Hughes v. Nevada Department of Corrections et al

Filing 57

ORDER Denying 56 Defendants' Motion to Modify Date and Time. Attorney General shall file answer as ordered by 8/9/2014 unless the parties have reached a settlement that is memorialized in writing. Signed by Magistrate Judge Peggy A. Leen on 7/10/2014. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - EDS)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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DISTRICT OF NEVADA

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***

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MICHAEL RAY HUGHES,

Case No. 2:12-cv-0660-KJD-PAL
Plaintiff,

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ORDER

v.
NEVADA DEPARTMENT OF
CORRECTIONS, et al.,

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Defendant.

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Before the court is Defendant’s Motion to Modify Date and Time in Order (Dkt. #56). In

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an Order entered June 26, 2014 (Dkt. #55) the court granted Defendants’ Motion for

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Miscellaneous Relief and For an Extension of Time (Dkt. #54). Defendants requested relief

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from a prior order requiring them to file an answer to the complaint within 60 days of April 18,

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2014. The motion represented that on May 20, 2014, Plaintiff contacted several employees of

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the Office of the Attorney General indicating he was interested in an early resolution. On June 7,

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2014, Plaintiff communicated that he was currently living in San Diego County and unable to

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travel because of illness but would have telephone service in 4 or 5 days and was interested in

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settlement discussions. The Attorney General’s Office therefore requested an enlargement of

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time to file their answer or other responsive pleading until thirty (30) days after a conference or

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discussion.

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The court granted Defendants’ motion for miscellaneous relief somewhat reluctantly

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because of the age of this case. However, the court granted the request for enlargement of time

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to file the answer until thirty (30) days after the parties had an informal telephonic settlement

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discussion as requested.

The court made the informal telephonic settlement discussion
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mandatory on both sides and set a date certain for it to occur as requested. Because of the age of

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this case the court also set a date certain for an answer to be filed.

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The motion for miscellaneous relief was filed two days before the defendants’ answer

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was due and did not advise the court of any dates counsel would be unavailable to conduct the

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informal settlement conference requested. The current motion was filed July 2, 2014 because the

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assigned attorney from the Attorney General’s Office was scheduled to be on vacation between

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July 5, 2014 and July 13, 2014 in a remote location without telephone or internet access. The

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motion does not indicate that the Attorney General’s Office attempted to communicate with Mr.

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Hughes by email or telephone. The motion does not indicate whether the Defendants complied

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with the court’s Order (Dkt. #55) requiring them to communicate with the Plaintiff via the email

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address he provided on June 5, 2014 to advise him that the court’s order had been entered and

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that the parties were ordered to conduct informal discussions telephonically.

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In short, Defense counsel got what it asked for – an order directing the Plaintiff to meet

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with Defendants telephonically or in person on a set date and time ordered by the court for the

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purposes of a good faith, informal settlement discussion. Because counsel did not inform the

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court of any date or time counsel was unavailable a mandatory, informal telephonic conference

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was set.

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apparently made no arrangements to have another attorney handle the matter. The court assumes

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the informal telephonic settlement conference did not go forward as counsel for Defendants was

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out of state. The court has no information at all about whether counsel attempted to reach the

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Plaintiff to reschedule another date.

It fell during the period counsel was scheduled to be on vacation, and counsel

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Having reviewed and considered the matter,

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IT IS ORDERED that:

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1.

Defendants’ Motion to Modify Date and Time in Order (Dkt. #56) is denied. The

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parties are encouraged to conduct informal settlement discussions, but under the circumstances

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the court will not enter another order setting another date and time for a mandatory settlement

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conference.

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2.

The Attorney General shall file an answer as ordered by August 9, 2014 unless

the parties have reached a settlement that is memorialized in writing.
DATED THIS 10th day of July 2014.

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PEGGY A. LEEN
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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