Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-azd-2_13-cv-02201/USCOURTS-azd-2_13-cv-02201-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 480
Nature of Suit: Consumer Credit
Cause of Action: 15:1692 Fair Debt Collection Act

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WO

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

Rachel Benson, 

Plaintiff, 

vs.

Energy Solutions, Inc.; Law Office of

James R. Vaughn, P.C.,

Defendants. 

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No. CV-13-2201-PHX-LOA

ORDER

This action arises on Plaintiff’s Motion to Strike Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss the

Complaint, filed on April 21, 2014. (Doc. 37) Pending for ruling is Defendants’ Motion to

Dismiss the Complaint, filed pursuant to Rules 12(b)(1), 12(b)(5), and 12(b)(6) of the

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. (Doc. 22) In her Motion to Strike, Plaintiff contends that

Defendants’ dismissal motion 1) exceeds the page limit prohibition set forth in the Rules of

Practice for the District Court of Arizona (“Local Rules” or “LRCiv”), viz., LRCiv 7.2 (e);

2) fails to reference a memorandum of points and authorities as allegedly required by LRCiv

7.1(a)(3); 3) exceeds the scope of Rules 12(b)(1), 12(b)(5) and 12(b)(6), Fed.R.Civ.P.; and

4) contains sections that are redundant and discloses immaterial and inadmissible settlement

discussions. (Id.) Plaintiff’s Motion is without merit and will be denied.

I. Local Rule Violations

Plaintiff writes that “[l]ocal rule 7.2 (e) mandates that motions, excluding a statement

of facts and attachments[,] are not to exceed seventeen (17) pages.” (Doc. 37 at 2)

“Excluding the attachments, Defendants’ motion violates the page limit prohibition and must

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1

 LRCiv 7.2(e)(1) provides as follows:

(e) Length of Motions, Memoranda and Objections.

(1) Unless otherwise permitted by the Court, a motion including its supporting

memorandum, and the response including its supporting memorandum, may

not exceed seventeen (17) pages, exclusive of attachments and any required

statement of facts.

(emphasis in original).

2

 LRCiv 7.2(a)(3) provides, in pertinent part, as follows:

[I]n the space to the right of the center there must be inserted . . . (B) a brief

description of the nature of the document, including demand for trial by jury

if made in the document; and (C) mention of any notice of motion or affidavits

or memorandum in support.

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be struck in its entirety.”1

 (Id.) Plaintiff also claims that “LRCiv 7.1(a)(3) requires mention

of a memorandum of points and authorities, which Defendants failed to include.”2

 (Id.)

According to Defendants, “Plaintiff is wrong on all counts[.]” (Doc. 39 at 2)

Defendants’ motion consists of seventeen pages of substantive text, including counsel’s

electronic signature at the bottom of page seventeen, as required by Rule 11(a),

Fed.R.Civ.P., and LRCiv 5.5(a). “The only text on the final [eighteenth] page of Defendants’

Motion [i]s a certificate of service indicating that the motion had been filed with the Court

and mailed to Plaintiff.” (Id. at 4) The certification information on the eighteenth page is

required by Rule 5(d)(1), Fed.R.Civ.P.; has nothing to do with the substantive merits of the

motion; and everything to do with who was e-mailed a copy of the motion.

Defendants also point out that their dismissal motion “[i]ncluded the Memorandum

of Points and Authorities - and mentioned it on the second page - but failed to mention it in

the caption of Defendants’ Motion[,]” citing LRCiv. 7.1(a)(3)). (Id.) Even if this were a

technical violation by omission, Defendants correctly note that the “Local Rules, allow, but

do not require, this Court to strike Defendants’ Motion because of this oversight.” See

LRCiv. 7.1(d)(5). (Id.)

Upon the Court’s review, Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss the Complaint contains 17

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pages of substantive text, arguments, and citations to numerous legal authorities. The

eighteenth page contains nothing except the names and addresses of adverse counsel, the

United States District Court, and the undersigned Magistrate Judge. Clearly, the eighteenth

page, the page that Plaintiff claims puts Defendants’ motion over the 17-page limit and

allegedly violates the Local Rules, has nothing to do with advancing Defendants’ motion,

and is a technical, but important, requirement of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and

due process of law. A certification page is much like an attachment and common sense

dictates that it does not count towards LRCiv 7.2(e)’s 17-page limit. Additionally, in the

middle of the second page of Defendants’ motion in bold print is “Memorandum of Points

and Authorities.” (Doc. 22 at 2) Even if the Local Rules required the word “Memorandum”

be inserted to the right of the caption to make plain what is already obvious in the motion,

Defendants have included this bolded language in a prominent location in their motion. What

is important is that every motion contain “points and authorities relied upon in support of the

motion” to eliminate any guesswork as to the legal basis upon which the motion is based. See

LRCiv 7.2(b), (c). Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss Complaint substantially complies with

the District Court’s Local Rules. Plaintiff’s hyper-technical arguments that Defendants’

Motion to Dismiss the Complaint are a waste of the Court’s time to consider and are

summarily rejected.

