Jinni Tech Ltd et al v. Red.com Inc et al
Filing
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ORDER denying in part Plaintiffs' 82 Motion for relief from their summary judgment response deadline. Plaintiffs' response due by 12/6/2019. The court DIRECTS the clerk to re-note RED's summary judgment motion (Dkt. # 79 ) for December 13, 2019. The court ORDERS Plaintiffs to file a response by December 6, 2019. Signed by Judge James L. Robart. (PM)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
AT SEATTLE
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JINNI TECH, LTD., et al.,
Plaintiffs,
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v.
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ORDER DENYING IN PART
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR
RELIEF FROM DEADLINE
RED.COM, INC., et al.,
Defendants.
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CASE NO. C17-0217JLR
Before the court is Plaintiffs Jinni Tech, Ltd. (“Jinni Tech”) and Bruce Royce’s
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(collectively, “Plaintiffs”) motion to extend Plaintiffs’ deadline to file a response to
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Defendants RED.com, Inc., and RED.com, LLC’s (collectively, “RED”) motion for
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summary judgment pursuant to Local Civil Rule 7(j). (See Mot. (Dkt. # 82); MSJ (Dkt.
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# 79)); see also Local Civil Rules W.D. Wash. LCR 7(j).
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On November 14, 2019, RED filed a motion for summary judgment and properly
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noted it for December 6, 2019. (See MSJ at 1; Sched. Order (Dkt. # 75) at 1.) Plaintiffs’
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deadline to respond to RED’s summary judgment motion therefore fell on December 2,
ORDER - 1
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2019. See Local Rules W.D. Wash. LCR 7(d)(3) (“Any opposition papers shall be filed
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and served not later than the Monday before the noting date.”).
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On Plaintiffs’ response deadline, Plaintiffs filed the present motion seeking to
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extend their response deadline to December 9, 2019, and to reset the noting date to
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December 13, 2019. (See Mot. at 2.) Plaintiffs claim they need more time because (1)
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the response was due “on the business day . . . concluding the Thanksgiving holiday;” (2)
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“Plaintiffs reside in the United Kingdom and Plaintiffs’ counsel has had difficulty
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communicating with Plaintiffs due to the time difference between the United Kingdom
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and Washington State;” and (3) “Plaintiffs’ counsel was awaiting further information
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from Plaintiffs to complete the response to the motion for summary judgment but has not
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received the information due to the time difference.” (See id. at 1-2.) RED opposes the
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motion and argues that Plaintiffs have not shown good cause to extend the deadline. (See
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Resp. (Dkt. # 83).) The court agrees.
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Deadlines set by the court’s scheduling order and by the local civil rules “are firm
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dates that can be changed only by order of the court, not by agreement of counsel or
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parties.” (See Sched. Order at 1.) “The court will alter these dates only upon good cause
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shown.” (Id.) “A motion for relief from deadline should, whenever possible, be filed
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sufficiently in advance of the deadline to allow the court to rule on the motion prior to the
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deadline.” Local Rules W.D. Wash. LCR 7(g). “If a true, unforeseen emergency exists
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that prevents a party from meeting a deadline, and the emergency arose too late to file a
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motion for relief from this deadline, the party should contact the adverse party, meet and
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confer regarding an extension, and file a stipulation and proposed order with the court.”
ORDER - 2
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Id. A party seeking an extension must show good cause if their request is made before
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the original deadline expires. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(b)(1)(A). “Parties should not assume
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that the motion will be granted and must comply with the existing deadline unless the
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court orders otherwise.” Local Civil Rules W.D. Wash. LCR 7(j).
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Plaintiffs provide no authority that the fact that a deadline falls on a Monday after
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a holiday or that a time difference exists between Washington and the United Kingdom
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constitutes good cause, and the court is unaware of any authority to that effect. (See
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generally Mot.) Plaintiffs have had Defendants’ summary judgment motion since it was
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filed on November 14, 2019, and have had the amount of time allowed by the Local Civil
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Rules to respond. (See MSJ at 1.) Plaintiffs do not explain what “further information”
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they need from their clients. (See generally Mot.) Moreover, Plaintiffs do not explain
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why a time difference—which may cause a delay in terms of hours, not days—prevents
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Plaintiffs from filing a timely response, when Plaintiffs have been aware of their deadline
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for several weeks. (See generally id.) Plaintiffs do not explain why they waited until the
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final hour to request an extension. (See generally id.) Finally, Plaintiffs do not explain
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why they need an additional week to file their response. (See generally id.)
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Accordingly, the court finds that Plaintiffs have not shown good cause.
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Nevertheless, the court will allow Plaintiffs to file a response to RED’s summary
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judgment motion by December 6, 2019, and will re-note RED’s summary judgment
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motion to December 13, 2019. The court warns Plaintiffs that the court will strictly
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adhere to all deadlines going forward and instructs Plaintiffs to refrain from seeking
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further extensions absent good cause.
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For the reasons set forth above, the court DENIES in part Plaintiffs’ motion for
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relief from their summary judgment response deadline (Dkt. # 82). The court DIRECTS
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the clerk to re-note RED’s summary judgment motion (Dkt. # 79) for December 13,
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2019. The court ORDERS Plaintiffs to file a response by December 6, 2019.
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Dated this 4th day of December, 2019.
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A
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JAMES L. ROBART
United States District Judge
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ORDER - 4
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