Wells v. Guzman, No. 3:2019cv00407 - Document 45 (D. Nev. 2021)
Court Description: ORDER granting ECF No. 44 Motion to Extend Time; Defendant's deadline to file her response to Plaintiff's amended complaint is extended until February 3, 2022. Signed by Magistrate Judge Carla Baldwin on 12/20/2021. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - SMR)
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Wells v. Guzman Doc. 45 Case 3:19-cv-00407-MMD-CLB Document 45 Filed 12/20/21 Page 1 of 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 CHRISTOPHER CHIOU Acting United States Attorney District of Nevada Nevada Bar Number 14853 HOLLY A. VANCE Assistant United States Attorney 400 South Virginia Street, Suite 900 Reno, Nevada 89501 775-784-5438 holly.a.vance@usdoj.gov Attorneys for Defendant 8 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 11 12 MICHAEL J. WELLS, 13 Plaintiff, 14 Case No. 3:19-cv-00407-MMD-CLB DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR EXTENSION TO FILE RESPONSE TO AMENDED COMPLAINT v. 17 ISABELLA GUZMAN, in her official capacity as the Administrator of the U.S. SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION, DOES 1-10; ROE CORPORATIONS I through X, 18 Defendants. 15 16 (First Request) 19 20 Defendant Isabella Guzman (“Defendant”) hereby moves for a 45-day extension, 21 until February 3, 2022, to file a response to Plaintiff’s amended complaint (ECF No. 43). 22 This motion is supported by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 6(b)(1)(A) and Local Rule IA 23 6-1. 24 BACKGROUND 25 Plaintiff Michael J. Wells (“Plaintiff’) brought this action relating to a contractual 26 dispute involving the United States Small Business Administration. (ECF No. 1). On 27 February 1, 2021, Defendant moved to dismiss Plaintiff’s complaint, or alternatively, for 28 summary judgment in the case. (ECF No. 33). On September 28, 2021, the Court granted 1 Dockets.Justia.com Case 3:19-cv-00407-MMD-CLB Document 45 Filed 12/20/21 Page 2 of 6 1 Plaintiff leave to file an amended complaint. (ECF No. 42). Plaintiff filed that amended 2 complaint on October 19, 2021, asserting six claims: breach of contract; breach of the 3 implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing; equitable subrogation; procedural due 4 process; declaratory relief/judgment; and injunctive relief. (ECF No. 43). Defendant’s 5 response to Plaintiff’s amended complaint is due on December 20, 2021. 6 ARGUMENT 7 For several reasons, a 45-day extension to file Defendant’s response to Plaintiff’s 8 amended complaint is warranted. First, the parties are attempting to settle the case, but 9 attorneys who are required to authorize any settlement are out of the office for the holidays. 10 (Vance Decl. ¶ 3). Second, defense counsel’s office recently lost a number of attorneys and 11 staff. As a result, defense counsel is handling a higher-than-normal caseload. (Id.). Third, 12 Plaintiff’s amended complaint presents unique and novel issues that require considerable 13 research and investigation to meaningfully evaluate. (Id.). Fourth, only a limited number of 14 attorneys and support staff may work in defense counsel’s office at any given time due to 15 the pandemic, thereby slowing the time it takes to process and complete required tasks. (Id.). 16 Fifth, defense counsel faces multiple filing deadlines in several cases before both the district 17 court and Ninth Circuit. (Id.). Lastly, defense counsel’s office continues to be inundated 18 with a higher-than-normal number of immigration cases. (Id.). The deadlines in those cases 19 are shortened and require prompt action which inhibits defense counsel’s ability to focus on 20 her regularly-assigned duties. (Id.). Under the circumstances, good cause exists for an 21 extension to allow Defendant a meaningful opportunity to review Plaintiff’s amended 22 complaint and file a response See Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(b)(1)(A) (“When an act may or must be 23 done within a specified time, the court may, for good cause, extend the time…with or without 24 motion or notice if the court acts, or if a request is made, before the original time or its 25 extension expires[.]”) (emphasis added). 26 This is Defendant’s first extension request. See LR IA 6-1 (must advise of previous 27 extension requests). Defense counsel called Plaintiff’s counsel to get his position on this 28 extension request, but he is out of the office this entire week. (Vance Decl. ¶ 4). However, 2 Case 3:19-cv-00407-MMD-CLB Document 45 Filed 12/20/21 Page 3 of 6 1 defense counsel and Plaintiff’s counsel have always stipulated to their respective extension 2 requests in the past. (Id.). CONCLUSION 3 4 For the reasons argued above, Defendant respectfully requests that the deadline to 5 file her response to Plaintiff’s amended complaint be extended by 45 days—until February 6 3, 2022. 