Opinion
CIVIL NO. 2:10-cv-03412 EFB
10-20-2011
BELVA GONZALES, Plaintiff, v. MICHAEL J. ASTRUE, Commissioner of Social Security, Defendant.
Respectfully submitted, Bess M. Brewer (As authorized via email) BESS M. BREWER Attorney for Plaintiff BENJAMIN B. WAGNER United States Attorney DONNA L. CALVERT Acting Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX Social Security Administration ELIZABETH FIRER Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Attorneys for Defendant
BENJAMIN B. WAGNER
United States Attorney
DONNA L. CALVERT
Acting Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX
Social Security Administration
ELIZABETH FIRER
Special Assistant United States Attorney
Attorneys for Defendant
STIPULATION AND ORDER
The parties hereby stipulate by counsel, with the Court's approval as indicated by issuance of the attached Order, that Defendant shall have a FIRST extension of 30 days to respond to Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment up to and including November 21 (day 30 falls on a Sunday).
This extension is being sought based on additional unexpected and unavoidable work of the undersigned counsel for the Commissioner between the time Plaintiff filed her Opening Brief and October 21, 2011 as well as major changes in the Commissioner's regional office directly impacting the undersigned counsel's responsibilities. Counsel is one of a few senior attorneys in the Commissioner's office responsible for analyzing cases for possible affirmative appeal. Due to the required concert with the Commissioner's headquarters and the United States Department of Justice, this work has extremely tight deadlines. The Commissioner's Regional office must hold conferences with senior staff and make its recommendation to headquarters within 48 hours of an adverse district court decision. In the time in question, four cases have come up for such review requiring the undersigned counsel to suspend everything and familiarize herself with a new case in significant depth.
Additionally, following the change in Chief Counsel in the Commissioner's regional office, major overhauls in the manner in which work is assigned, completed and reviewed are being instated and the undersigned has been asked to take on new roles, which have required immediate strategizing involving detailed meetings and coordination with people in earlier time zones. Finally, counsel was out of the office from October 6-11, 2011 on previously scheduled leave and had to complete a Ninth Circuit brief and review in the week following her return. Given this work load, the Commissioner respectfully requests 30 additional days in order to complete the Commissioner's response to Plaintiff's Opening Brief.
The parties further stipulate that the Court's Scheduling Order shall be modified accordingly.
Respectfully submitted,
Bess M. Brewer
(As authorized via email)
BESS M. BREWER
Attorney for Plaintiff
BENJAMIN B. WAGNER
United States Attorney
DONNA L. CALVERT
Acting Regional Chief Counsel, Region IX
Social Security Administration
ELIZABETH FIRER
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney
Attorneys for Defendant
ORDER
APPROVED AND SO ORDERED.
EDMUND F. BRENNAN
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE