Opinion
2:21-cv-1244-BNW
04-23-2022
LATRINA C. COX, Plaintiff, v. KILOLO KIJAKAZI, Commissioner of Social Security, [1]Defendant.
CHRISTOPHER CHIOU ACTING UNITED STATES ATTORNEY SATHYA OUM, CSBN 255431 SPECIAL ASSISTANT UNITED STATES ATTORNEY ATTORNEYS FOR DEFENDANT
CHRISTOPHER CHIOU
ACTING UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
SATHYA OUM, CSBN 255431 SPECIAL ASSISTANT UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
ATTORNEYS FOR DEFENDANT
UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME (FIRST REQUEST)
Defendant, the Commissioner of Social Security (the “Commissioner”), through the undersigned counsel, hereby requests an extension of time to file her Cross-Motion to Affirm and Response to Plaintiff's Motion for Reversal and/or Remand in this case. In support of this request, the Commissioner respectfully states as follows:
1. Primary responsibility for handling this case has been delegated to the Office of the Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX, in San Francisco, California (the “Region IX Office”).
2. Defendant's response to Plaintiff's opening brief is currently due April 25, 2022. Defendant has not previously requested an extension of time for this deadline.
3. The Region IX Office currently handles all district and circuit court litigation involving the Social Security program arising in Arizona, California, Hawai‘i, Nevada, and Guam.
4. The Region IX Office employs 43 staff attorneys, of whom 29 are actively handling civil litigation involving the Social Security program in the eight assigned jurisdictions. Most of the attorneys who handle program litigation cases have additional responsibilities, such as litigating in other practice areas described below, acting as Jurisdictional leads, reviewing the work product of junior attorneys, conducting trainings, and participating in national workgroups. In addition, because of attorneys taking unexpected leave or resigning, the Region IX Office has had to re-assign dozens of cases and substitute in new counsel who have had to absorb these re-assigned cases into their existing caseloads.
5. In addition to “program” litigation, the Region IX Office provides a full range of legal services as counsel for the Social Security Administration, in a region that covers four states (including the most populous state in the nation) and three territories. These other workloads include employment litigation; civil rights investigations; bankruptcy matters; and requests for legal advice on wide-ranging topics, including Regional office client requests for advice on program issues, employee conduct and performance, reasonable accommodation, hostile work environment, ethics, Privacy Act and disclosure, and torts. Because of the high volume of program litigation cases, the Region IX Office has had to focus its efforts on processing only other workloads that are subject to statutory, regulatory, and court deadlines.
5. The undersigned attorney has 15 briefs due in district court cases over the next 30 days. She has had to prioritize cases that were recently reassigned to her, as well as case that are already on extensions.
6. Due to the volume of the overall workload within the Region IX Office, neither the undersigned attorney nor another attorney in the Region IX Office anticipate being able to complete briefing by the current due date of April 25, 2022. Therefore, Defendant seeks an extension of 30 days, until May 25, 2022 to respond to Plaintiff's motion.
7. This request is made in good faith and is not intended to delay the proceedings in this matter.
9. On April 23, 2022, counsel for Defendant conferred with Plaintiff's counsel, who has no opposition to this motion.
WHEREFORE, Defendant requests until May 25, 2022, to respond to Plaintiff's Motion for Reversal and/or Remand.
IT IS SO ORDERED: