(PC) Gradford v. Velasco ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 WILLIAM J. GRADFORD, No. 1:20-cv-00543-NONE-EPG (PC) 12 Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE REPLY TO DEFENDANTS’ 13 v. ANSWER 14 F. VELASCO and T. WEBSTER, (ECF No. 21) 15 Defendants. 16 17 On October 30, 2020, Defendants F. Velasco and T. Webster filed an answer to Plaintiff 18 William J. Gradford’s complaint. On November 12, 2020, Plaintiff filed a “Request to File 19 Plaintiff’s Reply Brief to Answerring [sic] Defendants in this Case” (ECF No. 21), which the 20 Court will treat as a motion for leave to file a reply brief, and a corresponding reply brief (ECF 21 No. 22). 22 In his motion, Plaintiff discusses his attempts to serve a reply brief to Defendants’ answer 23 “before the deadline.” (ECF No. 21 at 1). However, there is no deadline to file a response to the 24 answer. Currently, the pending deadlines for Plaintiff are to exchange initial disclosures and file a 25 scheduling conference statement. (See ECF No. 20). There is no need to file a reply to 26 Defendants’ answer. Therefore, the Court will deny Plaintiff’s motion. He may raise any 27 arguments in his reply brief again at an appropriate time. 28 /// 1 In addition, Plaintiff goes into some detail about his attempts to serve Defendants’ 2 | attorney with a copy of his motion. He does not need to serve Defendants’ attorney with anything 3 | he files with the Court. As set forth in the Court’s First Informational Order, filing a document 4 | with the Court is sufficient service of a motion: 5 Once an attorney for a defendant appears in a pro se plaintiff's civil rights action 6 (by filing an answer, a motion to dismiss, a motion for summary judgment, etc.), that attorney's office will receive notice of all filings through the Court's 7 electronic filing system (ECM/ECF). A pro se plaintiff need not serve documents on counsel for a defendant; the date of the electronic Notice from ECM/ECF is 8 the date of service. Local Rule 135(a). However, for purposes of application of 9 the “Mailbox Rule,” see Douglas v. Noelle, 567 F.3d 1103, 1107 (9th Cir. 2009), on all documents filed with the Court, the pro se plaintiff must attach a Proof of 10 Service, indicating the date on which the filing was turned over to prison authorities. A document submitted without proof of service may be 11 stricken/returned or if filed after the deadline, deemed not timely filed. 12 | (ECF No. 3 at 4). 13 Accordingly, Plaintiff's motion for leave to file a reply brief (ECF No. 21) is HEREBY 14 | DENIED. 15 IT IS SO ORDERED. 16 17 | Dated: __November 17, 2020 [sf Sy □ 18 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28