Castillo v. Western Range Association ( 2024 )

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 3 ABEL CANTARO CASTILLO, et al., Case No. 3:16-cv-00237-ART-CLB 4 Plaintiffs, ORDER DISMISSING FOR FAILURE 5 v. TO SUBSTITUTE PARTIES 6 WESTERN RANGE ASSOCIATION, et al., 7 Defendants. 8 9 Before the Court are Defendant Western Range Association’s (WRA) motion 10 for summary judgment (ECF No. 300) and its motion to dismiss (ECF No. 349). 11 The Court grants the motion to dismiss because Plaintiff is deceased and there 12 has been no motion to substitute under Fed. R. Civ. P. 25(a)(1). 13 Fed. R. Civ. P. 25(a)(1) states that, when a claim is not extinguished 14 immediately upon a plaintiff’s death, the plaintiff’s successors or representatives 15 must be served with a statement noting the death. Fed. R. Civ. P. 25(a)(1).1 If, 16 after 90 days of service, the successors and representatives fail to file a motion to 17 substitute themselves as plaintiffs, “the action by . . . the decedent must be 18 dismissed.” Id. 19 On February 5, 2024, WRA filed a Suggestion of Death Upon the Record, 20 indicating that Abel Cántaro Castillo, the sole remaining plaintiff in this action, 21 had died. (ECF No. 328; see ECF No. 318 at 17.) On May 7, 2024, Castillo’s 22 nonparty successors or representatives were served with the Suggestion of Death. 23 (ECF No. 345 at ¶ 6-10.) To date, no successor or representative has filed a motion 24 for substitution. The Court must dismiss this case, but that dismissal is without 25 prejudice. Zanowick v. Baxter Healthcare Corporation, 850 F.3d 1090, 1095 (9th 26 Cir. 2017) (“In case there is any doubt, the court is no longer required to dismiss 27 1 Defendants do not suggest that Plaintiff’s claim is already extinguished, so the Court 28 assumes that Rule 25(a)(1) applies here. 1 || with prejudice under Rule 25(a).”). 2 It is therefore ordered that Defendant Western Range Association’s motion 3 || to dismiss (ECF No. 349) is granted and the Amended Complaint (ECF No. 111) 4 || is dismissed. 5 It is further ordered that Defendant’s motion for summary judgment (ECF 6 || No. 300) is denied as moot. 7 8 Dated this 22=4 day of August 2024. 9 10 Ana ‘ [lostd 1m 1 ANNE R. TRAUM 12 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28