7 DATED: December 20, 2021 Respectfully submitted, 8 CHRISTOPHER CHIOU Acting United States Attorney 9 10 s/ Holly A. Vance HOLLY A. VANCE Assistant U.S. Attorney 11 12 13 14 IT IS SO ORDERED. 15 Dated: December 20, 2021 16 17 ____________________________________ UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 3 Case 3:19-cv-00407-MMD-CLB Document 45 Filed 12/20/21 Page 4 of 6 1 2 CHRISTOPHER CHIOU Acting United States Attorney District of Nevada Nevada Bar Number 14853 3 4 5 6 HOLLY A. VANCE Assistant United States Attorney United States Attorney’s Office 400 S. Virginia Street, Suite 900 Reno, NV 89501 (775) 784-5438 Holly.A.Vance@usdoj.gov 7 Attorneys for Isabella Casillas Guzman 8 9 10 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 11 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 12 MICHAEL J. WELLS, Plaintiff, 13 14 15 16 v. ISABELLA CASILLAS GUZMAN, in her official capacity as the Administrator of the U.S. SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION, et al., 17 Defendants. 18 ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Case No. 3:19-cv-00407-MMD-CLB DECLARATION OF HOLLY A. VANCE IN SUPPORT OF MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME 19 I, Holly A. Vance, hereby declare as follows pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746: 20 1. I serve as an Assistant United States Attorney with the United States 21 Department of Justice, United States Attorney’s Office in Reno, Nevada. I have served in 22 that capacity since October 20, 2008. 23 2. I have been assigned to defend the lawsuit entitled Wells v. Guzman, 3:19-cv- 24 00407-MMD-CLB. I provide this declaration in support of Defendant’s motion for 25 extension to respond to Plaintiff’s amended complaint (ECF No. 43). 26 3. For several reasons, a 45-day extension to file Defendant’s response to 27 Plaintiff’s amended complaint is warranted. First, the parties are attempting to settle the 28 case, but attorneys who are required to authorize any settlement are out of the office for the 1 Case 3:19-cv-00407-MMD-CLB Document 45 Filed 12/20/21 Page 5 of 6 1 holidays. Second, defense counsel’s office recently lost a number of attorneys and staff. As 2 a result, defense counsel is handling a higher-than-normal caseload. Third, Plaintiff’s 3 amended complaint presents unique and novel issues that require considerable research and 4 investigation to meaningfully evaluate. Fourth, only a limited number of attorneys and 5 support staff may work in defense counsel’s office at any given time due to the pandemic, 6 thereby slowing the time it takes to process and complete required tasks. Fifth, defense 7 counsel faces multiple filing deadlines in several cases before both the district court and 8 Ninth Circuit. Lastly, defense counsel’s office continues to be inundated with a higher-than- 9 normal number of immigration cases. The deadlines in those cases are shortened and require 10 prompt action which inhibits defense counsel’s ability to focus on her regularly-assigned 11 duties. 4. 12 Defense counsel called Plaintiff’s counsel to get his position on this 13 extension request, but he is out of the office this entire week. However, defense counsel 14 and Plaintiff’s counsel have always stipulated to their respective extension requests in the 15 past. 16 17 18 I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct based on my personal knowledge. Executed this 20th day of December, 2021 in Reno, Nevada. 19 /s/ Holly A. Vance HOLLY A. VANCE Assistant United States Attorney 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 2 Case 3:19-cv-00407-MMD-CLB Document 45 Filed 12/20/21 Page 6 of 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 9 10 MICHAEL J. WELLS, 11 Plaintiff, 12 Case No. 3:19-cv-00407-MMD-CLB 15 ISABELLA GUZMAN, in her official capacity as the Administrator of the U.S. SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION, DOES 1-10; ROE CORPORATIONS I through X, 16 Defendants. 13 14 [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR EXTENSION TO FILE RESPONSE TO AMENDED COMPLAINT v. 17 18 IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Defendant Isabella Guzman shall have a 45-day 19 extension, up to and until February 3, 2022, to file a response to Plaintiff’s amended 20 complaint (ECF No. 43). 21 DATED: , 2021 22 23 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 24 25 26 27 28 1
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