D.M. v. County of Merced

Opinion

7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 D.M., et al., Case No. 1:20-cv-00409-JLT-SAB 11 Plaintiffs, ORDER DISREGARDING NOTICE OF 12 DISMISSAL AND DIRECTING PARTIES v. TO COMPLY WITH LOCAL RULE 202(b) 13 COUNTY OF MERCED, et al., DECEMBER 2, 2024 DEADLINE 14 Defendants. 15 16 Plaintiffs filed this action on March 19, 2020. (ECF No. 1). Following a notice of 17 settlement (ECF No. 174), on November 11, 2024, Plaintiffs filed a notice of voluntary dismissal 18 of the entire action with prejudice, pursuant to Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(i) of the Federal Rules of Civil 19 Procedure. (ECF No. 176.) 20 “[U]nder Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(i), ‘a plaintiff has an absolute right to voluntarily dismiss his 21 action prior to service by the defendant of an answer or a motion for summary judgment.’” 22 Commercial Space Mgmt. Co., Inc. v. Boeing Co., Inc., 193 F.3d 1074, 1077 (9th Cir. 1999) 23 (quoting Wilson v. City of San Jose, 111 F.3d 688, 692 (9th Cir. 1997)). The Ninth Circuit has 24 held that Rule 41(a) allows a plaintiff to dismiss without a court order any defendant who has yet 25 to serve an answer or motion for summary judgment. Pedrina v. Chun, 987 F.2d 608, 609 (9th 26 Cir. 1993). In this action, Defendants filed their answers to the operative complaint on June 10, 27 2020, and July 10, 2020. (ECF Nos. 25, 29.) In addition, a motion for summary judgment was filed on January 23, 2024, and decided on July 25, 2024. (ECF Nos. 127, 140.) Accordingly, the 1 | Court DISREGARDS Plaintiffs’ notice of voluntary dismissal because it does not comply with 2 | Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(1)(A)G). CECF No. 176.) 3 Further, this action involves minors represented by their guardian ad litem. (ECF No. “No claim by or against a minor or incompetent person may be settled or compromised 5 | absent an order by the Court approving the settlement or compromise.” Local Rule 202(b). 6 | Therefore, the Court DIRECTS the parties to comply with Local Rule 202(b), which outlines the 7 | procedure for settlements involving minors. Any motion for approval of settlement or 8 | compromise remains due by the Court’s previous deadline of December 2, 2024. (See ECF No. 9 | 175.) 10 i IT IS SO ORDERED. FA. ee 12 | Dated: _ November 12, 2024 STANLEY A. BOONE 13 United States Magistrate Judge 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28