United States District Court, D. Nevada
AARON
D. FORD ATTORNEY GENERAL
GERRI
LYNN HARDCASTLE, ATTORNEYS FOR DEFENDANTS
DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR ENLARGEMENT OF TIME TO
SUBMIT CONFIDENTIAL EARLY MEDIATION CONFERENCE
STATEMENT
Defendants,
by and through counsel, Aaron D. Ford, Attorney General of
the State of Nevada, and Gerri Lynn Hardcastle, Deputy
Attorney General, hereby move this Court to enlarge the time
for them to submit their Confidential Early Mediation
Conference Statement
MEMORANDUM
OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES
I.
RELEVANT PROCEDURAL HISTORY
This is
a pro se civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C.
§ 1983. ECF No. 19 at 1. Plaintiff, David Bums, is an
inmate in the lawful custody of the Nevada Department of
Corrections (NDOC). Id. This Honorable Court
screened Plaintiffs amended complaint and permitted certain
claims to proceed. ECF No. 18. The Court also stayed this
case for ninety (90) days for settlement negotiations,
referred the matter to the Inmate Early Mediation Program,
and ordered the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) to file
a report at the end of the stay. Id. at 12:26-13:8.
According to the calculations of Defendants' counsel, the
stay is scheduled to end and the report must be filed today.
In
addition to the instant case, Plaintiff has filed two (2)
other cases against NDOC employees: case number
3:18-cv-0231-MMD-WGC and 2:19-cv-0218-RFB-PAL. To date, these
cases have not been screened. In an effort to resolve all
three (3) of Plaintiffs cases as expeditiously as possible,
this Court scheduled Plaintiffs cases for an early mediation
conference (EMC) on Tuesday, June 25, 2019. ECF No. 23 at
1:26-28. Defendants' confidential early mediation
conference statement is therefore due today. Id. at
4:26-6:8.
Unfortunately,
the Litigation Division of the Office of the Attorney General
is currently severely short-staffed. This has placed an
insurmountable burden on the attorneys remaining in the
division, including Defendants' counsel. Defendants and
their counsel therefore respectfully request that this
Honorable Court allow them up to and including 2:00 p.m. on
Friday, June 21, 2019, to submit their statement.
II.
LEGAL STANDARD
District
courts have inherent power to control their dockets.
Hamilton Copper & Steel Corp. v. Primary Steel,
Inc., 898 F.2d 1428, 1429 (9th Cir. 1990); Oliva v.
Sullivan, 958 F.2d 272, 273 (9th Cir. 1992).
Fed.R.Civ.P. 6(b)(1) governs enlargements of time and
provides as follows:
When an act may or must be done within a specified time, the
court may, for good cause, extend the time: (A) with or
without motion or notice if the court acts, or if a request
is made, before the original time or its extension expires;
or (B) on motion made after the time has expired if the party
failed to act because of excusable neglect.
"The
proper procedure, when additional time for any purpose is
needed, is to present to the Court a timely request for an
extension before the time fixed has expired (i.e., a
request presented before the time then fixed for the purpose
in question has expired)." Canup v. Miss Valley
Barge Line Co., 31 F.R.D. 282, 283 (D. Pa. 1962). The
Canup Court explained that "the practicalities
of life" (such as an attorney's "conflicting
professional engagements" or personal commitments such
as vacations, family activities, illnesses, or death) often
necessitate an enlargement of time to comply with a court
deadline. Id. Extensions of time "usually are
granted upon a showing of good cause, if timely made."
Creedon v. Taubman, 8 F.R.D. 268, 269 (D. Ohio
1947). The good cause standard considers a party's
diligence in seeking the continuance or extension. See,
e.g., Johnson v. Mammoth Recreations, Inc., 975 F.2d
604, 609 (9th Cir. 1992).
III.
DISCUSSION
Here,
Defendants' confidential early mediation conference
statement is due today, but counsel is unable to complete the
statement due to the recent, dramatic increase in her
workload. Her current workload constitutes good cause for the
requested enlargement, and counsel does not anticipate that
...