North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters v. Fred J Piette Company Inc

Filing 50

ORDER granting 46 Motion to Withdraw Admissions, signed by Judge William C. Griesbach on 02-05-2009. See Order for full detail. (cc: all counsel) (Griesbach, William)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT E A S T E R N DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN NORTH CENTRAL STATES REGIONAL COUNCIL OF CARPENTERS, Plaintiff, v. FRED J. PIETTE CO. INC., Defendant. Case No. 08-C-525 ORDER Plaintiff was something short of a week late in responding to the Defendant's ("Piette") requests for admissions. Plaintiff requested a brief extension from Piette, which Piette denied. Piette has taken the position (as is its right) that under Fed. R. Civ. P. 36(a)(3), the matters are deemed admitted by virtue of Plaintiff's failure to timely respond. Plaintiff has now filed a motion to withdraw its admissions, in effect an ex post facto request for an extension of time. I am satisfied that the motion should be granted. Although Piette claims it would be prejudiced if amendments to Plaintiff's answers are allowed, its assertion is vague and on questionable footing. The Rules are to be applied so as to secure the just resolution of every action, Fed. R. Civ. P. 1, and thus a litigant should not generally bank on the fact that an opponent's barely tardy response will be dispositive of the issue. In fact, Rule 36(b) expresses the overwhelming preference for reaching the merits, and thus when Piette was contacted by Plaintiff only a few days after the responses were due it should have at least considered the strong possibility that judicial relief would be granted. As such, its reliance on any admissions by default would have been unsound. Having found little evidence of prejudice and, and finding that allowing withdrawal would "promote the presentation of the merits of the action," Fed. R. Civ. P. 36(b), the motion is GRANTED and the Plaintiff will not be held to its admissions by default. SO ORDERED this 5th day of February, 2009. s/ William C. Griesbach William C. Griesbach United States District Judge 2

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