the parties time to complete important discovery Plaintiffs
contend is needed for the Motion for Class Certification.
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2. Modification of the January 15, 2024 date for filing the Motion for Class
Certification is independently warranted because the pleadings in the case are not yet
settled. For the pleadings to be settled, two pending motions will need to be decided,
and the Bank will need to file an Answer. Chan Decl. ¶16; see ECF 136, First Am.
Master Consol. Compl. (“FAMCC”) (June 13, 2023); ECF 146, Def.’s Partial Mot. to
Dismiss FAMCC (July 11, 2023) (pending); ECF 151, Pls.’ Mot. for Reconsid. of
Dismissal with Prejudice of UCL Claim (Aug. 7, 2023) (pending). Plaintiffs believe
that the outstanding issues must be resolved (e.g., whether to address the UCL claim
that is the subject of reconsideration) and an Answer filed before they can move for
class certification. The state of the pleadings thus provides additional good cause for
the requested relief.
For the foregoing reasons, the parties believe that good cause exists to grant
the parties’ stipulation and joint motion to extend the case schedule, as stipulated
and proposed below. The parties agree that the requested extension is fair,
reasonable, and necessary under the circumstances. This is the first modification of
case schedule sought by any party in this matter.
PROPOSED MODIFIED CASE SCHEDULE:
Event
Current Date
Proposed Date
Motion for Class Certification
1/15/24
3/15/24
Opp. to Motion for Class Certification
-
4/26/24
Reply ISO Motion for Class Certification
-
5/24/24
Deadline to Serve Written Discovery
1/15/24
3/15/24
Fact Discovery Completed
3/15/24
6/14/24
Expert Disclosures
4/19/24
7/19/24
Rebuttal Expert Disclosures
5/10/24
8/12/24
Expert Discovery Completed
5/31/24
9/13/24
Pretrial Motions Deadline
6/28/24
10/11/24
Pretrial Disclosures
9/30/24
1/13/25
L.R. 16.1(f)(4) Conference
10/7/24
1/20/25
Proposed pretrial order to Defendant
10/14/24
1/27/25
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Proposed Final Pretrial Conference Order
10/21/24
2/3/25
Final Pretrial Conference
10/28/24
2/10/25
Respectfully submitted,
Dated: December 21, 2023
COTCHETT, PITRE & McCARTHY, LLP

By: /s/ Brian Danitz

JOSEPH W. COTCHETT
BRIAN DANITZ
KARIN B. SWOPE
ANDREW F. KIRTLEY

Dated: December 21, 2023
ALTSHULER BERZON LLP

By: /s/ Connie K. Chan

MICHAEL RUBIN
STACEY M. LEYTON
MATTHEW MURRAY
CONNIE K. CHAN

Co-Lead Counsel for Plaintiffs and the
Proposed Class

Dated: December 21, 2023
GOODWIN PROCTER LLP

By: /s/ James McGarry

JAMES McGARRY

Counsel for Defendant Bank of America, N.A.

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SIGNATURE CERTIFICATION
Pursuant to Section 2(f)(4) of this Court’s Electronic Case Filing
Administrative Policies and Procedures Manual, I, Connie K. Chan, hereby certify
that the content of this document is acceptable to all the signatories herein and that I
have obtained counsel’s authorization to affix their electronic signatures to this
document.

/s/ Connie K. Chan

CONNIE K. CHAN

Case 3:21-md-02992-GPC-MSB Document 197 Filed 12/21/23 PageID.2000 Page 5
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