Snyder v. Phelps et al

Filing 237

MOTION for Extension of Time to File Response/Reply as to 236 Reply to Response to Motion, 235 Reply to Response to Motion by Fred W. Phelps, Sr, Westboro Baptist Church, Inc.. Responses due by 1/4/2008 (Katz, Jonathan)

Snyder v. Phelps et al

Doc. 237

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MARYLAND ­ BALTIMORE DIVISION ALBERT SNYDER, vs. Plaintiff, Case No. 1:06-cv-1389-RDB

FRED W. PHELPS, SR.; SHIRLEY L. PHELPS-ROPER; REBEKAH A. PHELPS-DAVIS; and, WESTBORO BAPTIST CHURCH, INC., Defendants. MOTION OF DEFENDANTS WESTBORO BAPTIST CHURCH AND FRED W. PHELPS, SR., TO TREAT REPLY MOTIONS AS TIMELY FILED Defendants Westboro Baptist Church, Inc. ("WBC") and Fred W. Phelps, Sr., by and through the undersigned counsel,

respectfully move, for the following reasons, to treat as timely filed their replies ("Replies") to Plaintiff's oppositions to Defendants' Motion to Stay and consolidated Post-Trial Motions: 1. Defendants' Replies were due December 17, 2007, as

follows: eleven days under the local rules to reply, and three additional days under Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(d). Plaintiff filed his reply on December 3, 2007. 2. Defendants' Stay reply was filed electronically

eighteen minutes late, at 12:18 a.m. on December 18, 2007. Defendant's reply regarding the remaining posttrial motions was filed thirty-one minutes late, at 12:31 a.m.

Dockets.Justia.com

3.

Undersigned counsel did not anticipate any delay in filing arose, Defendants' and was with Replies, but that by unexpectedly a technical Word

further the

affected of

difficulty

freezing

his

Microsoft

program, which necessitated taking time to figure out how to unfreeze Microsoft Word. 4. This is the first time that any defendant in this civil action has sought such relief after the filing of a document with the Court. Undersigned counsel

anticipates that this is an abberration that will not be repeated. 5. This filing delay amounts to no more than one-half

hour; no parties will be prejudiced by the granting of this Motion, and the interests of justice will be

served by permitting Defendants' Motion to Stay and consolidated post-trial motions to be ruled on their merits. 6. Local Rule 105(9) directs parties to attempt to obtain the consent of other counsel before filing a motion to extend a motion filing deadline. Prior to filing this Motion, undersigned counsel left a voice mail with

Plaintiff's counsel Sean Summers on December 18, 2007, seeking said consent ­- and confirming that he always will extend similar return courtesies -and will

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update

the

Court pro

with se

Mr.

Summers's

reply. to

It

is

inferred Motion,

that as

defendants will

consent be served

this the

their

interests

to

extent that Defendants are successful on their stay motion and consolidated post-trial motions. 7. Section XI of the Court's Electronic Filing

Requirements And Procedures Manual recognizes that at times litigants due to will be "unable to timely with file a

document

technical system

problems or [the

either

the own

electronic

filing

litigant's]

system," in which case the litigant is permitted to file a request for enlargement of time. The foregoing provision recognizes that technological delays

sometimes will arise with computer systems. WHEREFORE, Defendants respectfully move to treat their Replies concerning their Motion to Stay and consolidated Post-Trial Motions as timely filed.

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Respectfully submitted,

___/s/__________ Jonathan L. Katz D.Md. Bar No. 07007 1400 Spring St., Suite 410 Silver Spring, MD 20910 [phone] Fax: [phone] [e-mail] CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I certify that a copy of the foregoing document was served by the CM/ECF filing system on December 18, 2007, to: Sean E. Summers, Esq. Craig Tod Trebilcock, Esq. Becky Phelps-Davis (by mail only) 1216 Cambridge Topeka, KS 66604 Shirley Phelps-Roper (by mail only) 3640 Churchill Road Topeka, KS 66604 ____/s/_____________________________ Jonathan L. Katz

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