Opinion
1:19-cv-03406-GHW
01-08-2020
ANDALL WILTZ, Plaintiff, v. NEW YORK UNIVERSITY; FRANKLIN DIAZ; ERIN LYNCH; COLLINS BUILDING SERVICES, LLC; ANGEL PERLAZA; CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD, INC.; MICHAEL BRODERICK, Defendants.
ORDER
:
On January 7, 2020 at 12:55 p.m., counsel for Defendants emailed the Court the letter application for an extension of time to object to the Magistrate Judge Aaron's Report and Recommendation, attached to this order as Exhibit A. Although the letter is addressed to the Court and dated December 30, 2019, prior to defense counsel's email, the Court had not received this letter.
"It is well established that a court is ordinarily obligated to afford a special solicitude to pro se litigants." Tracy v. Freshwater, 623 F.3d 90, 101 (2d Cir. 2010). In this case, however, Mr. Wiltz is a lawyer. And the Second Circuit has stated that "a lawyer representing himself ordinarily receives no such solicitude at all." Id. at 102. A plaintiff is ordinarily afforded fourteen days to object to a Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation. See 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1). Because Mr. Wiltz was served a copy of the Report and Recommendation by mail on December 26, 2019, another three days were added to the period of time he had to respond. Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(a), (d). And because that period of seventeen days expired on a Sunday, Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(a)(1)(C) permitted Mr. Wiltz yet another day to file his objections—culminating in a deadline of January 13, 2020 for any objections to the Report and Recommendation. Although Mr. Wiltz asserts that he was out of town until January 2, 2020, this would still provide him with eleven days to object following his return. The Court therefore denies Plaintiff's application for an extension of time.
The Clerk of Court is directed to mail Plaintiff a copy of this order by first class and certified mail.
SO ORDERED. Date: January 8, 2020
New York, NY
/s/_________
GREGORY H. WOODS
United States District Judge
EXHIBIT A
December 30, 2019
Hon. Gregory H. Woods
United States District Court
Southern District of New York
Daniel Patrick Moynihan Courthouse
500 Pearl Street
New York, New York 10007 Re: Wiltz v. New York University et al., 19-cv-03406 GHW (S.D.N.Y.)
Extension Request
Dear Judge Woods:
I am requesting a two-week extension until January 23, 2020 to file significant points of clarification regarding the December 23, 2019 Report and Recommendation to grant Defendants' motions to dismiss. The original deadline is January 9, 2020 under the rules stated in the Report. This is my only request regarding this matter and the Defendants have no objections. Christmas morning, I departed on a flight to New Orleans to be with my family, some are ill and require hospitalization. I received email notification on Friday, December 27th, that the Report and Recommendation was issued two days before Christmas. In addition, I don't have access to all necessary resources to file a complete response. Barring any major issues, I am originally scheduled to return to New York on January 2, 2020. Thus, more time is needed to respond to the Report. Respectfully, /s/
Randall Wiltz
4110 28th Avenue, First Floor
Astoria, NY 11103
wiltzra@gmail.com email: Andrew Harris, Benjamin Fleming, Ira Feinberg, Catherine Tucciarello, Daniel Schudroff