Jarvis et al v. Village Vault, Inc. et alMOTION for Extension of Time to 06/26/2012 to File AnswerD. Mass.May 30, 2012 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS DOCKET NO. 1:12-cv-40032-JLT RUSSELL JARVIS, JAMES JARVIS, ROBERT CRAMPTON and COMMONWEALTH SECOND AMENDMENT, INC. Plaintiffs, v. VILLAGE GUN SHOP, INC. d/b/a VILLAGE VAULT and SECRETARY MARY E. HEFFERNAN, in her Official Capacity as Secretary of the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, Defendants. MOTION TO ENLARGE TIME TO FILE RESPONSIVE PLEADING TO COMPLAINT The state defendant, Secretary Mary E. Heffernan, in her official capacity as Secretary of the Executive Office of Public Safety (“Secretary”), respectfully moves for additional time to respond to the Complaint, to on or before June 26, 2012. 1. The Complaint was served on the Secretary on May 9, 2012. 2. Under M. G. L. c. 12, § 3, the Attorney General must appear in civil suits on behalf of state agencies and officers. Here, the undersigned Assistant Attorney General received the complaint in this matter on May 22, 2012. 3. Service of the Complaint on the Commonwealth has not yet been completed, under Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(j)(2), so the time for the Secretary’s filing an Answer has not yet begun to run. Rule 4(j)(2) requires service on a state government to be made either by serving the chief executive officer or by serving the summons and complaint “in the manner prescribed by that state’s law for serving a summons or like process Case 1:12-cv-40032-JLT Document 10 Filed 05/30/12 Page 1 of 3 2 on such a defendant.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(j)(2)(B). Under Mass. R. Civ. P. 4(d)(3), service upon an agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts must be made “by delivering a copy of the summons and of the complaint to the Boston office of the Attorney General of the Commonwealth, and, in the case of any agency, to its office or to its chairman or one of its members or its secretary or clerk.” 4. The plaintiffs have failed to complete service under Mass. R. Civ. P. 4(d)(3) by serving the office of the Attorney General and, thus, the time for answering has not yet begun to run. Nonetheless, the Attorney General now has obtained a copy of the summons and complaint from the Secretary and will draft an Answer or other responsive pleading. Given the delay in obtaining the copies, and given this Assistant Attorney General’s other job responsibilities, additional time to June 26, 2012 is necessary to serve and file the Secretary’s response. 5. I have attempted to contact counsel for plaintiffs but have received no response. For the foregoing reasons, the Secretary respectfully requests that the Court allow an enlargement of time until June 26, 2012 to respond to the Complaint in this matter. Respectfully submitted, MARTHA COAKLEY ATTORNEY GENERAL /s/ David R. Marks __________________________________ David R. Marks, BBO No. 548982 Assistant Attorney General Office of the Attorney General One Ashburton Place, Room 2019 Boston, MA 02108-1698 (617) 963-2362 Facsimile: (617) 727-5785 Date: May 30, 2012 david.marks@state.us.ma Case 1:12-cv-40032-JLT Document 10 Filed 05/30/12 Page 2 of 3 3 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that this document was filed through the ECF system, with copies sent to the registered participants as identified on the Notice of Electronic Filing (“NEF”) on May 30, 2012. /s/ David R. Marks __________________________________ David R. Marks Assistant Attorney General May 30, 2012 CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO LOCAL RULE 7.1 Pursuant to Local Rule 7.1(a)(2), I hereby certify that I contacted counsel for the plaintiffs and attempted to confer in an attempt in good faith to resolve or narrow the issue. /s/ David R. Marks _______________________ David R. Marks Assistant Attorney General Case 1:12-cv-40032-JLT Document 10 Filed 05/30/12 Page 3 of 3