Tombstone, City of v. United States of America et al

Filing 169

ORDER re: Request for Clarification and Amended Order as to Paper Copies and Other Administrative Matters. Signed by Senior Judge Frank R Zapata on 6/18/14.

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

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City of Tombstone,

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Plaintiff,

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vs.

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United States of America,
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Defendant.
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No. CV 11-845-TUC-FRZ
ORDER

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On 6/17/14, the parties stipulated that the following communication could be relayed to
the Court:
Counsel for the parties have conferred and there is no objection to this communication
. . . Plaintiff’s statement of controverting facts [(“PSCF”)] [in opposition to
Defendant’s motion for summary judgment (“MSJ”)] will be supported by evidence
(declarations, deposition excerpts and exhibits) that was previously filed in support of
the . . . motion for partial summary judgment [(“PSJ”)] [that was denied without
prejudice] . . . Would you please clarify as to whether the Court’s recent order (Dkt.
168) requires the re-filing of the previously filed evidence such that the same evidence
will need to be docketed electronically again?

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The Court received this communication via the Court’s official email inbox. While the
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Court has no problem clarifying matters for the parties where such clarification is sought in
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good faith and is warranted (which are the circumstances in this communication), the Court
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is concerned that informal email or telephonic communications with the Court could give the
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appearance of impropriety either for the Court or the parties as to those not directly involved
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in this litigation. To avoid any appearance of impropriety by anyone involved in this
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litigation and to preserve a complete written record for the parties in the event of any appeals,

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all communications with the Court shall occur via a written motion officially filed into the

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docket.

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The Court notes that the previous PSJ and the related documents were only denied without

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prejudice, and the documents were not stricken from the record. As to the clarification at

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issue, Plaintiff need not re-file the previously filed evidence such that the same evidence will

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need to be docketed electronically again. If Plaintiff is not submitting any new evidence as

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to the PSCF outside of what was already submitted in relation to the PSJ, Plaintiff need not

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submit new paper copies as to the PSCF. However, the Court needs to be able to quickly

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identify and locate any paper copies of evidence cited in the PSCF in support of denying

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Defendant’s MSJ; while the Court has retained the paper copies of the evidence submitted

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with the PSJ, Plaintiff will need to submit new paper copies or take other appropriate action

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(i.e., a new table of contents, chart, or other organizational tool) if this is not possible based

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on the state of the PSCF and the paper copies already received as to the evidence related to

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the PSJ.

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Lastly, the Court’s standing orders as to paper copies and other administrative matters are
amended and superceded as follows:

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The parties must file a proposed order with any motion or stipulation filed with the Court

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and such documents must comply with the applicable requirements in the local rules. See,

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e.g., LRCiv 5.4, 5.5, 7.1, 7.2; Electronic Case Filing Administrative Policies and Procedures

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Manual in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona ("Manual"). All

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proposed orders must be emailed to chambers ([e-mail]) in either

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Word or Word Perfect format. See id.; Manual at 12-13 (describing pertinent e-filing

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procedures in detail). In addition, if a motion is opposed, the opposing party shall file and

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email to chambers a proposed order denying the motion. To the extent the parties file any

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motions, responses, or replies as to substantive matters (such as motions for: injunctive relief,

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to dismiss, for summary judgment, to compel, sanctions, etc.), the parties shall email Word

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or Word Perfect copies of the motions, responses, or replies to chambers. Lastly, the parties
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shall also email Word or Word Perfect copies of any separate statement of facts in support

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of, or in opposition to, summary judgment or other dispositive motions. Paper copies of all

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filings must be mailed (except as noted below) to chambers (LRCiv 5.4); any motion,

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pleading, or other document which is submitted with more than one exhibit must be

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accompanied by a Table of Contents and the exhibits must be indexed with tabs which

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correspond to the Table of Contents. Anytime a party files a motion, response, reply, or

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other brief with the Court, the party must mail the Court paper copies of all authority cited

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in the brief which shall be included in a binder with a table of contents and exhibit tags

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corresponding to the authority cited. Such authority includes, but is not limited to, case law,

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rules, statutes, regulations, and treatises.

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regulations are cited, the entire case, rule, statute or regulation shall be included in the binder.

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The case law shall be organized in alphabetical order. To the extent treatises are cited, only

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the section(s) relied upon shall be included in the binder. As to all of the authority cited

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which must be included in the binder, the parties shall also tag (with a post-it) the specific

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page(s) cited in their briefs and highlight (by circling with a pen or using a highlighter) the

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portion of the case, rule, statute, regulation, or treatise that supports the citations of authority

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relied upon in their briefs. Within seven days after a document is filed, the parties shall

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provide the Court with paper copies in strict compliance with this Order and file a notice that

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they have strictly complied with the requirements in this Order; failure to timely file this

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required notice will be viewed as a party's admission that they have failed to comply with this

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Court's Order.1 If an emergency motion is filed (including, but not limited to, a motion for

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a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction, emergency stay, or other motion that

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warrants expedited action) that requires more immediate attention from the Court, the parties

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shall provide the required paper copies no later than one business day (or sooner if possible)

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after the motion, response or reply is filed pertaining to any emergency motion. If a party

To the extent case law, rules, statutes, or

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The parties are not required to provide paper copies of stipulations and unopposed motions
to continue, and need not provide authority binders as to stipulations and unopposed motions to
continue.

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fails to submit the required authority binder and other paper copies required by this Order2,

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the Court may summarily deny or grant a motion as applicable to the party that failed to

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comply with this Order, and the Court may dismiss the case with prejudice or enter a default

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judgment as to the non-complying party. Defendant shall comply with the provisions in this

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paragraph as to its pending filings (i.e., Docs. 152, 153) by 6/30/14; Defendant has already

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complied with the Court’s revised Order other than emailing Word or Word Perfect copies

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of these documents. The parties shall comply with these provisions as to all future filings.

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DATED this 18th day of June, 2014.

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On rare occasions, the Court may find it necessary to issue an Order before the deadline to
the submit the required binders expires; in these circumstances, the binder requirement becomes
moot, and the parties are not required to submit binders.

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