Daniels v. Unum Life Insurance Company of America et al

Filing 130

ORDER by Magistrate Judge Bernard Zimmerman granting in part and denying in part 116 Motion to Continue (bzsec, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 10/29/2008)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) ) v. ) UNUM LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY ) ) OF AMERICA et al., ) ) Defendants. ) KATHLEEN DANIELS, UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

No. C06-6348 (MHP) BZ ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO CONTINUE SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE AND GRANTING MOTION TO RECOVER COSTS

Having reviewed both parties' papers regarding defendants' Motions, and following a hearing, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED as follows: 1. Plaintiff violated Rule 5 of the Federal Rules of

Civil Procedure, which mandates that all pleadings and papers be served on all parties to an action, by failing to serve opposing counsel with the documents she provided the court to support her request for a continuance of the settlement conference. To the degree that plaintiff's request for a

continuance of the settlement conference could be viewed as an ex parte motion, plaintiff also failed to comply with Local Rule 7-10. 1

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

2.

Plaintiff has offered no satisfactory excuse for her

failures to provide opposing counsel with the documents especially as she was capable of faxing and providing those same documents to the court. 3. Plaintiff's failure to comply with Rule 5 of the

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Local Rules governing ex parte motions warrant the imposition of sanctions against plaintiff pursuant to Rule 16(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Local Rule 1-4. Defendants, however, have not

shown that every expense incurred by their client representative, Ms. Bernard, was a necessary, unavoidable expense. Most significantly, they have not provided a

declaration from Ms. Bernard explaining why she chose to spend the night in San Francisco rather than return to Burbank once she learned the conference had been continued. Accordingly,

plaintiff is ordered to pay to defendants the cost of Ms. Bernard's flight to the Bay Area in the amount of $219.00; and Ms. Bernard's Burbank parking fees in the amount of $20.00, for a total of $239.00. 4. Defendants' motion to continue the settlement conference scheduled for December 2, 2008 is DENIED. Dated: October 29, 2008

Bernard Zimmerman United States Magistrate Judge
G:\BZALL\-BZCASES\DANIELS V. UNUM\ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO CONT S.C. AND GRANTING RECOVER COSTS.wpd

2