Abraham v. Leigh

Background

Robyn Abraham asked the court to permit her to file a motion for summary judgment. The court considered her February 25, 2020 letter, the Leigh Defendants’ opposition, and her reply.

The court explained that its June 10, 2019 order had set November 15, 2019, as the deadline for the parties to submit pre-motion letters about contemplated summary-judgment motions. Abraham did not submit a letter by that deadline. Because no pre-motion submission had been filed, the court had not set a briefing schedule for her potential motion. The court also noted that the defendants’ summary-judgment motion had already been filed more than a month earlier.

Ruling

The court stated that Abraham had not satisfied the conditions for filing a summary-judgment motion and expressed concern that allowing a motion at that late stage would prejudice the defendants. The court also noted that Abraham was an attorney and therefore was not entitled to the special consideration generally given to people representing themselves without lawyers.

The court ordered that, if Abraham wished to file a summary-judgment motion, she had to submit a letter by March 6, 2020, showing good cause for missing the November 15, 2019 deadline. The letter could not exceed three pages. The defendants could file a reply by March 13, 2020. This order did not decide the merits of any summary-judgment motion.