Gonzales v. Commissioner of Social Security

Filing 22

STIPULATION and ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Edmund F. Brennan on 10/20/11 ORDERING that dft's date to respond to the 20 Motion for Summary Judgment is EXTENDED to 11/21/11. (Benson, A.)

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

BENJAMIN B. WAGNER
United States Attorney
DONNA L. CALVERT
Acting Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX
Social Security Administration
ELIZABETH FIRER
Special Assistant United States Attorney
333 Market Street, Suite 1500
San Francisco, California 94105
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
E-Mail: [e-mail]
Attorneys for Defendant

9

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

10
SACRAMENTO DIVISION
11
12
13
14
15
16
17

BELVA GONZALES,

)
)
Plaintiff,
)
)
v.
)
)
MICHAEL J. ASTRUE,
)
Commissioner of
)
Social Security,
)
)
Defendant.
)
_________________________________)

CIVIL NO. 2:10-cv-03412 EFB
STIPULATION AND ORDER

18
19

The parties hereby stipulate by counsel, with the Court’s approval as indicated by issuance of the

20

attached Order, that Defendant shall have a FIRST extension of 30 days to respond to Plaintiff’s motion for

21

summary judgment up to and including November 21 (day 30 falls on a Sunday).

22

This extension is being sought based on additional unexpected and unavoidable work of the

23

undersigned counsel for the Commissioner between the time Plaintiff filed her Opening Brief and October

24

21, 2011 as well as major changes in the Commissioner’s regional office directly impacting the undersigned

25

counsel’s responsibilities. Counsel is one of a few senior attorneys in the Commissioner’s office responsible

26

for analyzing cases for possible affirmative appeal. Due to the required concert with the Commissioner’s

27

headquarters and the United States Department of Justice, this work has extremely tight deadlines. The

28

Commissioner’s Regional office must hold conferences with senior staff and make its recommendation to

1

headquarters within 48 hours of an adverse district court decision. In the time in question, four cases have

2

come up for such review requiring the undersigned counsel to suspend everything and familiarize herself

3

with a new case in significant depth.

4

Additionally, following the change in Chief Counsel in the Commissioner’s regional office, major

5

overhauls in the manner in which work is assigned, completed and reviewed are being instated and the

6

undersigned has been asked to take on new roles, which have required immediate strategizing involving

7

detailed meetings and coordination with people in earlier time zones. Finally, counsel was out of the office

8

from October 6-11, 2011 on previously scheduled leave and had to complete a Ninth Circuit brief and

9

review in the week following her return. Given this work load, the Commissioner respectfully requests 30

10
11
12

additional days in order to complete the Commissioner’s response to Plaintiff’s Opening Brief.
The parties further stipulate that the Court’s Scheduling Order shall be modified accordingly.
Respectfully submitted,
/s/ Bess M. Brewer
(As authorized via email)
BESS M. BREWER
Attorney for Plaintiff

Dated: October 19, 2011

13
14
15

Dated: October 19, 2011

BENJAMIN B. WAGNER
United States Attorney
DONNA L. CALVERT
Acting Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX
Social Security Administration

16
17

/s/ Elizabeth Firer
ELIZABETH FIRER
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney
Attorneys for Defendant

18
19
20

ORDER

21
22
23

APPROVED AND SO ORDERED.
DATED: October 20, 2011.

24
25
26
27
28
2 - Stip & Order Extending Def's Time