David E. Bettini v. Mirabella, Kincaid, Frederick & Mirabella LLC, et al.

• Court: District Court, D. Arizona
• Decided: January 5, 2026
• Docket: 2:25-cv-04876
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 WO 2 3 4 5 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

9 David E Bettini, No. CV-25-04876-PHX-KML

10 Plaintiff, ORDER

11 v.

12 Mirabella, Kincaid, Frederick & Mirabella LLC, et al., 13 Defendants. 14 15 Plaintiff David E. Bettini filed a complaint and two motions. Bettini’s first motion 16 requests permission to file documents electronically. (Doc. 3.) That request is granted. His 17 second motion requests the court grant “reasonable accommodations under the Americans 18 with Disabilities Act.” (Doc. 4.) Bettini argues that under the ADA “[c]ourts are required 19 to provide reasonable modifications to policies, practices, or procedures when necessary to 20 avoid discrimination.” (Doc. 4 at 2.) Bettini then identifies the accommodations he believes 21 necessary, such as the need for remote appearances. (Doc. 4 at 2.) 22 The ADA “requires state courts to make disability accommodations,” but “does not 23 apply to federal courts.” Roman v. Jefferson at Hollywood LP, 495 F. App’x 804, 806 (9th 24 Cir. 2012). Despite the ADA not applying, “it has long been the policy of the Judicial 25 Conference of the United States to attempt to accommodate individuals with disabilities in 26 court proceedings.” Mapes v. Hatcher Real Est., No. 119CV02162JRSMJD, 2021 WL 27 5404626, at *5 (S.D. Ind. Feb. 4, 2021). Therefore, in appropriate circumstances 28 accommodations are provided to litigants. Bettini’s current request, however, is premature. 1 All of the accommodations Bettini seeks relate to in-court proceedings. (Doc. 4 at 2-3.) No 2 in-court proceedings are scheduled. If such proceedings are scheduled, Bettini may raise 3 his need for accommodations at that time. 4 IT IS ORDERED the Motion for Electronic Filing (Doc. 3) is GRANTED. 5 Plaintiff shall comply with all rules outlined in the District of Arizona’s Case 6 Management/Electronic Case Filing Administrative Policies and Procedures Manual, 7 register as a subscriber to PACER (Public Access to Electronic Records) within five days 8 of the date of this Order, and comply with the privacy policy of the Judicial Conference of 9 the United States and E-Government Act of 2002. Any misuse of the ECF system will 10 result in immediate discontinuation of this privilege and disabling of the password assigned 11 to the party. 12 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED the Motion for Accommodations (Doc. 4) is 13 DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. 14 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED as follows: 15 Governing Rules 16 Both counsel and pro se litigants must abide by the Rules of Practice of the U.S. 17 District Court for the District of Arizona (“Local Rules”) and the Federal Rules of Civil 18 Procedure. 19 Disclosure Statements 20 Full compliance with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 7.1 is required by plaintiff(s) 21 and defendant(s). Rule 7.1(a)(1) requires any nongovernmental corporation to file a 22 disclosure statement identifying “any parent corporation and any publicly held corporation 23 owning 10% or more of its stock.” Rule 7.1(a)(2) requires a party in an action where 24 jurisdiction is based on diversity under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a) to file a disclosure statement 25 identifying the citizenship of “every individual or entity whose citizenship is attributed to 26 that party.” A Corporate Disclosure Statement form is available at 27 https://www.azd.uscourts.gov/forms/disclosure-statement. 28 Service Deadline 1 Service of the summons and complaint on each defendant located in the United 2 States must occur within 90 days of filing the complaint. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(m). If service 3 cannot occur within 90 days, a request for an extension may be filed before expiration of 4 the 90-day period. Any such request must set forth the reason why service has not been 5 accomplished and request a specific short additional period of time. If the court believes 6 your reason constitutes “good cause,” it will authorize a brief additional period to 7 accomplish service. 8 Proof of service must be filed with the Clerk of Court, in the form of an affidavit, 9 promptly after service has been made. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(l). It is important to comply 10 with this requirement because absent proof of service, the court will have no way of 11 knowing that the complaint has been served. 12 This order serves as an express warning that the court will dismiss this action, 13 without further notice to plaintiff(s), with respect to any defendant that is not timely served. 14 See Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(m). 