Cotton Bayou Marina, Inc. v. BP, PLC et al

Filing 16

ORDER entered. This Court, in its discretion, hereby GRANTS the motions filed by the BP defendants and Halliburton (Docs. 12 & 15) and ORDERS the movants to answer the plaintiffs' complaint, or otherwise respond/move, not later than July 6, 2010. Answers due 7/6/10. Signed by Magistrate Judge William E. Cassady on 5/20/10. (eec)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA SOUTHERN DIVISION COTTON BAYOU MARINA, INC., etc., et al., Plaintiffs, : vs. : BP, plc, et al., : Defendants. ORDER This cause is before the Court on the motion for enlargement of time filed by defendants BP America Inc. and BP Products North America Inc. (Doc. 12) and plaintiffs' response in opposition (Doc. 14). Through the motion for enlargement of time, the BP defendants seek a period of time up to and including July 5, 2010 to answer the complaint or otherwise respond (see Doc. 12). 1 In addition, defendant Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. has filed a motion for an additional thirty (30) days to respond to the complaint (Doc. 1 5 ) .2 Although plaintiffs oppose extending the time by which the BP defendants and Halliburton must answer the complaint (Doc. 14; see also Doc. 15, at 2), it is clear to the CA 10-0243-MJ-C : :

Presently, the BP defendants must answer the complaint not later than June 3, 2010. (See Doc. 11)
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Halliburton's answer also is presently due on June 3, 2010. (See Doc. 11)

undersigned that courts often extend additional time to defendants to answer in cases being considered by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation for centralization. See, e.g., Leavell v. Heartland Payment Systems, Inc., 2009 WL 1393306, *1 (S.D. Ill. 2009) (denying motion to stay "all proceedings pending a ruling by the Judicial Panel on MultiDistrict Litigation [] on whether to transfer this action for consolidated discovery proceedings[]" but granting the defendant's "motion to the extent it seeks an extension of time to file its answer.");3 Snyder v. Davol, Inc., 2008 WL 113902, *2 n.1 (D. Or. 2008) ("This court has allowed Legacy an extension of time to answer until 20 days after a final ruling on defendants' motion to stay."). Accordingly, this Court, in its discretion, hereby GRANTS the motions filed by the BP defendants and Halliburton (Docs. 12 & 15) and ORDERS the movants to answer the plaintiffs' complaint, or otherwise respond/move, not later than July 6, 2010. DONE and ORDERED this the 20th day of May, 2010. s/WILLIAM E. CASSADY UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

In Leavell, the defendant was extended an additional ninety (90) days to answer the complaint. See id. 2

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