Terry v. Wasatch Advantage Group, LLC ( 2021 )

1 Laura L. Ho (SBN 173179) lho@gbdhlegal.com 2 Anne Bellows (SBN 293722) abellows@gbdhlegal.com 3 Kristen A. Burzynski (SBN 331433) kburzynski@gbdhlegal.com 4 GOLDSTEIN, BORGEN, DARDARIAN & HO 155 Grand Avenue, Suite 900 5 Oakland, CA 94612 (510) 763-9800; (510) 835-1417 (Fax) 6 Andrew Wolff (SBN 195092) 7 andrew@awolfflaw.com LAW OFFICES OF ANDREW WOLFF, PC 8 1615 Broadway, 4th Floor Oakland, CA 94612 9 (510) 834-3300; (510) 834-3377 (Fax) 10 Jesse Newmark (SBN 247488) jessenewmark@centrolegal.org 11 CENTRO LEGAL DE LA RAZA 3022 International Blvd., Suite 410 12 Oakland, CA 94601 (510) 437-1863; (510) 437-9164 13 Jocelyn D. Larkin (SBN 110817) 14 Lindsay Nako (SBN 239090) lnako@impactfund.org 15 jlarkin@impactfund.org THE IMPACT FUND 16 2080 Addison Street, Suite 5 Berkeley, CA 94701 17 (510) 845-3473; (510) 845-3654 (Fax) 18 Attorneys for Plaintiffs and Relators and the Certified Classes 19 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 20 SACRAMENTO DIVISION 21 DENIKA TERRY, et al., Case No.: 2:15-CV-00799-KJM-DB 22 Plaintiffs/Relators, CLASS ACTION 23 vs. ORDER EXTENDING TIME FOR SERVICE UNDER RULE 4(m) 24 WASATCH ADVANTAGE GROUP, LLC, et al., Date: December 17, 2021 25 Defendants. Time: 10:00 a.m. Dept: Courtroom 3, 15th Floor 26 Before: Hon. Chief Judge Kimberly J. Mueller 27 Trial Date: None Set 1 2 ORDER 3 The court has reviewed Plaintiffs’ Motion to Extend the Time for Service, ECF No. 153, which 4 is unopposed.. For the reasons below, the court grants the request. 5 A plaintiff must serve a defendant “within 90 days after the complaint is filed.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 6 4(m). “[I]f the plaintiff shows good cause for the failure, the court must extend the time for service.” 7 Id. Good cause exists if “(a) the party to be served received actual notice of the lawsuit; (b) the 8 defendant would suffer no prejudice; and (c) plaintiff would be severely prejudiced if his complaint 9 were dismissed.” In re Sheehan, 253 F.3d 507, 512 (9th Cir. 2001) (citation omitted). “[E]ven without 10 a showing of good cause, a district court may utilize its ‘broad’ discretion to extend the time for 11 service. United States v. 2,164 Watches, More or Less Bearing a Registered Trademark of Guess?, 12 Inc., 366 F.3d 767, 772 (9th Cir. 2004). 13 Here, plaintiffs filed their amended complaint and, two days later, sent defense counsel a 14 request for waiver of service on behalf of the new defendants. Mot. at 3. Defense counsel represented 15 they were finalizing an agreement to represent the new defendants. Id. Despite diligent and continued 16 efforts by both parties, defense counsel did not finalize the representation and complete the waiver of 17 service by the November 15, 2021 service deadline imposed by Rule 4. Id. at 1–4. However, the new 18 defendants are aware of the lawsuit, Bellows Decl. 5, 7–21, ECF No. 153-1, and would not be 19 prejudiced if the court grants an extension for plaintiffs to effect service. 20 Good cause appearing, and in the exercise of this court’s broad discretion to extend the time for 21 service, the court hereby grants the motion and extends the period for service under Federal Rule of 22 Civil Procedure 4(m) by an additional 45 days, to December 30, 2021. 23 The court vacates the motion hearing set for December 17, 2021. 24 This order resolves ECF No. 153 25 IT IS SO ORDERED. 26 DATED: November 22, 2021. 27