15 Forms of Papers 16 The parties shall adhere to all of the requirements of Local Rule 7.1, including the 17 requirement that text and footnotes shall be no smaller than 13 point. Citations supporting 18 any textual proposition shall be included in the text, not in a footnote. 19 Notices of supplemental authority and responses to those notices are limited to 350 20 words excluding case captions and signature blocks. 21 Paper Courtesy Copies 22 Do not send paper courtesy copies of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 7(a) 23 pleadings, short procedural motions (e.g., motions for extension of time), 26(f) reports, or 24 stipulations. A paper courtesy copy of dispositive motions (or other lengthy motions that 25 will be opposed) and any responses or replies thereto shall be either postmarked and mailed 26 to the judge or hand-delivered to the judge’s mailbox in the courthouse by the next business 27 day after the electronic filing. Do not attempt to deliver documents to the judge’s chambers. 28 Courtesy copies should be double-sided and include the ECF-generated header at the top 1 of each page. Courtesy copies of documents too large for stapling must be submitted in 2 three-ring binders. 3 Amending Pleadings 4 Before filing a motion for leave to amend a pleading, the party that wishes to amend 5 must seek the consent of the other parties in an attempt to file the amended pleading 6 pursuant to Local Rule 15.1(b). If any party is unwilling to consent, the motion for leave 7 to amend must indicate which party (or parties) will oppose the request. If a motion for 8 leave to amend a pleading fails to so indicate, the motion will be denied without prejudice 9 for failure to adhere to this order. 10 Motions and Stipulations 11 Every motion or stipulation, however mundane, must cite the rule(s) and/or law(s) 12 that permit the court to grant the requested relief. Requests for extensions of time must 13 include a brief explanation of why the extension is needed to help the court determine 14 whether there is good cause. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(b)(1)(A). 15 To ensure timely case processing, a party moving for an extension of time, 16 enlargement of page limitations, or leave to file a document under seal shall indicate in the 17 motion whether the non-movant opposes the request and intends to file a written response. 18 If such a motion does not so indicate, it may be denied for failure to comply with this order. 19 Motions and stipulations should be accompanied by proposed orders. A proposed 20 order is not necessary for motions that will require a reasoned analysis from the court, or 21 for stipulations requesting issuance of the court’s standard protective order with no 22 amendments. These proposed orders must not be on letterhead or contain any information 23 identifying the party submitting the order, and they must set forth the relief requested rather 24 than incorporating the motion or stipulation by reference. See also Local Rule 7.1(b)(3). 25 Proposed orders must be emailed—in Microsoft Word format (not PDF)—to 26 Lanham_Chambers@azd.uscourts.gov. The subject line of the email must include the case 27 name, case number, the words “proposed order for [name of motion],” and an indication 28 of whether the motion is opposed or unopposed if this is not otherwise apparent from the 1 name of the motion. 2 Rule 12 Motions Are Discouraged 3 Any motion under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12 is discouraged if the 4 challenged defect in the pleading can be cured by filing an amended pleading. The court 5 therefore requires that: (1) before filing a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss or a Rule 12(c) 6 motion for judgment on the pleadings, the movant confer with the opposing party to 7 determine whether such motion can be avoided; and (2) the movant attach a certificate of 8 conferral, certifying that it notified the opposing party of the issues asserted in its motion 9 and that the parties conferred but were unable to agree that the pleading was curable in any 10 part by a permissible amendment offered by the pleading party. See also Local Rule 11 12.1(c). The requirement to meet and confer and attach a certificate of conferral applies in 12 equal force to motions to dismiss amended complaints, notwithstanding earlier conferrals 13 and certificates filed before the complaint was amended. Any motion lacking the required 14 certification may be summarily stricken. 15 Multiple defendants represented by the same counsel may not file separate Rule 12 16 motions. Defendants represented by the same counsel who wish to file a Rule 12 motion 17 must file a single joint motion that includes all arguments applicable to any defendant. 