Opinion
Civil Action No. 07-cv-01271-WDM-KMT.
February 14, 2008
ORDER
This matter comes before the Court concerning Defendant/Cross-Defendant Steven G. Fair's habitual abuse of the court process by filing numerous unauthorized motions, responses, letters, replies, memoranda and so forth.
Fair was served with the Amended Complaint on July 18, 2007 [Doc. No. 20, filed July 27, 2007]. Fair filed a lengthy and confusing "Motion to Dismiss pursuant to FRAP RULE 12(a)(1)(A) FRAP RULE 12(b)" on July 24, 2007, and has been filing voluminous and often incomprehensible pleadings and documents in the case ever since. A great many of these have been stricken by the Magistrate Judge who was upheld on review by the District Court.
Mr. Fair has been given ample and repeated direction on how to respond to a complaint, how to join potential parties to the action, how to proceed on motions for court intervention and the kind of communications which are acceptable for filing. On October 1, 2007, October 24, 2007 and November 20, 2007, Magistrate Judge Boland issued repeated warnings to Fair and ordered "him to cease filing redundant papers, unintelligible papers, papers that are not related to any pending matter in this case, or papers with improper captions." (Doc. No. 57, Doc. No. 71 and Doc. No. 100). Magistrate Judge Boland has stricken over thirty of Mr. Fair's documents as non-compliant. In spite of the warnings and orders of this court, Mr. Fair continues to file numerous duplicative, redundant, and unauthorized documents which clutter the record and make it difficult for the court and other parties to ascertain the true status of any given issue in the case and to efficiently deal with the case as a whole.
Fed.R.Civ.P. 7(b)(1) provides the definition of a motion as "a request for a court order." The Local Rules of Practice for the District of Colorado provide that the full briefing for a motion filed in the court begins with the filing of the motion itself, provides a chance for all parties to respond to the motion within a twenty day period, and allows an opportunity for the movant, if he desires, to file a reply to the response(s) within ten days after the response was filed. D.C.Colo.LCivR 7.1(C). No other documents may be filed without court permission. See D.C.Colo.LCiv.R 7.1.
Since Mr. Fair cannot seem to control himself or confine himself to the rules of pleading and practice in this District nor does he comply with the orders previously issued to him, this court will endeavor to do so for him by routinely striking any and all documents filed with the court which do not comport with the rules of pleading set forth in the Local Rules of Practice and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
It appears from the docket as of this date that the following requests for court consideration of an order are currently pending:
1. Stephen C. LeBlanc's Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. No. 73, filed October 26, 2007]. Steven G. Fair's response was filed on December 10, 2007 [Doc. No. 120]. LeBlanc's Reply to Motion for Summary Judgment was filed on December 18, 2007 [Doc. No. 124]. As of December 18, 2007, the pleadings for this matter are closed.
2. "Steven G. Fair's Motion under FRCP Rule 33" [Doc. 125, filed December 16, 2007]. Stephen C. LeBlanc filed a "Response to the Motion under FRCP 33" on December 31, 2007 [Doc. No. 131] and Sportsman's Warehouse joined in that Response on January 4, 2008 [Doc. No. 132]. Fair filed what the court will characterize as a Reply, captioned "Fair's Objection, and Answer to Defendant and Cross-Claimant Stephen C. LeBlanc's Response to Cross Claimant Steven George Fair's Motion under FRCP 33" [Doc. No. 138, filed January 17, 2008]. As of January 17, 2008, the pleadings for this matter are closed.
3. Steven G. Fair's "Motion for the Court to Compel Deposition in Sandy or East Gresham Oregon" [Doc. No. 135, filed January 15, 2008]. Sportsman's Warehouse filed a Response on February 4, 2008 [Doc. No. 170].
4. Fair's "Expedited Motion to Dismiss under FRCP 12(b) for Failure to State a Claim Upon which Relief May be Granted" [Doc. No. 158, filed January 29, 2008].
5. LeBlanc's "Motion for Order Setting Oral Argument on Motion for Summary Judgment" [Doc. No. 151, filed January 30, 2008]. Fair filed a Response to this Motion on February 11, 2008. [Doc. No. 191].
6. Sportsman's Warehouse "Motion for Status Conference" [Doc. No. 152, filed January 31, 2008]. Fair filed his Response to the Motion on February 11, 2008. [Doc. No. 190].
7. Fair's "Petition for Protective Order and Order to Compel Stuart Utgaard to Answer Fair's Interrogatories and Admissions" [Doc. No. 166, filed February 1, 2008].
