Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-casd-3_05-cv-01717/USCOURTS-casd-3_05-cv-01717-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 190
Nature of Suit: Other Contract Actions
Cause of Action: 28:1441 Petition For Removal--Other Contract

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05cv1717

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

LEADS CLUB, INC.,

Plaintiff,

v.

LINDA PETERSON, et al.,

Defendants.

 

 

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Case No. 05-CV-1717-J (JMA)

ORDER GRANTING IN PART

DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR

SANCTIONS

[Doc. No. 59]

This matter comes before the Court on a Motion for Sanctions

Against Plaintiff Leads Club, Inc. and Plaintiff’s Counsel, James

Bentson, brought by Defendants Linda Peterson and Victoria Taus

(“Defendants”) pursuant to Rule 16(f) of the Federal Rules of

Civil Procedure. Plaintiff did not file an opposition. The

motion was referred to the undersigned for disposition on March

16, 2007. The Court decides the matter on the papers submitted

and without oral argument pursuant to Civil Local Rule 7.1 d.1.

For the following reasons, the Court GRANTS Defendants’ motion

for sanctions IN PART. 

//

Case 3:05-cv-01717-J-JMA Document 71 Filed 03/26/07 Page 1 of 5
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I. BACKGROUND

On August 30, 2006, the Court issued a Notice and Order for

Early Neutral Evaluation (“ENE”) Conference to be held on

September 28, 2006 at 10:00 a.m. See Aug. 30, 2006 Order, Doc.

No. 57. On the morning of the scheduled conference, the

undersigned’s chambers received a telephone call from Lisa

Chapman, Esq., counsel for Defendants, to advise that she and her

clients, who were flying in from out of town to attend the

conference, would be late for the conference because of the

temporary closure of the airport in San Diego due to fog. The

undersigned’s chambers called the office of Plaintiff’s counsel,

Mr. Bentson, to advise counsel to appear at 10:30 a.m., rather

than 10:00 a.m., for the scheduled conference. 

Mr. Bentson did not appear for the conference until after

11:30 a.m., and he did not have a client representative with him,

as required by the Court’s ENE Conference Order. See Aug. 30,

2006 Order. Mr. Bentson reported to the Court that he thought he

had been substituted out of the case, and thus did not have the

scheduled conference on his calendar and had not contacted his

client representative regarding her appearance for the

conference. In short, Mr. Bentson was fully unprepared to

discuss the case.

Defendants’ counsel, Lisa Chapman, Esq., and Defendants

Peterson and Taus are located in Northern California, and flew

from there to San Diego to attend the ENE Conference. Chapman

Decl. at ¶ 2. Ms. Chapman and her clients missed their flight

back to Northern California, due to Mr. Bentson’s tardiness at

the conference, and had to wait at the airport for 2 1/2 hours. 

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Id. at ¶ 6. Defendants now seek monetary sanctions against

Plaintiff and Mr. Bentson in the amount of $4,422.00 as

compensation for the reasonable cost of attending the ENE

Conference, based on the following fees and expenses:

Attorney’s fees $3,780.00

(10.5 hours x $360 per hour)

Airplane tickets 594.00

(3 x $198.00 each)

Airport parking 30.00

Ground transportation in San Diego 18.00

Id. at ¶ 7. 

II. LEGAL STANDARDS

Rule 16(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides

in relevant part:

If a party or party’s attorney fails to obey a

scheduling or pretrial order, or if no appearance is

made on behalf of a party at a scheduling or pretrial

conference, or if a party or party’s attorney is

substantially unprepared to participate in the

conference, or if a party or party’s attorney fails to

participate in good faith, the judge, upon motion or

the judge’s own initiative, may make such orders with

regard thereto as are just, and among others any of the

orders provided in Rule 37(b)(2)(B), (C), (D).

Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(f). 

Pursuant to the Court’s Civil Local Rules concerning motion

practice,

Waiver: If an opposing party fails to file [opposition

papers], that failure may constitute a consent to the

granting of a motion or other request for ruling by the

court.

Civ. L. R. 7.1 f.3.c.

III. DISCUSSION

As an initial matter, Defendants’ motion can be granted on

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the basis of Plaintiff’s failure to file an opposition as

required by Civil Local Rule 7.1 f.3.c. See also Ghazali v.

Moran, 46 F.3d 52, 53 (9th Cir. 1995) (affirming dismissal for

failure to file timely opposition papers where the record

indicates that the plaintiff received notice of the motion and

had ample time to respond). Defendants’ motion was set for

hearing on November 27, 2006, and thus Plaintiff’s opposition was

due by no later than November 13, 2006 under Civil Local Rule 7.1

e.2. Plaintiff neither filed an opposition nor requested

additional time in which to do so. Moreover, there is no

evidence indicating that Defendants’ moving papers failed to

reach the address designated for Plaintiff’s counsel in

Defendants’ Proof of Service.

Furthermore, Rule 16(f) dictates that Defendants’ motion for

sanctions be granted against Plaintiff’s counsel in this case. 

Although Mr. Bentson eventually appeared for the ENE Conference,

he was clearly “substantially unprepared to participate in the

conference.” See Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(f). Mr. Bentson’s

explanation that he thought he had been substituted out of the

case is not enough to persuade the Court that sanctions against

him are not justified. Under Civil Local Rule 83.3 g.2.,

Substitutions. When an attorney of record for any

person ceases to act for a party, such party shall

appear in person or appoint another attorney by a

written substitution of attorney signed by the party,

the attorney ceasing to act, and the newly appointed

attorney, or by a written designation filed in the case

and served upon the attorney ceasing to act, unless

said attorney is deceased, in which event the

designation of a new attorney shall so state. Until

such substitution is approved by the court, the

authority of the attorney of record shall continue for

all proper purposes.

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Civ. L. R. 83.3 g.2. (emphasis added). To this day, Mr. Bentson

has not been substituted out of the case, and remains listed as

counsel of record for Plaintiff. As such, he was responsible for

properly appearing at the ENE Conference, and even now bears

responsibility for managing this case.

Therefore, the Court finds the issuance of sanctions,

comprised of the fees and expenses incurred by Defendants in

connection with their appearance at the ENE Conference, to be

warranted against Mr. Bentson. The Court does not find it

appropriate to impose sanctions against Plaintiff itself. The

Court accordingly GRANTS Defendants’ motion for sanctions IN

PART.

IV. CONCLUSION

Based on the foregoing, Defendants’ motion for sanctions is

GRANTED. The Court awards Defendants and their attorney of

record the sum of $4,422.00 as sanctions for Plaintiff’s

counsel’s failure to properly appear for the ENE Conference on

September 28, 2006. Mr. Bentson shall pay this amount directly

to counsel for Defendants on or before April 25, 2007. 

IT IS SO ORDERED.

DATED: March 26, 2007

Jan M. Adler

U.S. Magistrate Judge

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