Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-azd-2_06-cv-02197/USCOURTS-azd-2_06-cv-02197-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 350
Nature of Suit: Motor Vehicle Personal Injury
Cause of Action: 28:1332 Diversity-Wrongful Death

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WO

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

Rosa Maria Hernandez, et al., 

Plaintiffs, 

v.

Schneider National, Inc., et al.,

Defendants. 

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No. CIV 06-2197-PHX-SMM

ORDER

Pending before the Court is Plaintiff's Motion for Extension of Time to Serve

Summons and Complaint. (Doc. No. 8) The Court will grant Plaintiff's motion for the

reasons set forth below.

Plaintiffs ask the Court to enlarge the service deadline by sixty (60) days for

Defendant Rafael Lopez ("Lopez") because they have been unable to locate him "despite

diligent efforts." (Doc. No. 9 at 2).

Filing a complaint gives a plaintiff 120 days to complete service of process according

to Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(m). Upon a showing of good cause by the plaintiff, the Court shall

extend the time for service for an appropriate period. Id. Alternatively, pursuant Fed. R. Civ.

P. 6(b), a court may enlarge the time for performance of any act required under the Federal

Rules for cause shown without motion or notice if a request is made before the period

originally prescribed. The Court will analyze Plaintiff's request under Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(b)

because it was made prior to the expiration of the service deadline. 

Case 2:06-cv-02197-SMM Document 11 Filed 12/07/06 Page 1 of 2
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Here, Plaintiff has successfully demonstrated why an extension of the service deadline

would be appropriate. After the address for Lopez listed on the accident report proved to be

incorrect, the process servers hired by Plaintiff performed a skip trace, contacted counsel for

Defendant Schneider National Inc., and acted on a lead connecting Lopez to a post office box

in San Diego, California. However, despite these efforts, Plaintiffs have been unable to

complete service upon Lopez. Therefore, the Court finds that Plaintiff has shown cause for

why an extension of the service deadline would be appropriate. 

Accordingly, 

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff's Motion for Extension of Time to Serve

Summons and Complaint [Doc. No. 8] is GRANTED. Plaintiff shall have through March

14, 2007 to complete service upon Rafael Lopez. 

 DATED this 7th day of December, 2006.

Case 2:06-cv-02197-SMM Document 11 Filed 12/07/06 Page 2 of 2