Gates v. Superior Loan Servicing

Background

Tyrious Gates moved to continue a case-management conference that he believed was scheduled for November 18, 2021. The court stated that no conference was scheduled for that date. The date apparently came from an initial case-management order issued before the case was reassigned; the reassignment order had canceled that date.

The motion also revealed that Gates had not formally served Superior Loan Servicing with process. More than two months earlier, after Gates filed a motion for a temporary restraining order, the court had ordered the plaintiff’s counsel to serve Superior with process and a copy of that order immediately. Gates had filed an affidavit stating that he had completed service, but the court determined that the affidavit referred only to service of the temporary restraining order, not service of process.

Ruling

The court stated that the request to continue the case-management conference was moot because no conference was set for that day. The court separately ordered Gates to serve Superior with process immediately under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4. Gates or his counsel also had to file a declaration under penalty of perjury stating that service had been dispatched by 5:00 p.m. on November 22, 2021.

The court explained that service of process is necessary for a court to assert personal jurisdiction over a defendant. It warned that failure to complete service or file the required declaration could result in dissolution of the preliminary injunction. Judge William H. Orrick signed the order.