IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS 

DALLAS DIVISION 

MARCUS L. WILLIS, § 

 § 

Plaintiff, § 

 § 

V. § No. 3:22-cv-1251-E-BN 

 § 

WESTERN POWER SPORTS, INC., § 

 § 

Defendant. § 

ORDER WITHDRAWING FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND 

RECOMMENDATION AND EXTENDING DEADLINE 

TO PROPERLY EFFECT SERVICE 

Plaintiff Marcus L. Willis filed this pro se lawsuit against Defendant Western 

Power Sports, Inc. alleging, among other claims, racial discrimination and 

retaliation. See Dkt. No. 3. At that time, Willis moved for leave to proceed in forma 

pauperis. See Dkt. No. 4. So United States District Judge Ada Brown referred Willis’s 

lawsuit to the undersigned United States magistrate judge for pretrial management 

under 28 U.S.C. § 636(b) and a standing order of reference. 

Willis then paid the $402 filing fee and, by doing so, assumed the responsibility 

to properly serve the named defendant with a summons and a complaint in 

compliance with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4. See, e.g., FED. R. CIV. P. 4(h) 

(setting forth procedures for serving a corporation, partnership, or association); see 

also FED. R. CIV. P. 4(d) (regarding a defendant’s waiving service). 

The Court notified Willis of this obligation through an order entered on August 

8, 2022, which further advised Willis 

that, if proper service is not made – and shown to the Court through 

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filed proofs of service or filed waivers of service – before the 90th day 

after his filing of this action (on June 9, 2022) that is not a Saturday, 

Sunday, or legal holiday – which, here, will be September 7, 2022 – 

this case is subject to dismissal without prejudice unless he shows both 

(1) good cause for his failure to timely and properly effect service and (2) 

good cause for the Court to extend the time for service for an appropriate 

period. See FED. R. CIV. P. 4(m); see also FED. R. CIV. P. 41(b) (providing 

for dismissal, with or without prejudice, for failure to prosecute and obey 

court orders). 

Dkt. No. 6. 

Willis then filed an incomplete Waiver of Service of Summons on August 17, 

2022, see Dkt. No. 6, but this filing does not reflect that the named defendant waived 

service of process. And, because Willis had not otherwise shown that proper service 

was made or waived by September 7 (nor complied with the August 8 order or 

contacted the Court), the undersigned entered findings of fact and conclusions of law 

on October 24, 2022 recommending that the Court dismiss this lawsuit without 

prejudice under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 4(m) and 41(b) [Dkt. No. 7] (the 

FCR). Willis has responded, moving the Court to reinstate his case. See Dkt. No. 8. 

Because Willis’s lawsuit has not been dismissed, the Court CONSTRUES this 

filing as requesting leave to extend the time for service under Rule 4(m) and therefore 

GRANTS the motion as construed, WITHDRAWS the FCR, and EXTENDS Willis’s 

deadline to properly effect and prove service (or obtain a waiver of service from the 

defendant and file that waiver) to December 5, 2022. 

SO ORDERED. 

DATED: November 3, 2022 

 _________________________________________ 

 DAVID L. HORAN 

 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 

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