Bernath v. Seavey

Filing 19

ORDER taking under advisement 6 Motion for John D. Mason to Appear Pro Hac Vice; granting in part 16 Defendant's Motion to Strike Plaintiff's Supplemented Opposition to Motion for John D. Mason to Appear Pro Hac Vice or, Alternative ly, for Leave to File a Reply Thereto. Defendant may file a reply, not to exceed five (5) pages in length, on or before July 24, 2015. The Clerk of Court is directed to STRIKE 14 Plaintiff's Opposition in part and 15 Plaintiff's Supplement in its entirety. See Order for details. Signed by Magistrate Judge Carol Mirando on 7/20/2015. (ALB)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
FORT MYERS DIVISION
DANIEL A. BERNATH,
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No: 2:15-cv-358-FtM-99CM

MARK CAMERON SEAVEY,
Defendant.
ORDER
Before the Court are a Motion for John D. Mason to Appear Pro Hac Vice (Doc.
6) and Designation and Consent-to-Act under Local Rule 2.02 (Doc. 7), filed on July
6, 2015; Plaintiff Daniel A. Bernath’s Opposition to Motion to Admit John D. Mason
Maryland Literary Agent/Lawyer Pro Hac Vice to this Court’s Bar and Related CrossComplaint (Doc. 14) and Supplement (Doc. 15), filed on July 13, 2015; and
Defendant’s Motion to Strike Plaintiff’s Supplemented Opposition to Motion for John
D. Mason to Appear Pro Hac Vice or, Alternatively, for Leave to File a Reply Thereto
(Doc. 16), filed on July 16, 2015.
At the outset, the Court agrees with Defendant that Plaintiff’s Response in
Opposition (Doc. 14) exceeds the twenty (20) page limit set forth in Middle District of
Florida Local Rule 3.01(b). Plaintiff neither sought nor received leave of Court to
exceed the page limit for responses. Pages twenty one and twenty two, however,
appear to relate directly to the nature of Plaintiff’s opposition to Mr. Mason’s
admission to this Court, and the Court therefore will permit those pages to remain.

By contrast, the content of pages twenty two (22) through thirty one (31) does not
appear to be relevant to the admission pro hac vice of attorney John D. Mason in the
instant matter. Accordingly, the Clerk will be directed to strike pages in excess of
the limit, specifically pages twenty two (22) through thirty one (31) of Plaintiff’s
Opposition (Doc. 14) and Plaintiff’s Supplement (Doc. 15) in its entirety.
For Mr. Bernath’s benefit, although he is proceeding pro se in this matter, he
still must comply with the Middle District of Florida Local Rules and Federal Rules
of Civil Procedure. See Loren v. Sasser, 309 F.3d 1296, 1304 (11th Cir. 2002) (noting
that despite certain leniency afforded pro se parties, they must follow procedures).
A copy of the Local Rules may be obtained from the Court’s website.1 Furthermore,
upon review of the motion requesting Mr. Mason’s admission pro hac vice, it appears
that he meets the requirements for special admission set forth in Middle District of
Florida Local Rule 2.02(a).

In light of the portion of Plaintiff’s Opposition that

appears to claim that Mr. Mason has been subject to undisclosed disciplinary actions,
the Court will take Mr. Mason’s motion for admission pro hac vice under advisement
and permit him to file a brief reply.
ACCORDINGLY, it is hereby
ORDERED:
1.

The Motion for John D. Mason to Appear Pro Hac Vice (Doc. 6) is

TAKEN UNDER ADVISEMENT.

1

www.flmd.uscourts.gov

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2.

Defendant’s Motion to Strike Plaintiff’s Supplemented Opposition to

Motion for John D. Mason to Appear Pro Hac Vice or, Alternatively, for Leave to File
a Reply Thereto (Doc. 16) is GRANTED in part. On behalf of Mr. Mason, who has
not yet been admitted pro hac vice and therefore may not yet electronically file
documents with the Court, Defendant may file a reply, not to exceed five (5) pages in
length, on or before July 24, 2015.
3.

The Clerk of Court is directed to STRIKE Plaintiff’s Opposition (Doc. 14)

in part. The Clerk is directed to remove pages twenty two (22) through thirty one
(31) and redact the document accordingly in CMECF. The Clerk is further directed
to STRIKE Plaintiff’s Supplement (Doc. 15) in its entirety and remove the document
from CMECF.
DONE and ORDERED in Fort Myers, Florida on this 20th day of July, 2015.

Copies:
Counsel of record
Pro se Plaintiff

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