Scofield v. Guillard, 3:22-cv-00521

Rebecca Scofield filed suit against Ashley Guillard in December 2022.
Both parties consented to magistrate judge jurisdiction in April 2023, as allowed under 28 U.S.C. § 636(c).
Guillard later sought reassignment to a U.S. District Judge, which was denied for lack of extraordinary circumstances and to prevent judge-shopping after an adverse ruling.
Guillard moved for reconsideration of summary judgment, arguing that newly discovered evidence supported her position; the motion was denied as the evidence did not alter the outcome.
Guillard subsequently filed formal objections to the magistrate's May 30, 2025, order, seeking review by a district judge.
The court concluded that such objections were procedurally improper where parties have consented to magistrate judge jurisdiction; any appeal must be made directly to the Ninth Circuit after final judgment.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Jurisdiction to rule (post-consent)	Consent remains, Magistrate Judge has authority	Reassignment to District Judge appropriate	Magistrate Judge retains authority post-consent
Standard for withdrawing consent	Extraordinary circumstances/good cause required	Recent adverse rulings justify reassignment	No extraordinary circumstances found; consent stands
Reconsideration of partial summary judgment	New evidence does not change result	Newly discovered evidence justifies reconsideration	Motion denied; evidence not outcome-determinative
Procedural propriety of objections to magistrate's order	Appeal directly to Ninth Circuit required	District judge can review/overturn magistrate's order	District judge review is not permitted post-consent; only direct appeal allowed

Branch v. Umphenour, 936 F.3d 994 (9th Cir. 2019) (only a district judge may rule on motions to withdraw consent to magistrate judge jurisdiction; extraordinary circumstances required)
CPC Patent Tech. Pty Ltd. v. Apple, Inc., 34 F.4th 801 (9th Cir. 2022) (if parties consent to magistrate judge, appeals from their judgments go directly to the appropriate court of appeals)