JLM Couture, Inc. v. Gutman

Background

The court considered Defendant Hayley Paige Gutman’s motion to strike and the parties’ later submissions. The submissions concerned arguments and evidence included with reply papers, as well as evidentiary issues relevant to the planned preliminary-injunction hearing.

Court’s reasoning

The court explained that decisions on motions to strike and requests to file sur-reply materials are within the court’s discretion. It stated that a court may consider arguments or evidence raised for the first time in reply papers when they respond to new issues raised in opposition papers, avoid an unfair advantage, or are needed for the moving party to meet its burden without prejudicing the opposing party.

Rulings and next steps

The court denied Defendant’s motion to strike in its entirety, without prejudice to the evidentiary issues identified in the parties’ submissions. It granted Defendant’s request to file a sur-reply. The court rescheduled the preliminary-injunction hearing for February 4, 2021, at 9:00 a.m.; limited the sur-reply to 15 pages; and required it to be filed by January 29, 2021, at noon.

The court also directed the parties to meet and confer and jointly submit a consolidated, bookmarked exhibit file and information about witnesses, remote-testimony procedures, and proposed time allocations by February 1, 2021, at noon. Each side would have three total hours for evidence and argument, including cross-examination and redirect. The order resolved Docket Entry Number 62.