8. Fair's "First Amended Expert Witness Disclosure and Motion for Subpoenas" [Doc. No. 167, filed February 1, 2008].
9. Fair's "Motion to Compel pursuant to FRCP 37" [Doc. No. 189, filed February 11, 2008].
An order addressing Fair's Counterclaims, Crossclaims, joinder motions and motions for extension of time in the Scheduling Order was filed on February 13, 2008 [Doc. No. 195]. Outside the pleadings listed in that Order, and the pleadings addressed by the Court's February 12, 2008 Order, many other pleadings filed by Fair are repetitive and filed without court authorization. Additionally they are "redundant, unintelligible, unrelated to any pending matter in this case, not properly served on the parties' attorneys, ex parte communications with the Court, combine a motion with a response in violation of D.C.COLO.L.Civ.R 7.1C" and are otherwise in violation of the court's previous Orders.
WHEREFORE, the court orders as follows:
1. Plaintiff Sportsman's Warehouse and Defendant and Cross Claimant Stephen C. LeBlanc will Respond to Fair's "Expedited Motion to Dismiss under FRCP 12(b) for Failure to State a Claim Upon which Relief May be Granted" [Doc. No. 158, filed January 29, 2008] on or before February 18, 2008. Fair may file one Reply, if desired, on or before March 2, 2008.
2. Plaintiff Sportsman's Warehouse and Defendant and Cross Claimant Stephen C. LeBlanc will Respond to Fair's "Petition for Protective Order and Order to Compel Stuart Utgaard to Answer Fair's Interrogatories and Admissions" [Doc. No. 166, filed February 1, 2008] on or before February 21, 2008. Fair may file one Reply, if desired, on or before March 6, 2008.
3. Plaintiff Sportsman's Warehouse and Defendant and Cross Claimant Stephen C. LeBlanc will Respond to Fair's "First Amended Expert Witness Disclosure and Motion for Subpoenas" [Doc. No. 167, filed February 1, 2008] on or before February 21, 2008. Fair may file one Reply, if desired, on or before March 6, 2008.
4. Plaintiff Sportsman's Warehouse and Defendant and Cross Claimant Stephen C. LeBlanc will Respond to Fair's "Defendant/Crossdefendant Fair's Objection and Motion Under FRCP 37 to Compel Answers" [Doc. No. 189, filed February 11, 2008] on or before March 2, 2008. Fair may file one Reply, if desired, on or before March 15, 2008.
It is further ORDERED, as to redundant and repetitive filing, the following documents are STRICKEN:
1. Fair's Objection to LeBlanc Exhibit A-12 and Objection to LeBlanc's Affidavit and Motion for Strike LeBlanc's Exhibit A-12 for Summary Judgment [Doc. No. 143, filed January 18, 2008.]
2. LeBlanc's Response to Fair's Objection to LeBlanc Exhibit A-12, etc. [Doc. No. 145, filed January 22, 2008]
3. Fair's "Defendant/Crossdefendant Fair's Reply to Defendant and Cross Claimant Stephen C. LeBlanc's Response to 'Defendant Fiar's Second Request for More Time in Scheduling and Motion under FRCP 33'" [Doc. No. 174, filed February 4, 2008]
4. Fair's duplicate "Expedited Motion to Dismiss Under FRCP 12(b) for Failure to State a Claim Upon Which Relief May be Granted" [Doc. No. 175].
5. Fair's duplicate "First Amended Expert Witness Disclosure and Motion for Subpoenas" [Doc. No. 177, filed February 4, 2008].
6. Fair's "First Amended Expedited Motion to Dismiss Under FRCP 129(b) for Want of Jurisdiction and for Failure to State a Claim Upon Which Relief May be Granted" [Doc. No. 186, filed February 6, 2008].
7. "Fair's correction to Defendant/Crossdefendant Fair's Reply to Defendant and Cross-claimant Stephen C. LeBlanc's Response to "Defendant Fair's Second Request for More Time in Scheduling and Motion Under FRCP 33" [Doc. No. 187, filed February 6, 2008].
8. Fair's "Defendant/Cross Defendant Fair's Objection and Response to Defendant and Crossclaimant Stephen C. LeBlanc's Admissions to Sportsmans Warehouse and Fair's Demand for Second Admissions from LeBlanc" [Doc. No. 192, filed February 11, 2008]. Discovery objections and requests are not filed with the court.
9. The following letters improperly filed with the court are all STRICKEN from the record: Doc. Nos. 184, 183, 160, and 141.