Myers v. AbbVie Inc et al

MOTION

N.D. Ill.March 3, 2014

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS Steven Myers, Plaintiff, v. AbbVie Inc., and Abbott Laboratories, Inc., Defendants. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Case No. 14-cv-780 Judge Robert W. Gettleman MOTION TO EXTEND TIME TO ANSWER OR OTHERWISE PLEAD Defendants hereby move this Court, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 6(b), for an extension of time to answer or otherwise plead in response to Plaintiff’s Complaint. This case and 25 other cases (as of this writing, with more cases expected to be filed) are presently subject to a motion to reassign them to a single judge. It is Defendants’ position that (a) the cases should be reassigned to a single judge, and (b) the deadline to answer or otherwise plead should be set by that judge. In support thereof, Defendants state as follows: 1. Plaintiff Myers filed his Complaint on February 4, 2014. 2. Plaintiff Myers served his Complaint on Defendants on February 12, 2014. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(a)(1)(A)(i), Defendants are required to answer or otherwise plead in response to Plaintiff’s Complaint by March 5, 2014. 3. On February 27, 2014, Plaintiff Myers moved under Local Rule 40.4 to reassign to Honorable Judge John W. Darrah five actions pending in the Northern District of Illinois. The five actions are Marino v. AbbVie Inc. et al., 14-cv-777, Myers v. AbbVie Inc. et al., 14-cv-780, Johnson v. AbbVie Inc. et al., 14-cv-877, Kelly v. AbbVie Inc. et al., 14-cv-879, and Lau v. -2- AbbVie Inc. et al., 14-cv-1298. That motion also noted that “Counsel for the presently interested Plaintiffs have hundreds of cases under review, with a significant number of cases potentially appropriate for filing in the Northern District of Illinois.” Motion at 2. In all, there are now 26 related cases on file. Plaintiff’s motion for reassignment is noticed for March 5, 2014. 4. On March 3, 2014, Plaintiff’s counsel informed counsel for Defendants that he will not agree to the requested extension because Defendants do not agree to reassign the cases before this Court. 5. This motion is not made for purposes of harassment or undue delay, nor is it due to any oversight or lack of diligence on the part of Defendants. WHEREFORE, Defendants respectfully request that this Court grant this Motion and enter an order suspending the deadline to answer or otherwise plead in the above-captioned case until such time as it can be re-set by the Judge assigned to hear this case. Dated: March 3, 2014 Respectfully submitted, WINSTON & STRAWN LLP By: /s/ Scott P. Glauberman Scott P. Glauberman Thomas J. Frederick James F. Hurst Bryna Dahlin WINSTON & STRAWN LLP 35 West Wacker Drive Chicago, Illinois 60601 Tel: (312) 558-5600 Fax: (312) 558-5700 sglauberman@winston.com tfrederick@winston.com jhurst@winston.com bdahlin@winston.com Attorneys for AbbVie Inc. and Abbott Laboratories Inc. -3- CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I, Scott P. Glauberman, hereby certify that on March 3, 2014 the foregoing document was filed via the Court’s CM/ECF system, which will automatically serve and send email notification of such filing to all registered attorneys of record. /s/ Scott P. Glauberman Scott P. Glauberman