Reported / Citable
Background
Dallan Escobar sued PennyMac Loan Services, LLC in the Western District of Texas. District Judge Alan D. Albright referred the case to U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Hightower under the district’s local rules.
The July 30 order did not address the substance of Escobar’s claims or PennyMac’s defenses. Instead, it established the parties’ immediate case-management obligations under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 16(b) and 26(f).
The Court’s Holding
Magistrate Judge Hightower ordered the parties to confer under Rule 26(f) and, by August 27, 2026, file both a joint proposed scheduling and discovery plan and a completed version of the court’s standard scheduling order with all proposed dates filled in.
The order requires a substantive, good-faith discussion of claims, defenses, settlement or early resolution, disclosures, discovery, and electronic discovery. It also directs the parties to explore ADR, comply with Judge Albright’s standing order on requests to change deadlines, avoid boilerplate discovery objections, and use ordinary motion practice for discovery disputes referred to the magistrate judge.
Key Takeaways
- The court set an August 27, 2026 deadline for a joint Rule 26(f) plan and proposed scheduling order.
- The parties must meaningfully address settlement, ADR, disclosures, phased discovery, and electronic-discovery issues.
- The order rejects boilerplate objections and instructs counsel to bring referred discovery disputes through regular motion practice.
Why It Matters
This is a case-management order, not a merits ruling. It puts the parties on an early timetable to define discovery, preservation, production, and potential resolution issues before the court enters a formal scheduling order.