Opinion
Case No.: 11-CV-01159-LHK
10-06-2011
J & J SPORTS PRODUCTIONS, INC., Plaintiff, v. JOSEFINA TRUJILLO A/K/A JOSEFINA A. TRUJILLO, INDIVIDUALLY and d/b/a THE ROUNDUP A/K/A PARAISO NIGHT CLUB, Defendant.
ORDER DENYING MOTION TO STRIKE AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES
Plaintiff J&J Sports Productions, Inc. ("Plaintiff") filed a complaint against Josefina Trujillo a/k/a Josefina A. Trujillo d/b/a The Roundup, aka Paraiso Night Club ("Defendant") on March 10, 2011. Defendant filed a proof of service indicating that Defendant had filed the Answer on Plaintiff. See ECF No. 12. Defendant has never filed the Answer with the Court.
Plaintiff filed a motion to strike the affirmative defenses in Defendant's Answer on July 19, 2011. A case management conference was held on July 27, 2011, at which Defendant failed to appear. At the case management conference, Defendant was ordered to (1) file a copy of her Answer by August 3, 2011, and (2) respond to Plaintiff's motion to strike by August 5, 2011. Defendant has, to date, failed to comply with both court orders. Plaintiff filed a status report on October 5, 2011 indicating that he had not yet been in contact with Defendant, and that Defendant had never, in fact, served Plaintiff with a copy of Defendant's Answer. ECF No. 21. Plaintiff offered no explanation as to why, if Plaintiff was never served with the Answer, Plaintiff filed a motion to strike affirmative defenses. On October 5, 2011, Plaintiff also moved for an entry of default in this case. ECF No. 20.
Pending before the Court is Plaintiff's motion to strike, set for hearing on October 13, 2011. The Defendant has yet to file, and apparently serve, her Answer. Therefore, the motion to strike is premature, and is DENIED without prejudice. The hearing set for October 13, 2011 is VACATED.
A further case management conference is set for January 11, 2012 at 2:00 p.m. If Defendant moves for an entry of default judgment, the case management conference will be reset to the hearing date set for the entry of default judgment.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
LUCY H. KOH
United States District Judge