Opinion
2:17-cv-00850-APG-NJK
10-28-2022
ANTHONY FESTA, Plaintiff v. NDOC, et al., Defendants
ORDER FOR PLAINTIFF TO PARTICIPATE IN PREPARING JOINT PRETRIAL ORDER
ANDREW P. GORDON, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE.
On September 26, 2022, I ordered the parties to file a proposed joint pretrial order by October 28, 2022. ECF No. 170. On October 27, 2022, the defendants filed their own proposed order. ECF No. 171. The defendants allege that they provided a draft of the order to plaintiff Anthony Festa, but he did not respond. Id. at 1-2.
Local Rule 16-3(b) requires Festa to take the initiative to set up a meeting or discussion with the defendants' lawyers to prepare the joint proposed pretrial order. To ease the process, the defendants drafted a joint order. Festa's failure to respond to the draft order makes it impossible for this case to proceed. Although Festa is representing himself, he is required to comply with court rules and my orders. I warned Festa that the failure to comply with my order may result in sanctions, including dismissal of claims or defenses without further notice. ECF No. 170. I will give Festa one more chance to comply with Local Rules 16-3 and 16-4 by responding meaningfully to the defendants' draft proposed joint pretrial order. If he does not, I will dismiss his claims.
I THEREFORE ORDER Festa to comply with my September 26, 2022 order and Local Rules 16-3 and 16-4. By November 18, 2022, Festa must either (1) respond meaningfully to the defendants' draft order and provide the information necessary to complete his portion of the order, or (2) file a response to this order explaining why he is unable to do so. If he fails to do either of these by November 18, 2022, I will dismiss his claims and close this case without further notice. If he participates in drafting the joint pretrial order, the parties must file it by December 2, 2022.