Environmental Dimensions, Inc. v. EnergySolutions Government Group, Inc.
Filing
155
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER by Chief District Judge William P. Johnson GRANTING 105 Motion for Summary Judgment on EDI's Tortious Damage Claim. (mag)
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO
______________________
ENVIRONMENTAL DIMENSIONS, INC.,
Plaintiff,
v.
No. 1:16-cv-1056-WJ-JHR
ENERGYSOLUTIONS GOVERNMENT
GROUP, INC.,
Defendant.
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER ON DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR
PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT
THIS MATTER is before the Court on Defendant’s Motion for Partial Summary
Judgment on Environmental Dimensions, Inc.’s Tortious Damage Claim [Doc. 105], filed
November 27, 2018. In Plaintiff’s response, Plaintiff consented to dismissal of the claim.
Doc. 110 at 3 (“[Environmental Dimensions, Inc.] consents to dismissal of the Tortious Damage
Claim”). Defendant’s motion, therefore, is GRANTED. Plaintiff also requested in its response
that the Court sanction Defendant and award attorney fees for failing to determine whether the
motion was opposed. The remainder of this opinion concerns Plaintiff’s request.
District of New Mexico Local Rule 7.1(a) provides that a “Movant must determine whether
a motion is opposed, and a motion that omits recitation of a good-faith request for concurrence
may be summarily denied.” The purpose of the rule is to facilitate communication between counsel
to prevent the filing of motions that do not require the Court’s intervention to resolve.
Plaintiff argues that Defendant failed to confer with Plaintiff to determine whether Plaintiff
would oppose the motion and, therefore, should be sanctioned and required to pay attorney fees
for wasting time and resources. Doc. 110 at 1-2. Although Defendant did not explicitly request
whether Plaintiff opposed the motion, Defendant put Plaintiff on notice of the motion in
Defendant’s September 21, 2018 email to Plaintiff:
We have drafted a motion for summary judgment which we plan to file right away.
It is overlength from the 27 pages permitted for the brief and our exhibits are more
than the 50 pages permitted. The rules contemplate that we meet and confer before
seeking leave to file an overlength brief and exhibits. The brief is approximately 68
pages inclusive of caption, signature, and certificate of service, and about 26 pages
of argument. The summary judgment motion covers all nine causes of action in this
litigation, so it took some extra pages to deal with the breadth of the case.
Doc. 120 at 3 (emphasis added). When Plaintiff responded to Defendant’s email three days later,
Plaintiff did not indicate that it would consent to dismissal of the tortious damage claim. Id. The
Court finds that Defendant’s email to Plaintiff sufficiently satisfied the purpose of Rule 7.1(a) by
informing Plaintiff of Defendant’s intent to file the motion.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Defendant’s Motion for Partial Summary
Judgment on Environmental Dimensions, Inc.’s Tortious Damage Claim [Doc. 105] is
GRANTED. Plaintiff’s tortious damage claim is dismissed.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff’s request that the Court sanction Defendant
and award attorney fees for failing to determine whether the motion was opposed is DENIED.
________________________________________
WILLIAM P. JOHNSON
CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
2
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