Wilson v. Lafayette, City of et al

Filing 206

ORDER Striking Plaintiff's Response Briefs 166 , 170 , and 171 . Plaintiffs shall re-file response briefs to defendants motions for summary judgment that comply with § III.F.3.b of the Practice Standards (Civil cases) of this Court on or before 4/30/09. Defendants may submit reply briefs to plaintiffs response briefs within fifteen days of the date on which such response briefs are filed, by Judge Philip A. Brimmer on 4/9/09. (ebs, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO Judge Philip A. Brimmer

Civil Case No. 07-cv-01844-PAB-KLM (consolidated with 07-cv-02248-PAB-BNB) W ENDY WILSON, as an individual and as the next of kin and personal representative of Ryan Wilson, deceased, et al., Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF LAFAYETTE, et al., Defendants. _____________________________________________________________________ ORDER _____________________________________________________________________ This matter is before the Court on plaintiffs' response briefs to defendants' motions for summary judgment [Docket Nos. 166, 170, 171]. In each of their response briefs, plaintiffs disregarded the mandatory format for such briefs specified in my Practice Standards. Plaintiffs included general objections to nearly all of the material undisputed facts asserted in defendants' summary judgment motions without identifying specific reasons for such apparent denials. Instead of correlating their factual statements to those in each motion for summary judgment and adding additional disputed facts where appropriate, plaintiffs set forth a lengthy narrative in each response brief of their "Statement of Facts" and failed to separately number or paragraph such alleged facts. Section III.F.3.b of my Practice Standards discusses the format that must be

used for motions for summary judgment under Fed. R. Civ. P. 56, response briefs to such motions, and reply briefs in support of such motions. Thus, plaintiffs in this case, as with any party opposing a motion for summary judgment before this Court, must include a section in their response brief styled "Response to Statement of Undisputed Material Facts," which admits or denies the asserted material facts set forth by the party moving for summary judgment. Practice Standards (Civil cases), Judge Philip A. Brimmer, § III.F.3.b.iv, available at http://www.cod.uscourts.gov/Judges/Judges.aspx. These admissions and denials must be made in separately numbered and paragraphed declarative sentences, employing the same numbering format used by the movant. Id. Any denials of asserted material facts must be accompanied by a brief factual explanation of the reason or reasons for the denial and a specific reference to material in the record supporting such denial. Id. If plaintiffs believe that there exist additional disputed questions of fact that are not adequately addressed by admitting or denying those facts set forth by the movant, then plaintiffs are required to include in their response briefs a separate section styled "Statement of Additional Disputed Facts," which states each additional material disputed fact in separately numbered and paragraphed declarative sentences. Id. § III.F.3.b.v. As my Practice Standards make clear, the purpose of these procedures is to establish facts and determine which of them are in dispute. Plaintiffs' failure to comply with the procedures set forth in § III.F.3.b of my Practice Standard frustrates this simple purpose. Plaintiffs' response briefs, as submitted, inappropriately require the defendants and the Court decode their narrative statements in order to ascertain which facts are in dispute. 2

Accordingly, it is ORDERED that plaintiffs' response briefs [Docket Nos. 166, 170, 171] are STRICKEN. It is further ORDERED that plaintiffs shall re-file response briefs to defendants' motions for summary judgment that comply with § III.F.3.b of the Practice Standards (Civil cases) of this Court on or before April 30, 2009. Defendants may submit reply briefs to plaintiffs' response briefs within fifteen days of the date on which such response briefs are filed.

DATED April 9, 2009. BY THE COURT:

s/Philip A. Brimmer PHILIP A. BRIMMER United States District Judge

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