Amelio v. Houri

Background

This order addresses the plaintiffs’ request at Docket 128 for more time to file a Fourth Amended Complaint. The plaintiffs first sought to file that complaint on September 22, 2023.

On April 4, 2024, Magistrate Judge Lehrburger issued a report and recommendation recommending that the Legal Aid Society defendants’ motion to dismiss be granted and that the plaintiffs’ request to file a Fourth Amended Complaint be granted in part, subject to removing claims that were futile on their face. On September 13, 2024, the District Judge adopted the report and recommendation in full and gave the plaintiffs until October 4, 2024, to file the complaint. After additional proceedings, the deadline was extended to November 1, 2024, and then to May 13, 2025.

The plaintiffs also filed motions for reconsideration and recusal, both of which were denied in mid-April 2025. The court stated that the plaintiffs had sought to file the Fourth Amended Complaint since September 2023 and had had sufficient time since September 13, 2024, to revise it as required.

Court’s Reasoning

The court characterized the request for still more time as another instance of the plaintiffs seeking multiple extensions and waiting until filing deadlines to request additional time. The court said it had accommodated medical and personal reasons for extensions when the requests were reasonable. It also noted that Carmine Amelio had previously been determined to be a vexatious litigant in a prior related proceeding.

Disposition

The court denied the plaintiffs’ request for a further extension of the deadline to file the Fourth Amended Complaint. The court stated that the Third Amended Complaint remains the operative complaint. This order concerned the filing deadline and did not decide the merits of the claims in the complaint.