IN RE: MARTHA AKERS

Filing 5

MEMORANDUM OPINION. Signed by Judge Dabney L. Friedrich on September 10, 2018. (lcdlf1)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

In re
MARTHA AKERS,
Debtor.
Civil Action No. 18-cv-1323 (DLF)

MARTHA AKERS,

(Bankruptcy No. 17-10034)

Appellant,
v.
JOHN P. FITZPATRICK,
Appellee.

MEMORANDUM OPINION
On June 1, 2018, Martha Akers filed a notice of appeal from bankruptcy case No. 1710034. Dkt. 1.
On July 3, 2018, the Clerk of Court provided the parties with notice of transmission of
the record on appeal. Dkt. 3. In that notice, the Clerk of Court notified appellant Martha Akers
that Rule 8018(a) of the Bankruptcy Rules of Civil Procedure required her to serve and file any
brief by August 2, 2018, and that failure to do so could result in dismissal on appellee’s motion
or, after notice, on the Court’s own motion. Id.
On August 6, 2018, Akers still had not filed a brief, and the Court issued a minute order
explaining that Akers had missed her Rule 8018(a) deadline. The Court further explained that,
under Rule 8018(a)(4), if an appellant fails to file a brief on time, the district court, “after notice,
may dismiss the appeal on its own motion.” The Court notified Akers that if she wished to

pursue her appeal, she was required to file a brief on or before August 17, 2018. And it gave
notice that failure to do so could result in dismissal of Akers’s appeal.
As of September 10, 2018—over one month after the Rule 8018(a) deadline and over two
weeks after the additional time provided by this Court—Akers still has not filed a brief. The
Court will therefore dismiss her appeal. A separate order consistent with this decision
accompanies this memorandum opinion.

________________________
DABNEY L. FRIEDRICH
United States District Judge
Date: September 10, 2018

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