Opinion
2:21-CV-01123
10-05-2023
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ex rel. PEGGY THORNTON, Relator, v. PORTOLA DEL SOL OPERATOR, LLC, a foreign limited-liability company; TMIF II PORTOLA, LLC, a foreign limited-liability company; APARTMENT MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS, LLC, a foreign limited liability company, and RENE RICHARDSON, as AGENT of PORTOLA DEL SOL OPERATOR, LLC. Defendants. and PEGGY THORNTON, Plaintiff,
ELIZABETH S. CARMONA, ESQ. Nevada State Bar No. 14687 KRISTOPHER S. PRE, ESQ. Nevada State Bar No. 14106 PETER C. WETHERALL, ESQ. Nevada State Bar No. 4414 NEVADA LEGAL SERVICES, INC. Attorneys for Peggy Thornton
ELIZABETH S. CARMONA, ESQ. Nevada State Bar No. 14687 KRISTOPHER S. PRE, ESQ. Nevada State Bar No. 14106 PETER C. WETHERALL, ESQ. Nevada State Bar No. 4414 NEVADA LEGAL SERVICES, INC. Attorneys for Peggy Thornton
MOTION TO ENLARGE TIME TO SERVE SUMMONS AND COMPLAINT - 6th REQUEST
COMES NOW, Plaintiff, Peggy Thornton, by and through her attorneys, Elizabeth S. Carmona, Esq., Kristopher S. Pre, Esq., and Peter C. Wetherall, Esq., of Nevada Legal Services, Inc., moves this Court for an Order extending time to serve the Summons and Complaint on the Defendant Rene Richardson.
POINTS AND AUTHORITIES
I. STATEMENT OF FACTS
On June 14, 2021, Plaintiff filed her qui tam Complaint under seal. This Court previously granted three Motions to Enlarge Time to Serve Summons and Complaint based on an extensive 1.5 year-long investigation by the Department of Justice while the Complaint was under seal. Once the Department of Justice concluded its investigation and elected not to intervene, the Court unsealed the Complaint and set a service deadline for March 9, 2023. Plaintiff then, diligently, began service.
Earlier this year, Plaintiff successfully served Defendants Portola Del Sol Operator, LLC, TMIF II Portola, LLC, and Apartment Management Consultants, LLC; however, Plaintiff has experienced significant challenges surrounding the service of Defendant Rene Richardson. Plaintiff hired Junes Legal Services, Inc. (“Junes”), to serve Defendant Rene Richardson, but the initial attempt was unsuccessful. Plaintiff then began conducting significant research regarding the whereabouts of Defendant Rene Richardson, but had to enlist the assistance of Junes to perform a “skip trace” when internal research failed to produce any helpful information. The Junes skip trace also proved to be inconclusive based on Plaintiff's limited knowledge of her demographics and the common nature of her name.
Based on these challenges, on March 7, 2023, Plaintiff filed a Motion to Extend Time to Serve Defendant Rene Richardson, which the Court granted on March 8, 2023. Since the Court's March 8, 2023 Order, Plaintiff has diligently continued her efforts to serve Defendant Rene Richardson. Junes attempted service at three local properties managed by Rene Richardson's previous employer, Defendant Apartment Management Consultants, LLC. When the local service attempts were unsuccessful, Plaintiff hired a Utah process server to attempt service at the Apartment Management Consultants, LLC, headquarters in Utah. The Utah service attempt was also unsuccessful.
Plaintiff then reached out to counsel for Apartment Management Consultants, LLC, and asked whether they would agree to accept service on Rene Richardson's behalf but received no response. On July 6, 2023, Plaintiff filed a Motion to Extend Time to Serve Defendant Rene Richardson, which the Court granted on July 7, 2023, allowing until October 7, 2023, to serve Defendant Rene Richardson.
On September 25, 2023, Plaintiff filed a Motion for Service by Publication, which this Court granted on September 29, 2023. As part of its Order, this Court ordered Plaintiff to publish the Summons and Complaint in the Las Vegas Review Journal at least once a week for a period of four weeks, with service to be deemed complete four weeks from the date of first publication. Plaintiff is now in the process of arranging said publication.
II. ARGUMENT
Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(m), if a plaintiff shows good cause for the failure to serve a defendant within 90 days, the court must extend the time for service for an appropriate period. Good cause is present here, as this Court recently ordered that Plaintiff can serve Defendant Rene Richardson by publication and said publication will not be completed by October 7, 2023. Therefore, Plaintiff requests that this Court issue an Order to Enlarge Time to Serve Summons and Complaint on Defendant Rene Richardson in this matter.
CONCLUSION
Wherefore, based on the above points and authorities, Plaintiff respectfully requests an Order enlarging time for service in regard to Defendant Rene Richardson.
DATED this 3rd day of October, 2023.
FILED UNDER SEAL PURSUANT TO 31 U.S.C. § 3730(b)(2)
ORDER TO ENLARGE TIME TO SERVE SUMMONS AND COMPLAINT - 6th REQUEST
Upon consideration of the declaration of Plaintiff and good cause appearing, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that time within which to serve Defendant Rene Richardson with the Summonses and Complaint is extended to the 11 day of November, 2023.