18 Protective Orders 19 The court’s standard protective order is available is available at 20 www.azd.uscourts.gov under: Judges’ Information → Orders, Forms and Procedures → 21 Lanham, Krissa M. If the parties agree that discoverable materials should be kept 22 confidential, they may file a stipulation requesting that the court issue its standard 23 protective order. If the parties wish to propose additional provisions, they may request and 24 stipulate to the additional proposed language, subject to the court’s review. In that case, all 25 language added to the standard order by the parties should be redlined into a Word 26 document using “tracked changes,” and the parties’ Word document with the tracked 27 changes must be emailed to chambers. The parties are reminded that the mere fact the 28 parties have designated certain materials or information as confidential pursuant to an 1 agreement or stipulation does not mean the court will automatically order that filings 2 containing such information be placed under seal. See Ctr. for Auto Safety v. Chrysler Grp., 3 LLC, 809 F.3d 1092, 1101 (9th Cir. 2016). 4 Motions to Seal 5 Local Rule 5.6 governs sealing of court records in unsealed civil actions. Every 6 motion to seal, including stipulations pursuant to Local Rule 5.6(d), must identify the legal 7 standard applicable to the document at issue and explain why the material sought to be 8 sealed meets that standard. The stringent “compelling reasons supported by specific factual 9 findings” standard articulated in Kamakana v. City & County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 10 1178 (9th Cir. 2006), applies to motions and their attachments where the motion is “more 11 than tangentially related to the merits of a case.” Ctr. for Auto Safety, 809 F.3d at 1101. 12 Merely noting that a document was designated confidential by a party will not satisfy any 13 applicable legal standard for sealing. 14 Where a party seeks to seal only certain portions of a given document, the 15 unredacted version of the document, which should be lodged under seal pursuant to Local 16 Rule 5.6(c), must include highlighting to indicate which portions of the document the party 17 seeks to redact. 18 Emergencies and Expedited Consideration 19 Any party desiring expedited consideration of a motion or other matter pending 20 before the court may make such a request by filing a separate Notice for Expedited 21 Consideration accompanied by a certificate from counsel for the moving party or, if 22 unrepresented, the moving party. The certificate must set forth the following: 1) the facts 23 establishing the need for expedited resolution; 2) the dates of the imminent events pertinent 24 to the request; 3) whether the motion or request for expedited consideration could have 25 been filed earlier; and 4) when or how the moving party will provide notice to all other 26 parties and the other parties’ positions on the motion. A request for expedited consideration 27 that is simply mentioned in the caption/title of the related filing will not be considered—a 28 separate notice and certificate must be filed. 1 Requests to Reschedule Court Dates 2 The court interprets Local Rule 7.3(b) as applying to requests to reschedule court || dates due to attorney conflicts. As such, and to enable the court to efficiently manage cases, such requests must be made by motion or stipulation, must indicate the position of each 5 || other party, and (unless another party plans to file a written opposition, which would be 6 || appropriate only in rare circumstances) must propose to the court at least three dates/times when all counsel are available for rescheduling purposes. 8 Noncompliance 9 The parties are specifically advised that failure to prosecute, to comply with court || orders, or to comply with the Local and Federal Rules may result in dismissal of all or part || of this case, default, imposition of sanctions, or summary disposition of matters pending 12|| before the court. See also Local Rule 7.21) (‘If a motion does not conform in all substantial 13 || respects with the requirements of [the Local Rules], or if the [opposing party] does not serve and file the required answering memoranda, . . . such noncompliance may be deemed 15 || aconsent to the denial or granting of the motion and the court may dispose of the motion 16 || summarily.’’). 17 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED: 18 1. That plaintiff(s) must promptly serve a copy of this order on defendant(s) and 19||_ file a notice of service with the Clerk of Court; 20 2. That, unless the court orders otherwise, on March 31, 2026 the Clerk of □□ Court shall terminate without further notice any defendant in the United States that has 22 || not been served pursuant to Rule 4(m) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. 23 Dated this 5th day of January, 2026. 24

26 ahh AE Honorable Krissa M. Lanham 27 United States District Judge 28

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