McCracken v. Merchants Credit Corporation

Filing 18

ORDER granting in part and denying in part plaintiff's 16 Motion to Reopen Case; granting parties an additional 30 days to perfect their settlement. Signed by Judge James L. Robart.(SWT)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
AT SEATTLE

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JANET MCCRACKEN,
Plaintiff,

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v.
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MERCHANTS CREDIT
CORPORATION,

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CASE NO. C17-0112JLR
ORDER GRANTING IN PART
AND DENYING IN PART
PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO
REOPEN CASE

Defendant.

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Before the court is Plaintiff Janet McCracken’s motion to reopen the
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above-entitled case because the parties’ have not yet perfected their settlement. (Mot.
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(Dkt. # 16).) Specifically, Ms. McCraken seeks additional time for parties to perfect their
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settlement. (See id. at 1.) As described below, the court GRANTS in part and DENIES
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in part her motion.
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On August 23, 2018, the court entered an order of dismissal because the parties
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had notified the court that they had settled their dispute. (Order (Dkt. # 15).) In its order,
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ORDER - 1

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the court stated that if the parties’ settlement “is not perfected, any party may move to

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reopen the case, provided that such motion is filed within 60 days of the date of th[e]

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order.” (Id. at 1-2.) Ms. McCracken timely filed her motion to reopen on October 22,

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2018. (See Mot.) She asks the court to “reopen this matter” but also asks for “at least 30

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more days for the parties to perfect the[ir] settlement.” (Id. at 1.) Apparently, at the time

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of her motion, Ms. McCracken’s counsel had not yet received settlement funds from

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Defendant Merchant Credit Corporation (“MCC”). (See Trigsted Decl. (Dkt. # 17) ¶ 2.)

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MCC did not respond to Ms. McCracken’s motion. (See generally Dkt.) A

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party’s failure to respond to a motion “may be considered by the court as an admission

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that the motion has merit.” Local Rules W.D. Wash. LCR 7(b)(3). However, in this

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instance, there is no need for the court to “reopen” the case. Instead, the court grants the

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parties an additional 30 days from the date of this order to perfect their settlement. If the

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settlement is not perfected within that time period, any party may so notify the court

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within the same timeframe and the court will reopen the case at that time. Accordingly,

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the court GRANTS in part and DENIES in part Ms. McCracken’s motion (Dkt. # 16).

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Dated this 28th day of November, 2018.

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A

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JAMES L. ROBART
United States District Judge

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ORDER - 2