Frost et al v. Valdez-Gonzalez et al

Filing 48

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER re: 44 First MOTION to Withdraw as Attorney for Plaintiffs ;attorney/firm John L. Wilbers filed by Plaintiff John Sotofalcon, Plaintiff Deangela Frost, 42 Second MOTION for Extension of Time to Complete Discover y filed by Plaintiff John Sotofalcon, Plaintiff Deangela Frost, 43 Fourth MOTION for Extension of: Case Management Order filed by Plaintiff John Sotofalcon, Plaintiff Deangela Frost; IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiffs� 39; counsel's motion to withdraw [#44] is GRANTED; IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that plaintiffs' counsel shall advise both plaintiffs regarding the requirements set out by this Memorandum and Order and shall provide the Court with plaintiffs conta ct information so that the plaintiffs will receive further communications from the Court; IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that plaintiffs shall have 30 days in which to have new counsel file entries of appearance and that the parties shall have 14 days there after in which to file a joint proposed Amended Case Management Order; IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, if either plaintiff does not have a new attorney file an appearance within 30 days of this Memorandum and Order, then such a plaintiff shall file a m emorandum with the Court stating his or her intention to continue prosecuting his or her claims; IT IS FINALLY ORDERED that the motions for extension [#42, #43] are GRANTED in part, and all current deadlines are vacated. (Response to Court due by 2/16/2021.) Signed by District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr on 01/14/2021. (CMH)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI
SOUTHEASTERN DIVISION
DEANGELA FROST and
JOHN SOTOFALCON,
Plaintiffs,
v.
LUIS VALDEZ-GONZALEZ, et al.,
Defendants.

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No. 1:18-cv-0088-SNLJ

MEMORANDUM and ORDER
Plaintiffs filed this lawsuit against defendants seeking damages for injuries
sustained as the result of a motor vehicle accident. In the Amended Case Management
Order dated November 16, 2020, the discovery deadline was set for December 31, 2020,
with dispositive motions due by 1/15/2021. Jury trial was set for August 9, 2021.
Plaintiffs’ counsel has filed a motion to withdraw, a motion to extend the time for
discovery, and a motion to amend the Case Management Order [#44, #42, #43].
Plaintiffs’ counsel filed the memorandum in support of those motions under seal
due to the sensitive nature of the circumstances. This Court agrees that plaintiffs’
counsel should be allowed to withdraw for the reasons stated in his memorandum, which
is a conflict of interest. Extension of the discovery schedule and other case management
dates is necessary because plaintiffs must be permitted time to find new counsel.
Counsel states that defense counsel disagrees regarding the time that should be allowed,

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but defendants did not file a memorandum in response to the motions, and the time for
doing so has now passed.
This Court will grant plaintiffs’ motions and, in light of the fact that this case has
been pending since 2018, allow the plaintiffs 30 days from the date of this Memorandum
to have new counsel file entries of appearance. After new counsel has entered an
appearance for each plaintiff, the parties will then have 14 days in which to file a joint
proposed Amended Case Management Order. If either plaintiff does not find substitute
counsel within 30 days, such a plaintiff must file a memorandum with the Court stating
his or her intention to continue prosecuting his or her claims. Failure to do so may result
in dismissal of his or her claims for failure to prosecute.
Accordingly,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiffs’ counsel’s motion to withdraw [#44] is
GRANTED;
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that plaintiffs’ counsel shall advise both plaintiffs
regarding the requirements set out by this Memorandum and Order and shall provide the
Court with plaintiffs’ contact information so that the plaintiffs will receive further
communications from the Court;
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that plaintiffs shall have 30 days in which to have
new counsel file entries of appearance and that the parties shall have 14 days thereafter in
which to file a joint proposed Amended Case Management Order;
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, if either plaintiff does not have a new attorney
file an appearance within 30 days of this Memorandum and Order, then such a plaintiff
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shall file a memorandum with the Court stating his or her intention to continue
prosecuting his or her claims;
IT IS FINALLY ORDERED that the motions for extension [#42, #43] are
GRANTED in part, and all current deadlines are vacated.

Dated this 14th day of January, 2021.

STEPHEN N. LIMBAUGH, JR.
SENIOR UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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