In Re Attorney Lynn Hubbard III

Filing 42

ORDER Re: 38 Order to Show Cause. It is hereby ordered that the court will not impose sanctions here. The Court accepts Mr. Hubbard's untimely final witness list. Signed by Judge M. James Lorenz on 12/17/2012.(sjt)(jrd)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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13 IN RE ATTORNEY LYNN HUBBARD
III,
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Respondent.
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Case No. 12-cv-1975-L(WMc)
ORDER RE: ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE

On December 13, 2012, the Court issued an Order to Show Cause (“OSC”) why Attorney

20 Lynn Hubbard III should not be sanctioned for his failure to comply with the Court’s Trial
21 Management Order after he failed to timely file his final witness and exhibit lists as ordered.
22 (Doc. 38.) On the same day, Mr. Hubbard filed his final witness and exhibit lists in addition to a
23 response to the OSC. (Doc. 39.) In his response, Mr. Hubbard explains that his attorney Russell
24 Handy is handling the final preparations for the bench trial, but Mr. Handy did not receive the
25 Electronic Case Filing (“ECF”) notices. Mr. Hubbard’s other attorney David C. Carr—who
26 presumably did receive the ECF notices—believed that Mr. Handy was “handling those issues.”
27 Mr. Hubbard adds that the oversight was inadvertent and apologizes for the mistake. (Resp’t’s
28 Resp. 1:23.)
12cv1975

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Civil Local Rule 5.4(a) defines the scope of electronic case filing in this district. That

2 provision states the following:
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Except as prescribed by local rule, order, or other procedure, the Court
has designated all cases to be assigned to the Electronic Filing
System. Unless otherwise expressly provided in the Court’s Electronic
Case Filing Administrative Policies and Procedures Manual, the
Court’s Local Rules, or in exceptional circumstances preventing a
registered user from filing electronically, as of November 1, 2006[,] all
petitions, motions, memoranda of law, or other pleadings and
documents required to be filed with the Court by a registered user
in connection with a case assigned to the Electronic Filing System
must be electronically filed. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court,
all attorneys admitted to practice before the Southern District of
California must register for Electronic Case Filing.
Civil L.R. 5.4(a) (emphasis added); see also ECF Admin. Policies & Procedures § 1(f). A

10 registered user “is an individual who has been issued a login and password by the court to
11 electronically file documents.” ECF Admin. Policies & Procedures § 1(d). “Registration in the
12 CM/ECF system for the purpose of electronic service of pleadings and other papers is mandatory
13 for attorneys.” Id. § 1(f). As a registered user, Mr. Handy should have associated himself with
14 this case through CM/ECF. Filing a Notice of Association of Counsel was insufficient. See
15 Civil L.R. 5.4(a); ECF Admin. Policies & Procedures § 1.
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As the Standing Committee on Discipline astutely notes, “Mr. Hubbard’s failure to

17 comply with this Court’s Trial Management Order is only the latest in a series of filings from
18 Mr. Hubbard in the four-month history of this matter in which he has failed to follow the Court’s
19 rules, this Court’s orders, or both.” (Pet’r’s Response 2:1–3.) Nonetheless, given that Mr.
20 Hubbard has only one witness besides himself and no exhibits, the Court will not impose
21 sanctions here. Consequently, the Court accepts Mr. Hubbard’s untimely final witness list.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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24 DATED: December 17, 2012
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COPY TO:
27 HON. WILLIAM MCCURINE, JR.
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
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M. James Lorenz
United States District Court Judge

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