Opinion
C23-0318JLR
06-06-2023
GS HOLISTIC, LLC, Plaintiff, v. THE SPOT SMOKE SHOP LLC, et al., Defendants.
ORDER
JAMES L. ROBART, United States District Judge
Before the court is Plaintiff GS Holistic, LLC's (“GS Holistic”) motion for an extension of time to perfect service on Defendant The Spot Smoke Shop LLC (“The Spot Smoke Shop”). (Mot. (Dkt. # 11).) The court GRANTS GS Holistic's motion.
Although the motion is noted for consideration on June 16, 2023 (see id.), the court sees no reason to delay issuing a decision on the motion. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 1 (authorizing the court to construe the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure “to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action and proceeding”).
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4 requires a plaintiff to serve the defendant with a summons and a copy of the complaint and sets forth the specific requirements for doing so. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 4. Rule 4(m), which provides the timeframe in which service must be effectuated, states in relevant part:
If a defendant is not served within 90 days after the complaint is filed, the court-on motion or on its own after notice to the plaintiff-must dismiss the action without prejudice against that defendant or order that service be made within a specified time. But if the plaintiff shows good cause for the failure, the court must extend the time for service for an appropriate period.Id.
GS Holistic filed this action on March 6, 2023. (Compl. (Dkt. # 1).) As a result, the 90-day period for effecting service of process set forth in Rule 4(m) expired on Monday, June 5, 2023. Fed. R. Civ. P 4(m). GS Holistic represents that although its process server served The Spot Smoke Shop on June 5, 2023, it has not yet received the affidavit of service from the process server. (See Mot. ¶ 3.) Accordingly, it requests a 30-day extension of the Rule 4(m) deadline to allow it time to file the affidavit of service.
GS Holistics served Defendant Haitham Almaamar on April 7, 2023. (See 4/21/23 Aff. (Dkt. # 8).) The Clerk entered default against Mr. Almaamar on May 31, 2023. (See Entry of Default (Dkt. # 10).)
The court finds that GS Holistic has demonstrated good cause for its failure to demonstrate that it timely served The Spot Smoke Shop. Therefore, it GRANTS GS Holistic's motion for a 30-day extension of the deadline to perfect service set forth in Rule 4(m). GS Holistic shall file proof of service on The Spot Smoke Shop by no later than July 5, 2023. Failure to do so may result in the dismissal without prejudice of GS Holistic's claims against The Spot Smoke Shop.
The court reminds GS Holistic that the court's Local Rules and Electronic Filing Procedures require a moving party to file a proposed order with its motion and to email a Word version of the proposed order to robartorders@wawd.uscourts.gov.