Mrs. Condies Salad Company, Inc. v. Colorado Blue Ribbon Foods, LLC et al

Filing 11

MINUTE ORDER granting 7 Plaintiff's Motion to Strike Document Titled "Answer in a Civil Action"; granting 8 Motion to Continue Scheduling/Planning Conference. The 6 Answer is STRICKEN. Defendants shall answer or otherwise respon d to the 1 Complaint on or before 01/05/2012. Scheduling Conference set for 12/15/2011 at 11:00 AM is vacated and reset to 2/9/2012 at 11:00 AM in Courtroom C204 before Magistrate Judge Kristen L. Mix, by Magistrate Judge Kristen L. Mix on 12/05/2011.(wjc, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
Civil Action No. 11-cv-02118-MSK-KLM
MRS. CONDIES SALAD COMPANY, INC.,
Plaintiff,
v.
COLORADO BLUE RIBBON FOODS, LLC, and
WILLIAM R. MCKNIGHT,
Defendants.
____________________________________________________________________
MINUTE ORDER
_____________________________________________________________________
ENTERED BY MAGISTRATE JUDGE KRISTEN L. MIX
This matter is before the Court on Plaintiff’s Motion to Strike Document Titled
“Answer in a Civil Action” [Docket No. 7; Filed December 2, 2011] (the “Motion to Strike”)
and Motion to Continue Scheduling/Planning Conference [Docket No. 8; Filed
December 2, 2011] (the “Motion to Continue”). As an initial matter, the Answer [#6]
appears to have been filed by Defendant William R. McKnight (“McKnight”), proceeding pro
se, on behalf of both himself and Defendant Colorado Blue Ribbon Foods, LLC (“Blue
Ribbon”). The Court first notes that a corporation, partnership, or other legal entity “cannot
appear without counsel admitted to practice before this court . . . .” D.C.COLO.LCivR
83.3D. In other words, Defendant McKnight may represent himself but may not represent
Defendant Blue Ribbon in this action. Defendants are warned that “absent prompt
appearance of substitute counsel, pleadings, motions, and other papers may be stricken,
and default judgment or other sanctions may be imposed against the entity.”
D.C.COLO.LCivR 83.3D.
The Answer provided by Defendant McKnight does not comply with the Federal
Rules of Civil Procedure or with the Local Rules in a number of respects. For example,
Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(b)(1)(B) requires that, “[i]n responding to a pleading, a party must . . .
admit or deny the allegations asserted against it by an opposing party.” Defendant
McKnight has addressed some but not all of Plaintiff’s allegations. In addition, as Plaintiff
points out, the Answer fails to provide a telephone number and an e-mail address at which
Defendant McKnight can be contacted, in violation of Fed. R. Civ. P. 11(a). Furthermore,
the Answer fails to comply with D.C.COLO.LCivR 10.1E., which mandates that all filings
with the Court be double-spaced. This list is not necessarily exhaustive, and the Answer
-1-

may fail to comply with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and/or the Local Rules1 in
other ways as well. Pro se litigants must follow the same procedural rules that govern
other litigants. See Nielson v. Price, 17 F.3d 1276, 1277 (10th Cir. 1994). Accordingly,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Motion to Strike [#7] is GRANTED. The Answer
[#6] is STRICKEN. Defendants shall answer or otherwise respond to the Complaint [#1]
on or before January 5, 2012.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Motion to Continue [#8] is GRANTED. The
Scheduling Conference set for December 15, 2011 at 11:00 a.m. is VACATED and RESET
to February 9, 2012 at 11:00 a.m. in Courtroom C-204 of the Byron G. Rogers United
States Courthouse, 1929 Stout Street, Denver, Colorado.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the parties shall submit their proposed scheduling
order pursuant to the District of Colorado Electronic Case Filing (“ECF”) Procedures. The
parties shall submit the proposed scheduling order no later than February 4, 2012.

Dated: December 5, 2011

1

A copy of the Local Rules of Practice for the District of Colorado may be found at
http://www.cod.uscourts.gov/LocalRules/Rules.aspx.

-2-