Graham v. Social Security Administration

Filing 16

ORDER directing the Clerk to issue summons contained in Docs. 10-2, 10-3, and 10-4 re 10 Amended Complaint filed by Diane Onofrio Graham to Graham's counsel who then has 30 days from the date he receives the summonses within which to serve defendant. Signed by Magistrate Judge G. R. Smith on 1/4/16. (wwp)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
STATE SBORO DIVISION
DIANE ONOFRIO GRAHAM,
Plaintiff,
V.

Case No. CV614-102
CAROLYN W. COLVIN,
Acting Commissioner of the Social
Security Administration,
Defendant.

Several weeks ago the Court ordered Plaintiff Diane Graham to
show cause why this social security benefits appeal should not be
dismissed on abandonment grounds for her failure to serve defendant for
almost an entire year.' Doe. 14. Graham's counsel responded that his
delay stemmed from "care and concern to not give offense to the Court
by acting impatiently."' Doc. 15 at 5.
1

Graham filed her Amended Complaint on January 6, 2015 (doe. 10) and
simultaneously requested that the Clerk issue three summonses that counsel would
serve on defendant's representatives. See does. 10-1 to 10-4. The Clerk never
returned the summonses and counsel never contacted the Clerk to inquire about the
delay. Consequently, defendant remains unserved and this case sits idle.
2

Counsel fears drawing the ire of Court staff (and thus possibly the Court too) by
"pestering" the Clerk about the summonses. As background for why he never spoke

I

The Court accepts counsel's explanation for the delay. Particularly
given the "strong preference for deciding cases on the merits rather than
procedural technicalities," State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Epright,
2015 WL 7450108 at *2 (M.D. Fla. Nov. 24, 2015), it will not recommend
dismissal of Graham's Complaint.
Service of the Amended Complaint and issuance of the summonses,
however, remain issues. To that end, the Court DIRECTS the Clerk to
issue the summonses contained in Docs. 10-2, 10-3, and 10-4 to Graham's
counsel who then has 30 days from the date he receives the summonses
within which to serve defendant.

up, counsel details the idiosyncratic practices of other courts in which he's practiced.
See, e.g., doe. 15 at 3 ("[A] Texas judge forbids electronic filing, threatening sanctions
upon counsel who fails to file by paper, as in the old days."). Although a reasonable
explanation, the Court nevertheless notes that at least in this district, counsel should
contact the Clerk's office long before a year passes if in the future a situation like this
arises again. Doing so will not negatively impact counsel's standing in the Court's
eyes. And by the way:
Documents should be filed, signed, and verified by electronic means to the
extent and in the manner permitted or required by the Administrative
Procedures for Filing, Signing and Verifying Pleadings and Papers by
Electronic Means in Civil and Criminal Cases in the United States District
Court for the Southern District of Georgia (available on the Court's website at
"www.gas.uscourts.gov ").
S.D. Ga. L.R. 5.5.
2

SO ORDERED, this /day of January, 2016.
.

:~]~

a

UNITELT STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA