Sutherland v. Berryhill

Filing 14

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE as to Plaintiff why she should not be sanctioned $150 for failure to comply with the Court's prior orders ; striking plaintiff's stipulated motions 12 and 13 Amended MOTION for Extension of Time to File Opening Brief (Second) (Stipulated) ; Show Cause Response due by 7/18/2017, signed by Hon. James P. Donohue. (SWT)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
AT SEATTLE

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KELLY SUTHERLAND (PRATKA),
Plaintiff,
v.
NANCY A. BERRYHILL, Acting
Commissioner of Social Security

CASE NO. C17-5166-TSZ-JPD
ORDER DIRECTING PLAINTIFF’S
COUNSEL TO SHOW CAUSE WHY
SANCTIONS SHOULD NOT BE
IMPOSED

Defendant.

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This matter comes before the Court upon plaintiff’s June 30, 2017 and July 6, 2017

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motions seeking a second extension of time to file the opening brief, which both fail to comply

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with the local rules of this district and prior orders of the Court. Dkt. 12; Dkt. 13. From the

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outset of this action, the Court has expended substantial time and energy attempting to direct

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plaintiff’s counsel to heed this district’s local rules.

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Plaintiff filed a complaint against the Commissioner of the Social Security

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Administration on March 3, 2017. Dkt. 1. When plaintiff failed to append an appropriate

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Certificate of Service to the complaint or any other filing, the Court issued an order directing

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plaintiff’s counsel to file all future documents in a format that complies with LCR 10, including

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a caption which properly identifies the full name of the defendant. Dkt. 9.

ORDER DIRECTING PLAINTIFF’S COUNSEL
TO SHOW CAUSE WHY SANCTIONS SHOULD
NOT BE IMPOSED - 1

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Plaintiff subsequently moved for an extension of time to file her opening brief. Dkt. 10.

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In the Court’s Order granting the extension, the Court once again directed plaintiff’s counsel to

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update the caption on all future filings with the Court, as well as comply with the U.S. District

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Court’s Electronic Filing Procedures for Civil and Criminal Cases (“EFP”). Dkt. 11. The Court

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also warned plaintiff’s counsel that failure to make these changes may cause this Court to strike

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future submissions. Id.

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Plaintiff filed a second stipulated motion for an extention of time to file plaintiff’s

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opening brief on June 30, 2017, Dkt. 12, and an amended stipulated motion, Dkt. 13, on July 6,

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2017. However, both stipulated motions submitted by plaintiff’s counsel remain deficient in the

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following respects:

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1) To date, none of plaintiff’s filed pleadings have included the full name of the

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defendant, Nancy A. Berryhill, Acting Commissioner of Social Security, despite the Court’s

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Order directing plaintiff to update the caption on all future filings with the Court. Dkt. 11 at 2.

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2) Similarly, plaintiff has continuously failed to comply with the U.S. District

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Court’s Electronic Filing Procedures for Civil and Criminal Cases (EFP) by not providing the

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assigned judge with a properly formatted Word or WordPerfect compatible version of a proposed

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order by e-mail, despite the Court’s explicit direction to do so. Dkt. 9.

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3) The Court presumes, based on these deficiencies, that plaintiff’s counsel also
failed to review the Court’s EFP and local rules, as directed. Dkt. 11.
4) Accordingly, the Court STRIKES plaintiffs’ stipulated motions. Dkt. 12; Dkt. 13.

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Plaintiff’s counsel is directed to re-file the stipulated motion in a manner that complies with the

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local rules of the district and the Court’s prior orders by no later than Tuesday, July 18, 2017.

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In addition, plaintiff’s counsel shall SHOW CAUSE why she should not be sanctioned $150

ORDER DIRECTING PLAINTIFF’S COUNSEL
TO SHOW CAUSE WHY SANCTIONS SHOULD
NOT BE IMPOSED - 2

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for failure to comply with the Court’s prior orders. Plaintiff shall file her show cause

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response with the Court by no later than Tuesday, July 18, 2017, or the Court will impose

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sanctions and also order her to appear in person for a show cause hearing.

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The Clerk is directed to send copies of this Order to all counsel of record and to the
Honorable Thomas S. Zilly.
Dated this 13th day of July, 2017.

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A

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JAMES P. DONOHUE
Chief United States Magistrate Judge

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ORDER DIRECTING PLAINTIFF’S COUNSEL
TO SHOW CAUSE WHY SANCTIONS SHOULD
NOT BE IMPOSED - 3