II. The Scope of Rules 12(b)(1), 12(b)(5) and 12(b)(6)

According to Plaintiff, “[s]andwiched in between Sections II and VIII [of their

motion], Defendants, attempting to argue the entire case, inexplicably took liberties arguing

extraneous matters that are beyond the scope of its moving authority and as such, these

extraneous matters are not properly before the court.” (Doc. 37 at 2) Plaintiff does not

specify what “extraneous matters” should be stricken. The Court will not guess at what

Plaintiff wants stricken as extraneous, but assures Plaintiff that the Court will only consider

those relevant facts, attachments, and arguments that may be lawfully considered on the

pending dispositive motion, and will ignore that which is extraneous. 

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III. Redundant, Immaterial and Inadmissible Evidence

Plaintiff contends that Section IV of Defendants’ motion repeats the contentions in

Sections I and II. (Doc. 37 at 3) Section IV is titled “The State Law Claims are Not

Properly Before this Court” and Sections I and II are titled “This Court Lacks Subject

Matter Jurisdiction Over the Complaint” and “The Complaint Also Fails to State a

Claim for Relief,” respectively. (Doc. 22 at 2, 4, and 9) (emphasis in original). Assuming

there is overlap and redundancy in Defendants’ motion, Plaintiff does not explain how she

is prejudiced by it. If Plaintiff has fully responded to an issue repeated by Defendants in their

motion, she needed to do so only once. This argument to strike the entire motion is

summarily rejected.

Lastly, Plaintiff complains the Defendants included in their motion immaterial and

inadmissible settlement discussions and “moves the Court to strike any mention of

settlement, as this is clearly improper. . . [and to] strike Defendants’ motion and order

Defendants’ and each of them to answer the complaint.” (Doc. 37 at 3) Plaintiff does not

quote the offending discussions or even direct the Court where to find them.

In their response, Defendants claim that settlement discussions were included in the

motion because they “are material to the emotional damages alleged by Plaintiff.” (Doc. 39

at 7) Citing Rule 408(b), Fed.R.Evid., Defendants indicate they “summarized the settlement

discussions - without disclosing their exact content - to show that they had no notice of

Plaintiff’s alleged emotional distress despite negotiating with her counsel for some time.”

(Id.)

The Court fails to see how any discussion on settlement between counsel is ever

relevant in deciding a dispositive motion as a matter of law, especially where a district court

does not weigh or make credibility findings in such motions. Nevertheless, the Court

declines Plaintiff’s invitation to spend the time to search through Defendants’ 17-page

motion to discern where the settlement remarks are located or strike the entire dispositive

motion because Defendants included in the motion irrelevant and conclusory non-prejudicial

statements regarding settlement. The Court will note, however, that to the extent there are

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such statements in Defendants’ motion, they will be disregarded by the Court and will have

no bearing on the Court’s ultimate ruling. 

In light of the escalating tenor of both counsels’ comments about each other, all

counsel in this action are reminded that the privilege of practicing law in the District Court

of Arizona is conditioned upon full compliance with the Arizona Rules of Professional

Conduct and the Standards for Professional Conduct adopted and enforced by the District

Court. See Roosevelt Irr. Dist. v. Salt River Project Agr. Imp. and Power Dist., 810

F.Supp.2d 929, 944 (D. Ariz. 2011) (“The United States District Court for the District of

Arizona has adopted the Arizona Rules of Professional Conduct as its ethical standards.”)

(citing LRCiv 83.2(e)); Brinks’ Home Security, Inc. v. Caliber Holdings Co., LLC, 2007 WL

778419, at *3 (D. Ariz. March 12, 2007) (“Counsel are also reminded of certification to

comply with the Standards of Professional Conduct with their admission to practice in this

District Court.”). All counsel herein have certified that they will comply with, inter alia, the

Standards of Professional Conduct. The Standards of Professional Conduct are located on

the District Court’s website, www.azd.uscourts.gov, and may be located by clicking on the

link “for Attorneys,” and then clicking on the link “Attorney Admissions Information.

Based on the foregoing,

IT IS ORDERED that Plaintiff’s Motion to Strike Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss

the Complaint, doc. 37, is DENIED.

Dated this 19th day of June, 2014.

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